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Do different psychotic experiences differentially predict need for care in the general population?

Bak M, Myin-Germeys I, Delespaul P, Vollebergh W, de Graaf R, van Os J

Department of Psychiatry, South Limburg Mental Health Research and Teaching Network, EURON, Maastricht University, The Netherlands.

INTRODUCTION: The pathway from subclinical psychotic experiences to need for care may depend on type of psychotic experience, level of associated distress, and previous experience of psychosis. METHOD: In a general population sample with no previous Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders , Revised Third Edition , psychotic disorder (n = 4722), 83 subjects displayed at least one psychotic experience. Within the group of 83, subjects with (n = 24) and without need for care (n = 59) were compared. Presence of psychotic experiences at younger ages had been assessed at earlier interviews. RESULTS: Of 7 different psychotic experiences, only hearing voices, nonverbal hallucinations, and passivity phenomena were significantly associated with need for care. These associations were largely explained by the distress associated with the psychotic experience, but whether individuals had had psychotic experiences at earlier ages did not matter. CONCLUSIONS: Different psychotic experiences differ in the associated level of need for care and the mediating role of distress. Longer prior exposure to psychosis may not influence the pathway from subclinical to clinical.

Published 15 July 2005 in Compr Psychiatry, 46(3): 192-9.
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