My Friends, My Voices and Me: A Mixed-methods Investigation Exploring Commonalities and Differences of Sensory Hallucinations and Imaginary Companions

儿童声音听力的起源一直存在争议。孩子们参与想象游戏，但我特别感兴趣的是它是如何以及何时成为问题的。这个博士学位是一个独特的机会来研究这个问题的影响因素。孩子们可能会因为各种各样的原因听到声音，这些原因与心理和生物因素有关，研究他们是如何感知声音的，以及他们对声音的感受是很有趣的。听觉和感觉幻觉往往有负相关。然而，根据我作为一名护士的经验，我怀疑这是否总是个人的情况，这些人以积极的态度看待他们，如果这种态度被剥夺，他们会非常痛苦。父母的反应和管理方式可以决定这些经历对孩子的社会和情感健康的影响。它还会影响孩子与这些经历的整体联系和关系。因此，不仅要了解孩子对这些经历的感知，还要了解它对父母的影响，这一点至关重要。探究为什么有些人的这些经历在成年前就停止了，而另一些人却在整个成年期都在继续，这将是一件有趣的事情。根据我的学习目的和目标，我希望加强对影响因素的理解，以了解年轻人如何感知和体验感官幻觉和想象同伴。对这一人群进行定性调查产生结果的独特机会令人兴奋，再加上对想象同伴和感觉幻觉基础的定性调查，我相信，实现这一目标的混合方法方法将产生有助于知识的结果。此外，研究结果将增强与该客户群体密切合作的人员对这些问题的理解。为了准备这个博士学位，我完成了进一步的研究，包括马斯特里赫特面试听力声音和通常信念，家庭干预培训和CAMHS/EIS联合研讨会。我目前也正在完成心理学硕士学位，我将于2019年9月完成。

The origins of voice hearing in children have been debated over time. Children participate in imaginary play, but I am particularly interested in how and when it becomes a problem. This PhD is a unique opportunity to examine influencing factors to this issue. Children may hear voices for a variety of reasons relating to both psychological and biological factors, it would be interesting to investigate how they perceive them and how they feel about them. Voice hearing and sensory hallucinations tend to have a negative association. However, I question whether this is always the case for the individual based my experience as a nurse working with people who perceive them in a positive manner and would be greatly distressed if this was taken away from them.The way in which parents respond and manage can determine the effect the experiences have on a child's social and emotional wellbeing. It can also impact on the child's overall association and relationship with these experiences. Therefore, it is crucial to not only understand the child's perception of the experiences, but also how it implicates on the parents.It would be interesting to explore why in some people these experiences stop before adulthood, but continue in others throughout their adulthood.As per aim and objectives of the studentship, I aspire to enhance the understanding of influencing factors to how sensory hallucinations and imaginary companions are perceived and experienced by young people. The unique opportunity to produce results from qualitative inquiry with this population is exciting and coupled with the qualitative investigation of the underpinnings of imaginary companions and sensory hallucinations, I am confident that the mixed methods approach to this aim will produce results that will contribute to knowledge. Additionally, the results will enhance understanding of these issues for those working closely with this client group.In preparation for this PhD I have completed further studies including the Maastricht Interviewing for both Hearing Voices and Usual Beliefs, Family Intervention training and joint CAMHS/EIS workshops. I am also currently completing an MSc in Psychology which I am due to complete September 2019.