Hostname: page-component-8448b6f56d-42gr6 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-23T08:17:22.481Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Mindfulness for Paranoid Beliefs: Evidence from Two Case Studies

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  14 September 2012

Lyn Ellett
Lyn Ellett*
Affiliation:
Royal Holloway, University of London, UK
*
Reprint requests to Lyn Ellett, Department of Psychology, Royal Holloway, University of London, Egham, Surrey TW20 0EX, UK. E-mail: lyn.ellett@rhul.ac.uk.
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Background: Emerging evidence suggests that mindfulness can be beneficial for people with distressing psychosis. This study examined the hypothesis that for people with persecutory delusions in the absence of voices, mindfulness training would lead to reductions in conviction, distress, preoccupation and impact of paranoid beliefs, as well as anxiety and depression. Method: Two case studies are presented. Participants completed measures of mindfulness, anxiety and depression at baseline, end of therapy and 1 month follow-up, and bi-weekly ratings of their paranoid belief on the dimensions of conviction, preoccupation, distress and impact. Results: Ratings of conviction, distress, impact and preoccupation, and measures of anxiety and depression, reduced for both participants from baseline to end of intervention. Improvements in mindfulness of distressing thoughts and images occurred for both participants. These gains were maintained at 1 month follow-up. Conclusions: Findings suggest that mindfulness training can impact on cognition and affect specifically associated with paranoid beliefs, and is potentially relevant to both Poor Me and Bad Me paranoia.

Keywords

Mindfulnesspersecutory delusionscase reportdistressconviction
Type
Brief Clinical Reports
Information
Behavioural and Cognitive Psychotherapy , Volume 41 , Issue 2 , March 2013 , pp. 238 - 242
Copyright
Copyright © British Association for Behavioural and Cognitive Psychotherapies 2012

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Abba, N., Chadwick, P. D. J. and Stevenson, C. (2008). Responding mindfully to distressing psychosis: a grounded theory analysis. Psychotherapy Research, 18, 77–87.Google Scholar
Chadwick, P. D. J., Hember, M., Symes, J., Peters, E., Kuipers, E. and Dagnan, D. (2008). Responding mindfully to distressing thoughts and images: evaluation of the Southampton mindfulness questionnaire (SMQ). British Journal of Clinical Psychology, 47, 451–455.Google Scholar
Chadwick, P. D. J., Newman-Taylor, K. and Abba, N. (2005). Mindfulness groups for people with distressing psychosis. Behavioural and Cognitive Psychotherapy, 33, 351–359.Google Scholar
Chadwick, P. D. J., Hughes, S., Russell, I., Russell, D. and Dagnan, D. (2009). Mindfulness groups for distressing psychosis: a replication and feasibility study. Behavioural and Cognitive Psychotherapy, 37, 403–413.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Langer, A. I., Cangas, A. J., Salcedo, E. and Fuentes, B. (2012). Applying mindfulness therapy in a group of psychotic individuals: a controlled study. Behavioural and Cognitive Psychotherapy, 40, 105–111.Google Scholar
Trower, P. and Chadwick, , , P. D. J. (1995). Pathways to defense of the self: a theory of two types of paranoia. Clinical Psychology: Science and Practice, 2, 263–276.Google Scholar
Supplementary material: File

Ellett Supplementary Material

Supplementary Material

Download Ellett Supplementary Material(File)
File 112.1 KB
Submit a response

Comments

No Comments have been published for this article.