Voice hearers: a paradigm shift for schizophrenia

Abstract

The article questions the biogenetic conception of schizophrenia through the international Hearing Voices Movement and the recovery approach. It describes the International Hearing Voices Network, inspired by the research of Marius Romme and Sandra Escher, which holds that voices acquire meaning when analysed together with the traumatic life events that provoke them —up to 75% of those who hear voices have suffered traumatic experiences— and that recovery does not consist of eliminating the voices, but of understanding their messages and modifying the relationship with them. The author illustrates this approach with the case of «Peter», a young man diagnosed with schizophrenia and subjected to forced treatment, whose voices and delusions were revealed to be linked to sexual abuse and a rape in childhood; the work on meaning, the Maastricht interview and the mutual support of a hearing voices group allowed him to reduce his distress and rebuild his life. The role of nurses and other professionals in listening to the stories, contextualizing the symptoms and accompanying the search for meaning is vindicated.