Development, implementation and evaluation of Altered States of Consciousness: an immersive art exhibition designed to increase public awareness of psychotic experiences.

BACKGROUND: The arts can increase public awareness of mental health. Stigma about psychosis remains high despite common occurrences of psychotic experiences in the general population (e.g. hearing voices, seeing visions, and other unusual sensory experiences). Targeted approaches may therefore benefit stigma reduction. This project aimed to produce an immersive art installation that increased public understanding of psychotic experiences. METHODS: Development stages included workshops with people with lived experience, training actors to perform "voices", sourcing artworks, and producing a voice hearing simulation and video installation. RESULTS: The exhibition was implemented as intended, gained positive visitor feedback (N = 150), felt immersive, enhanced subjective understanding of voice hearing, increased compassion and was not unduly stressful. A production team meeting (N = 10) identified exhibition strengths, challenges, and potential modifications. CONCLUSIONS: This successful, large-scale pilot of an immersive art exhibition combined creative, academic, and experiential perspectives. It enabled visitors to "hear voices" and increased their understanding of psychotic experiences.

Altered States of Consciousness: Evaluation of a voice-hearing simulation during an immersive art exhibition.

AIM: To improve public understanding of the subjective experience of auditory hallucinations and increase empathy towards individuals who hear voices and have other unusual sensory experiences. METHODS: This pilot study developed a new immersive art exhibition, Altered States of Consciousness, which gave members of the public an individualized voice-hearing simulation experience in 2 real-world settings-an art gallery and the London Underground. A total of 150 visitors completed visual analogue scales immediately before and after their experience of the exhibition. RESULTS: Post-exhibition, there were significant increases in understanding what it feels like to hear voices, compassion towards voice hearers, and comfort in talking about these experiences. Participants enjoyed the simulation, felt they learned from their involvement, and did not find it stressful. CONCLUSIONS: The exhibition and voice-hearing simulation has further potential for public engagement and stigma reduction.

The experience of engaging with mental health services among young people who hear voices and their families: a mixed methods exploratory study.

BACKGROUND: Research shows us that auditory hallucinations or 'hearing voices' may be more common than previously thought, particularly in childhood and adolescents. Importantly, not all individuals are affected negatively by their voice hearing experiences, yet child and adolescent mental health services (CAMHS) have traditionally understood voice hearing as a symptom of psychosis and severe mental illness, with implications for the way interventions are offered. The purpose of the present study was to gain an understanding of how young people who hear voices and their families find engaging with mental health service, and to better understand their experience of mental health professionals. METHODS: A two-stage, mixed methods study was used. In the first stage, semi-structured interviews were carried out with two young people and their parents who had engaged with mental health services, and the collected data were analysed using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA). In the second stage, a questionnaire was designed to test the generalizability of the themes arising from the first stage, and was completed online by 32 young voice hearers and 27 parents. RESULTS: IPA analysis produced 4 themes: (1) The struggle to understand the hearing voices phenomenon; (2) Battle with the Mental Health Services; (3) 'Stuck in a limbo'; and (4) The wish for a more holistic approach from mental health services and professionals. The survey partially confirmed the findings of study one, with young people and parents finding useful information difficult to come by, and many reported feeling lost in CAMHS. Additionally, young voice hearers and parents often felt not listened to, and many parents expressed the need for a holistic care, whilst young people wanted a more normalizing and less stigmatizing experience. CONCLUSIONS: Young people and their families had varying experiences of mental health services. Whilst the survey showed that some young people and their families had more positive experiences, many expressed dissatisfaction. To fulfil the needs of young people and their families, mental health services would benefit from developing alternative approaches to voice hearing and running support groups that could form part of a 'normalising' and 'holistic care' package.

Emerging perspectives from the hearing voices movement: implications for research and practice.

The international Hearing Voices Movement (HVM) is a prominent mental health service-user/survivor movement that promotes the needs and perspectives of experts by experience in the phenomenon of hearing voices (auditory verbal hallucinations). The main tenet of the HVM is the notion that hearing voices is a meaningful human experience, and in this article, we discuss the historical growth and influence of the HVM before considering the implications of its values for research and practice in relation to voice-hearing. Among other recommendations, we suggest that the involvement of voice-hearers in research and a greater use of narrative and qualitative approaches are essential. Challenges for implementing user-led research are identified, and avenues for future developments are discussed.