Evidence map›Paper›PMID 39552265›Full record

ArticlePsychology and psychotherapy2025

Visual hallucinations in psychosis: What do people actually see?

Charlotte Aynsworth, Felicity Waite, Samuel Sargeant, Clara Humpston, Robert Dudley

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Psychology and psychotherapy, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 2 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
2citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

2 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Article
  2. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

5 authors.

Charlotte AynsworthCumbria, Northumberland, Tyne and Wear NHS Foundation Trust, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK.ORCID 0000-0002-2183-8203
Felicity WaiteDepartment of Experimental Psychology, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK.
Samuel SargeantDepartment of English Literature and Creative Writing, The Open University, Milton Keynes, UK.ORCID 0000-0002-7661-5488
Clara HumpstonDepartment of Psychology, University of York, York, UK.
Robert DudleyCumbria, Northumberland, Tyne and Wear NHS Foundation Trust, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK.

Funding

National Institute for Health and Care ResearchNational Institute Health and Care Research (NIHR) NIHR302871NIHR Applied Research Collaboration (ARC) North East and North Cumbria NIHR200173Wellcome TrustWellcome Trust 102176/B/13/Z
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundOne in three people with psychosis experience visions. However, little is known about what people see, and current treatments have limited benefits.

objectivesTo improve the understanding and treatment of visions, this study explored the phenomenology of visions in people with psychosis.

methodsTwelve people with psychosis participated in semi-structured interviews. Reflective thematic analysis was used.

resultsThree main themes were generated covering important aspects of phenomenology: 'Content', 'Coherence' and 'Quality'. The first theme 'Content: People see people', demonstrated that the most distressing visions were of people. The second theme 'Coherence: Visions of people who behave like people', captured how visions were coherent with real human behaviour, often by being multimodal experiences that spoke to and touched the observer. The third theme, 'Quality: They look too real' highlighted the compelling sense of authenticity of the visions, making them indistinguishable from reality.

conclusionVisions represent what we expect to see in everyday life: people, who act and look real. This powerful combination provides insight into the absorbing and all-encompassing nature of visions and their impact on participant's lives. The framework of 'Content', 'Coherence' and 'Quality' provides guidance to support clinicians and researchers to better explore the phenomenology of visions in psychosis.

Indexed as

HallucinationsPsychotic DisordersAdultFemaleHumansMaleMiddle AgedQualitative ResearchYoung Adultpsychosisqualitative analysisreflexive thematic analysisvisionsvisual hallucinations

Identifiers

PMID39552265
PMCPMC11823304

What OpenQuestion holds

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Registered trials

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.