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Vulnerable Self, Poor Understanding of Others' Minds, Threat Anticipation and Cognitive Biases as Triggers for Delusional Experience in Schizophrenia: A Theoretical Model
Author(s) -
Salvatore Giampaolo,
Lysaker Paul H.,
Popolo Raffaele,
Procacci Michele,
Carcione Antonino,
Dimaggio Giancarlo
Publication year - 2011
Publication title -
clinical psychology and psychotherapy
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.315
H-Index - 76
eISSN - 1099-0879
pISSN - 1063-3995
DOI - 10.1002/cpp.746
Subject(s) - psychology , anticipation (artificial intelligence) , perspective (graphical) , schizophrenia (object oriented programming) , cognition , perception , delusion , social cognition , cognitive psychology , psychiatry , neuroscience , artificial intelligence , computer science
It remains unclear what processes lead to the establishment of persecutory delusions in acute phases of schizophrenia. Recently, it has been argued that persecutory delusions arise from an interaction among a range of emotional, cognitive and social factors. In this work, we explored this possibility by first discussing the relevant aspects of recent theoretical models of the causes of persecutory delusions. Then, we offered an analysis of the literature, illustrated with clinical observations suggesting that persecutory delusions are triggered during stressful intersubjective transactions by the interactions of (a) an alteration in empathetic perspective taking and in pragmatic understanding of others' minds; (b) a perception/representation of the self as vulnerable or subordinate and of the other as dominant and threatening; and (c) a hyperfunctioning of the threat/self‐protection system when faced with perceived danger. Implications for future research and treatment of people suffering from this symptom are discussed. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Key Practitioner Message This article was written without any economic support.