A Phenomenological Approach to Psychopathology of Imagination: Development of a Descriptive Instrument – Examination of Anomalous Fantasy and Imagination

Rasmussen, Andreas Rosén; Stephensen, Helene; Nordgaard, Julie; Parnas, Josef

doi:10.1159/000488463

Cited by 6 publications

(7 citation statements)

References 9 publications

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“…The interviewer (A.R.) is a resident in psychiatry with 5 years of clinical experience at the time of the study and previous research experience [68,70]. A.R.…”

Section: Assessmentmentioning

confidence: 99%

Schizophrenia-spectrum psychopathology in obsessive–compulsive disorder: an empirical study

Rasmussen

Nordgaard

Parnas

2019

Eur Arch Psychiatry Clin Neurosci

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The differential diagnosis of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) and schizophrenia-spectrum disorders can be difficult. In the current diagnostic criteria, basic concepts such as obsession and delusion overlap. This study examined lifetime schizophrenia-spectrum psychopathology, including subtle schizotypal symptomatology and subjective anomalies such as self-disorders, in a sample diagnosed with OCD in a specialized setting. The study also examined the differential diagnostic potential of the classic psychopathological notions of true obsession ('with resistance') and pseudo-obsession. The study involved 42 outpatients diagnosed with OCD at two clinics specialized in the treatment of OCD. The patients underwent semi-structured, narrative interviews assessing a comprehensive battery of psychopathological instruments. The final lifetime research-diagnosis was based on a consensus between a senior clinical psychiatrist and an experienced research clinician. The study found that 29% of the patients fulfilled criteria of schizophrenia or another non-affective psychosis as main, lifetime DSM-5 research-diagnosis. Another 33% received a research-diagnosis of schizotypal personality disorder, 10% a research-diagnosis of major depression and 29% a main research-diagnosis of OCD. Self-disorders aggregated in the schizophrenia-spectrum groups. True obsessions had a specificity of 93% and a sensitivity of 58% for a main diagnosis of OCD. In conclusion, a high proportion of clinically diagnosed OCD patients fulfilled diagnostic criteria of a schizophrenia-spectrum disorder. The conspicuous obsessive-compulsive symptomatology may have resulted in a disregard of psychotic symptoms and other psychopathology. Furthermore, the differentiation of obsessions from related psychopathological phenomena is insufficient and a conceptual and empirical effort in this domain is required in the future.

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“…The interviewer (A.R.) is a resident in psychiatry with 5 years of clinical experience at the time of the study and previous research experience [68,70]. A.R.…”

Section: Assessmentmentioning

confidence: 99%

Schizophrenia-spectrum psychopathology in obsessive–compulsive disorder: an empirical study

Rasmussen

Nordgaard

Parnas

2019

Eur Arch Psychiatry Clin Neurosci

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“…These authors have also developed a psychometric instrument: Examination of Anomalous Fantasy and Imagination (EAFI) [2]. This tool allows semistructured phenomenological exploration of disorders of imagination with good psychometric qualities [19] and diagnostic discrimination of schizophrenia and schizotypal disorder [20]. These results have not been replicated to date.…”

Section: Psychopathology Of Imaginationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Imagination and Self Disorders in Schizophrenia: A Review

Gozé

Fazakas

2020

Psychopathology

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Anomalies of imagination are frequent and handicapping in schizophrenia spectrum disorders (SSDs) but neglected in psychopathology due to the lack of a conceptual framework to model disorders of imagination. Recently, the link between minimal self disorders and pathology of imagination has been emphasized. The aim of the present article is to discuss this initiative by stressing their paradigm drawing on the recent imaginary turn in phenomenological research. Although this field of research is currently very active in philosophy, there are very few translational approaches in psychopathology or cognitive sciences. In this paper, we examine how contemporary research concerning fantasy and imagination can lead to the elaboration of an epistemological and phenomenological framework for schizophrenia research. We first examine the psychopathological literature on anomalous fantasy and imagination in SSDs. Then we propose an exhaustive overview of the imaginary turn of philosophical phenomenology. Further, we examine the theoretical and practical implications of such a recasting of phenomenological research. We show how fantasy and imagination are involved in the embodiment process, and how identity and imagination are interlinked. Finally, we propose an overview of the possible implications for the understanding of psychotherapeutic processes and recovery strategies.

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“…Thus, it became apparent that this area required further phenomenological and conceptual clarification. Subsequently, we have over a period of several years explored salient features of disturbed imagination in a variety of psychiatric patients ( 1 , 2 , 16 ) and have developed an instrument, the Examination of Anomalous Fantasy and Imagination (EAFI) ( 17 ), assessing these experiential anomalies in a semi-structured, phenomenologically-oriented interview (see Supplementary Table 1 , for a brief overview of the items).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The image may have an autonomous development, independently of the will of the subject (“like a movie”), and there may be a profound experiential distance between the experience of imagery and the sense of self (“I observe what happens in my head”). Besides spatialization of imagination, other clinically significant anomalies include a predominance of fantasy life, various idiosyncratic existential contents and subtle “as-if” disturbances of the tacit discrimination of fantasy from other experiential modalities such as memory ( 1 , 2 , 16 ). A broad range of ideations (such as “daydreams,” “fears,” anticipations, intrusions, paranoid or suicidal ideation) can involve such structural disturbances of imaginative experience.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Anomalies of Imagination, Self-Disorders, and Schizophrenia Spectrum Psychopathology: A Network Analysis

et al. 2022

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BackgroundAnomalies of imagination encompass disturbances of the basic experiential structure of fantasies and imagery that can be explored in a semi-structured way with the Examination of Anomalous Fantasy and Imagination (EAFI). We aimed (1) to examine the distribution of anomalies of imagination among different diagnostic groups and a group of healthy controls, and (2) to examine their relation with disorders of basic self, perceptual disturbances and canonical state psychopathology of the schizophrenia-spectrum (positive, negative and general symptoms).MethodsThe 81 participants included patients with schizophrenia or other non-affective psychosis (N = 32), schizotypal personality disorder (N = 15) or other mental illness (N = 16) and healthy controls (N = 18). The assessment encompassed EAFI, Examination of Anomalous Self-Experience (EASE), parts of Bonn Scale for the Assessment of Basic Symptoms (BSABS) and Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS). For network analysis, the associations of EAFI with the other psychopathological variables were tested by Pearson's correlation coefficient and graphically represented using multidimensional clustering. Comparisons between correlations in the network were tested with Steiger's test.ResultsAnomalies of imagination aggregated significantly in schizophrenia-spectrum disorders compared to other mental illness and healthy controls with no difference between schizophrenia and schizotypal disorder. In the network analysis, anomalies of imagination were closely inter-connected with self-disorders. Although, the anomalies of imagination correlated moderately with perceptual disturbance and positive, negative and general state symptomatology, these dimensions aggregated separately and relatively distant in the network.ConclusionsThe results support that anomalies of imagination are highly characteristic of schizophrenia-spectrum disorders and closely related to self-disorders.

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A Phenomenological Approach to Psychopathology of Imagination: Development of a Descriptive Instrument – Examination of Anomalous Fantasy and Imagination

Cited by 6 publications

References 9 publications

Schizophrenia-spectrum psychopathology in obsessive–compulsive disorder: an empirical study

Schizophrenia-spectrum psychopathology in obsessive–compulsive disorder: an empirical study

Imagination and Self Disorders in Schizophrenia: A Review

Anomalies of Imagination, Self-Disorders, and Schizophrenia Spectrum Psychopathology: A Network Analysis

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