Mindfulness of voices, self‐compassion, and secure attachment in relation to the experience of hearing voices

Abstract

ObjectivesDeveloping compassion towards oneself has been linked to improvement in many areas of psychological well‐being, including psychosis. Furthermore, developing a non‐judgemental, accepting way of relating to voices is associated with lower levels of distress for people who hear voices. These factors have also been associated with secure attachment. This study explores associations between the constructs of mindfulness of voices, self‐compassion, and distress from hearing voices and how secure attachment style related to each of these variables.DesignCross‐sectional online.MethodOne hundred and twenty‐eight people (73% female; M age = 37.5; 87.5% Caucasian) who currently hear voices completed the Self‐Compassion Scale, Southampton Mindfulness of Voices Questionnaire, Relationships Questionnaire, and Hamilton Programme for Schizophrenia Voices Questionnaire.ResultsResults showed that mindfulness of voices mediated the relationship between self‐compassion and severity of voices, and self‐compassion mediated the relationship between mindfulness of voices and severity of voices. Self‐compassion and mindfulness of voices were significantly positively correlated with each other and negatively correlated with distress and severity of voices.ConclusionMindful relation to voices and self‐compassion are associated with reduced distress and severity of voices, which supports the proposed potential benefits of mindful relating to voices and self‐compassion as therapeutic skills for people experiencing distress by voice hearing.Practitioner points Greater self‐compassion and mindfulness of voices were significantly associated with less distress from voices. These findings support theory underlining compassionate mind training.Mindfulness of voices mediated the relationship between self‐compassion and distress from voices, indicating a synergistic relationship between the constructs.Although the current findings do not give a direction of causation, consideration is given to the potential impact of mindful and compassionate approaches to voices.

The experience of mindful yoga for older adults with depression

“…Although this is similar in some respects to “being non‐judgmental,” “letting go” was mentioned specifically in relation to freeing themselves from self‐criticism arising from being labelled as depressed or ill. This seems to be in accordance with studies reporting that improvements in self‐compassion mediate the effects of mindfulness interventions on worry (Keng, Smoski, Robins, Ekblad, & Brantley, ) and self‐compassion is also a core element of mindfulness for voice hearers where participants learn to embrace themselves and their present experiences in order to build hope (Dudley, Eames, Mulligan, & Fisher, ). Letting go may also be an important mechanism of change in improving perceived physical well‐being, a qualitative exploration of yoga for chronic pain reported that participants reframed what it was like to be diagnosed and live with chronic pain, resulting in a reduction of distress despite the sensory aspects of pain being unchanged (Tul et al, ).…”

The link between self‐compassion and psychotic‐like experiences: A matter of distress?

“…As predicted, high levels of self‐compassion correlated with a low frequency of PLEs and with low levels of PLE‐distress. Thus, our study is in line with previous research, which showed self‐compassion to be associated with less prevalence of psychotic symptoms in people diagnosed with schizophrenia (e.g., Eicher et al ., ) and with less hallucination distress in people who hear voices (Dudley et al ., ). Furthermore as expected, the correlations of self‐compassion with distress were stronger than the correlations with the frequency of PLEs.…”

“…Following up on previous studies which found self‐compassion to be associated with less symptoms in a clinical sample (Eicher, Davis, & Lysaker, ) and with lower distress and severity of voices in voice hearers (Dudley, Eames, Mulligan, & Fisher, ), we investigated the association between self‐compassion, PLEs, and PLE‐distress in a community sample. Based on our assumption that a continuous phenotype underlies PLEs, community samples are expected to include a broad spectrum ranging from people experiencing none or few PLEs towards people with more frequent and/or more distressing experiences, indicating proneness towards psychosis (Mark & Toulopoulou, ).…”

Mindful Leadership: The Ability of the Leader to Develop Compassion and Attention without Judgment - A Case Study of the Leader of Buddhist Higher Education Institute

“…It is formed from the leadership actions when thinking, speaking, and listening to other parties. Previous studies also reveal that this mindfulness practice has a strong connection to the development of compassion to others in one's self (Dudley, Eames, Mulligan, & Fisher, 2018;Van Wietmarschen, Tjaden, Van Vliet, Battjes-Fries, & Jong, 2018). Thought the practice of mindfulness and the ability to 'stop' and bring out clarity from within.…”