Description
TitleAnomalous world experience in prodromal schizophrenia: a case study
Date Created2021
Other Date2021-08 (degree)
Extent1 online resource (viii, 76 pages)
DescriptionThe discipline of phenomenological psychopathology addresses not just the symptoms which serve to diagnose psychiatric disorders, but also the alterations in the immediate experience of self and world associated to them. Studies have shown that schizophrenia, in particular, profoundly impacts subjective experience, and especially the core or basic sense of self. Using instruments such as the Examination of Anomalous Self Experience (EASE), disturbances of the basic sense of self have been found to be characteristic of both schizophrenia and its prodrome. Basic self-disturbance is considered to be accompanied, as well, by alterations in the experience of the lived world. A recently developed instrument, the Examination of Anomalous World Experience (EAWE), is designed to detect this kind of alteration (like the EASE, this is a semi-structured, phenomenologically-oriented interview). Initial studies using the EAWE have found anomalous experiences of the world to be present, to a significant degree, in schizophrenia-spectrum subjects. There have yet been no EAWE studies, however, on prodromal schizophrenia. For the present study, a participant considered to be at ultra-high risk for developing schizophrenia was interviewed using both the EAWE, and a structured self-report questionnaire that assesses self-disturbance, the Inventory of Psychotic-Like Anomalous Self-Experiences (IPASE). The EAWE and the IPASE yielded total scores, which were compared to those of previous studies. The EAWE interview was also analyzed using the descriptive phenomenological method for qualitative data analysis. This analysis identified general themes or structures of experience, which were in turn compared to themes identified by previous studies. In both degree and quality, the participant’s anomalous experiences were found to be comparable to those previously associated to the schizophrenia spectrum. The participant’s experience, however, also displayed features which, in certain respects, seemed to differentiate it from structures of experience considered characteristic of schizophrenia. This study showed that, through the analysis of anomalous world experiences, the EAWE can help identify both important parallels between schizophrenia and its prodrome, and also some of their possible differences. Further studies on anomalous world experience, therefore, could potentially lead to a more nuanced understanding of both the prodromal stages of schizophrenia, and the disorder itself.
NotePsy.D.
NoteIncludes bibliographical references
Genretheses
LanguageEnglish
CollectionGraduate School of Applied and Professional Psychology Electronic Theses and Dissertations
Organization NameRutgers, The State University of New Jersey
RightsThe author owns the copyright to this work.
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