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Worry has been implicated in increasing the levels of distress associated with persecutory delusions. It may partly cause this distress via the impediment of emotional processing of upsetting experiences. The clinical implication is that enhancing emotional processing of paranoid experiences will reduce distress. We therefore piloted a new brief intervention-the Emotional Processing and Metacognitive Awareness (EPMA)-on 12 patients with persistent persecutory delusions. The intervention was predominately influenced by written emotional disclosure and lasted for three sessions. The delusions were assessed at baseline, preintervention and postintervention and during a one-month follow-up. It was found that EPMA particularly reduced levels of delusion distress, and this was maintained at follow-up. The effect sizes were large but were likely overestimated given the absence of a control group and assessments that were not blind. These preliminary findings suggest that simply encouraging patients to talk, in the right way, about their delusions can be beneficial.

Original publication

DOI

10.1097/NMD.0b013e318229cfa8

Type

Journal article

Journal

J Nerv Ment Dis

Publication Date

09/2011

Volume

199

Pages

653 - 658

Keywords

Adolescent, Adult, Awareness, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, Delusions, Emotions, Female, Follow-Up Studies, Humans, Male, Middle Aged, Paranoid Disorders, Pilot Projects, Psychiatric Status Rating Scales, Surveys and Questionnaires, Treatment Outcome