The Experience of Voices in Borderline Personality Disorder

This thesis comprehensively explored multisensory hallucinations (e.g., verbal, visual, olfactory, tactile) and delusions in Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD), and compared those experiences to schizophrenia spectrum disorder. It aimed to better understand the phenomenology of these psychotic experiences. It also explored the aetiological foundations of auditory verbal hallucination (AVH) proneness in BPD by investigating childhood trauma, anxiety, depression and dissociation as plausible mechanisms. The findings support assertions that people with BPD experience significant hallucinations and delusions, and uniquely provide an important step in understanding the aetiology of AVH in BPD.