Understanding Voice-Hearing Experiences in Non-Clinical Populations: A Literature Review

Voice-hearing experiences (VHEs), commonly known as auditory verbal hallucinations, can range from mild to severe, rare to frequent, and negative to positive. There has been a significant increase in studies focusing on non-clinical voice-hearing experiences as compared with clinical groups. However, not many studies have investigated these experiences occurring solely in non-clinical populations. Studies investigating voice-hearing experiences in the non-clinical population were reviewed in the present study as an attempt to examine how these experiences are understood and interpreted in healthy voice-hearing groups. Four electronic databases were searched for empirical papers from 2010 onwards for voice-hearing experiences in the non-clinical population resulting in the selection of 7 papers at the end. As a result of the review, it was found that VHEs in this population are more likely to have positive voice content with voices perceived as more benevolent, a better relationship is found between the voice and the voice-hearer, an explanatory framework to situate one's experiences to understand and ultimately accept them, and therefore, no or minimal related distress. The findings of this present review may have broad implications for clinical practice, awareness and understanding of mental health in the general population.