Recovery From Paranoia: a Qualitative Exploration

Paranoia Clinical Trial

Official title: Recovery From Paranoia: a Qualitative Exploration

Status Completed

Clinical Trial Summary

Paranoia, the experience of undue or excessive mistrust, exists on a continuum which includes suspicious thoughts, ideas of reference, and persecutory delusions. Persecutory delusions refers to strong unfounded fears that others intend harm. These fears are very common. They affect around 70% of patients with schizophrenia. They can be distressing and make day-to-day tasks difficult. However, current treatments are limited and a significant proportion of people do not benefit sufficiently. Therefore, improvements in treatment are needed. A better understanding of the experience of recovery from paranoia will help inform theoretical understanding and treatment development. Currently we do not fully understand what causes paranoia to occur, persist, or end. As such, it is critical to understand the experiences of those who have recovered, in particular what elements encourage recovery. Therefore, the aim of this study is to gain a first-person perspective on how people recover from paranoia and what psychological processes are important for recovery from paranoia. Using a qualitative approach appropriate for exploratory research, semi-structured interviews will be conducted with 12-15 patients who have recovered from paranoia. Interviews will be analysed using interpretative phenomenological analysis, a qualitative research approach which aims to provide insight on how an individual, in a particular situation, makes sense of their experience.

Clinical Trial Description

n/a

Related Conditions & MeSH terms

• Delusions
• Paranoia
• Persecutory Delusion

• NCT number: NCT04824781
• Study type: Observational
• Source: University of Oxford
• Status: Completed
• Start date: June 9, 2021
• Completion date: February 16, 2022