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How Do Individuals with Persecutory Delusions Bring Worry to a Close? An Interpretive Phenomenological Analysis

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  31 January 2014

Helen Startup ,
Katherine Pugh ,
Jacinta Cordwell ,
David Kingdon  and
Daniel Freeman
Helen Startup*
Affiliation:
University of Oxford, and Sussex Partnership NHS Foundation Trust, UK
Katherine Pugh
Affiliation:
University of Oxford, UK
Jacinta Cordwell
Affiliation:
University of Southampton, UK
David Kingdon
Affiliation:
University of Southampton, UK
Daniel Freeman
Affiliation:
University of Oxford, UK
*
Reprint requests to Helen Startup, Department of Psychiatry, University of Oxford, Warneford Hospital, Oxford OX3 7JX, UK. E-mail: helen.startup@kcl.ac.uk
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Abstract

Background: Worry is a significant problem for individuals with paranoia, leading to delusion persistence and greater levels of distress. There are established theories concerning processes that maintain worry but little has been documented regarding what brings worry to a close. Aims: The aim was to find out what patients with persecutory delusions report are the factors that bring a worry episode to an end. Method: Eight patients with persecutory delusions who reported high levels of worry participated. An open-ended semi-structured interview technique and IPA qualitative analysis was employed to encourage a broad elaboration of relevant constructs. Results: Analyses revealed one theme that captured participants’ detailed descriptions of their experience of worry and five themes that identified factors important for bringing worry episodes to a close: natural drift, distraction, interpersonal support, feeling better, and reality testing. Conclusions: Patients with persecutory delusions report worry being uncontrollable and distressing but are able to identify ways that a period of worry can stop. The present study suggests that building on individuals’ distraction techniques, reality testing ability and their social support network could be of benefit. Research is needed to identify the most effective means of bringing paranoid worries to an end.

Keywords

Paranoiapersecutory delusionsworry.
Type
Research Article
Information
Behavioural and Cognitive Psychotherapy , Volume 43 , Issue 4 , July 2015 , pp. 465 - 477
Copyright
Copyright © British Association for Behavioural and Cognitive Psychotherapies 2014 

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