The meanings and causes of hearing voices that others cannot hear (auditory verbal hallucinations, in psychiatric parlance) have been debated for thousands of years. Voice-hearing has been both revered and condemned, understood as a symptom of disease as well as a source of otherworldly communication. Those hearing voices have been viewed as mystics, potential psychiatric patients or simply just people with unusual experiences, and have been beatified, esteemed or accepted, as well as drugged, burnt or gassed. This book travels from voice-hearing in the ancient world through to contemporary experience, examining how power, politics, gender, medicine and religion have shaped the meaning of hearing voices. Who hears voices today, what these voices are like and their potential impact are comprehensively examined. Cutting edge neuroscience is integrated with current psychological theories to consider what may cause voices and the future of research in voice-hearing is explored.

Big Brother is watching us…and mind control is, in a real sense, a reality. What are we going to do about it? When one of his articles goes viral, Simon McCarthy-Jones finds himself, at all hours of the day and night, having the thought ‘check Facebook’. But was it really his thought? How often do you think of something, only for your computer spookily to feed you just the right ad. Or Google a ‘unique’ question, only for autocomplete to get there well ahead. In The Battle for Thought, psychologist Simon McCarthy-Jones unpicks the research into how our minds work and how it’s being used to manipulate us for corporate profit. He investigates what is meant by freedom of thought – a human right frequently invoked, but rarely defined. In the face of radically advanced surveillance and mental manipulation, McCarthy-Jones shows that there are solutions: many of the sources of threats to our minds – psychology, technology and government – can also offer us new ways to protect our freedom of thought. We can structure society to support free thought, finding a way for science and technology, coupled with social and political will and supported by the law, to liberate and enhance our ability to think freely.

This book draws on clinical research findings from the last three decades to offer a review of current psychological theories and therapeutic approaches to understanding and treating auditory hallucinations, addressing key methodological issues that need to be considered in evaluating interventions. Mark Hayward, Clara Strauss and Simon McCarthy-Jones present a historical narrative on lessons learnt, the evolution of evidence bases, and an agenda for the future. The text also provides a critique of varying therapeutic techniques, enabling practice and treatment decisions to be grounded in a balanced view of differing approaches. Chapters cover topics including: behavioural and coping approaches cognitive models of voice hearing the role of self-esteem and identity acceptance-based and mindfulness approaches interpersonal theory. Psychological Approaches to Understanding and Treating Auditory Hallucinations brings together and evaluates diffuse literature in an accessible and objective manner, making it a valuable resource for clinical researchers and postgraduate students. It will also be of significant interest to academic and clinical psychologists working within the field of psychotic experiences.

This book draws on clinical research findings from the last three decades to offer a review of current psychological theories and therapeutic approaches to understanding and treating auditory hallucinations addressing key methodological issues that need to be considered in evaluating voice hearing interventions. Mark Hayward, Clara Strauss and Simon McCarthy-Jones present a historical narrative on lessons learnt, a state of the art, and an agenda for the future. The text also provides a critique of different therapeutic techniques enabling practice and treatment decisions to be grounded in a balanced view of differing approaches. Chapters cover topics including: behavioural approaches cognitive models of voice hearing the role of self-esteem and identity acceptance-based and mindfulness approaches interpersonal theory. Psychological Approaches to Understanding and Treating Command Hallucinations will be of significant interest to academic and clinical psychologists working within the field of psychotic experiences.The book brings together and evaluates diffuse literature in an accessible and objective manner and will therefore also be a valuable resource for clinical researchers and postgraduate students.

Have you ever done something stupid, dangerous or self-sabotaging just to get one over someone else? Most of us have. Simon McCarthy-Jones draws on psychology, current affairs, literature and genetics to illuminate – whether we admit it or not – our spiteful side. What is that part of us that secretly wants our friends to fail? Did Americans put Trump in the White House just to stick it to Hillary Clinton? And then there are the legion of stories about toxic behaviour in supermarkets and over the privet hedge, ramping up to incendiary divorces, vicious business practices, backbiting politics and scorched-earth terrorism. There’s a hopeful message too – the upside of our dark side. Spite can drive us forward, and Simon provides a fresh perspective on the concept by showing the evolutionary benefits of spite as a social leveller, an enabler of defiance, a wellspring of freedom and a vital weapon in our everyday armoury.

The meanings and causes of hearing voices that others cannot hear (auditory verbal hallucinations, in psychiatric parlance) have been debated for thousands of years. Voice-hearing has been both revered and condemned, understood as a symptom of disease as well as a source of otherworldly communication. Those hearing voices have been viewed as mystics, potential psychiatric patients or simply just people with unusual experiences, and have been beatified, esteemed or accepted, as well as drugged, burnt or gassed. This book travels from voice-hearing in the ancient world through to contemporary experience, examining how power, politics, gender, medicine and religion have shaped the meaning of hearing voices. Who hears voices today, what these voices are like and their potential impact are comprehensively examined. Cutting edge neuroscience is integrated with current psychological theories to consider what may cause voices and the future of research in voice-hearing is explored.

The experience of 'hearing voices', once associated with lofty prophetic communications, has fallen low. Today, the experience is typically portrayed as an unambiguous harbinger of madness caused by a broken brain, an unbalanced mind, biology gone wild. Yet an alternative account, forged predominantly by people who hear voices themselves, argues that hearing voices is an understandable response to traumatic life-events. There is an urgent need to overcome the tensions between these two ways of understanding 'voice hearing'. Simon McCarthy-Jones considers neuroscience, genetics, religion, history, politics and not least the experiences of many voice hearers themselves. This enables him to challenge established and seemingly contradictory understandings and to create a joined-up explanation of voice hearing that is based on evidence rather than ideology.