Living a valued life with psychosis: the relationship between psychotic symptoms, illness beliefs, experiential avoidance and success at valued living

Abstract

BACKGROUND Traditional treatments for psychosis, both pharmacological and psychological, have focused on symptom reduction or symptom control. Alternative approaches to psychosis are now emerging which focus on the acceptance of, rather than the avoidance of, psychotic phenomena. These approaches encourage individuals to live meaningful lives alongside their experiences of psychosis. One way in which to facilitate this is to promote the identification of important life domains and the engagement in behaviours consistent with ones values.The aim of this study is to investigate factors associated with success at valued living in a sample of individuals who have experienced psychosis. The association between psychotic symptoms, illness beliefs, experiential avoidance and success at valued living is explored.METHOD Eighty-four individuals with experiences of psychosis completed standardised selfreport measures of beliefs about illness, experiential avoidance and valued living. The researcher rated an individual's psychotic symptoms with an interview-based measure. Data were analysed using correlations and path analysis, an extension of multiple regression.RESULTS Results indicated that success at valued living was best predicted by experiential avoidance. Neither psychotic symptoms nor illness beliefs were found to be directly associated with success at valued living. The clinical and theoretical implications of these findings are discussed.