1. Sensory and Quasi-Sensory Experiences of the Deceased in Bereavement: An Interdisciplinary and Integrative Review
- Author
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Anne Austad, Jacqueline Hayes, Pablo Sabucedo, Paul Allen, Matthew Ratcliffe, Karina Stengaard Kamp, Edith Maria Steffen, Ben Alderson-Day, and Frank Larøi
- Subjects
tilstedeværelse ,050103 clinical psychology ,Psychotherapist ,Theme: Hallucinations Research in a Time of Crisis ,Hallucinations ,AcademicSubjects/MED00810 ,persistent complex bereavement disorder ,media_common.quotation_subject ,Population ,sørgende ,Sense of presence ,population ,03 medical and health sciences ,0302 clinical medicine ,nonclinical population ,Theme Articles ,Humans ,0501 psychology and cognitive sciences ,Interpersonal Relations ,education ,Sociocultural evolution ,Persistent complex bereavement disorder ,media_common ,education.field_of_study ,Mental Disorders ,05 social sciences ,030227 psychiatry ,Psychiatry and Mental health ,auditory-verbal hallucination ,sense of presence ,Grief ,etterlatte ,Psychology ,Bereavement - Abstract
Bereaved people often report having sensory and quasi-sensory experiences of the deceased (SED), and there is an ongoing debate over whether SED are associated with pathology, such as grief complications. Research into these experiences has been conducted in various disciplines, including psychiatry, psychology, and anthropology, without much crossover. This review brings these areas of research together, drawing on the expertise of an interdisciplinary working group formed as part of the International Consortium for Hallucination Research (ICHR). It examines existing evidence on the phenomenology, associated factors, and impact of SED, including the role of culture, and discusses the main theories on SED and how these phenomena compare with unusual experiences in other contexts. The review concludes that the vast majority of these experiences are benign and that they should be considered in light of their biographical, relational, and sociocultural contexts.
- Published
- 2020
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