Abstract
Purpose: The purpose of this study was to gain a multidimensional understanding of patients' cognitive awareness of auditory hallucinations and how those hallucinations affect them using an interview manual based on cognitive therapy theories. Methods: We interviewed four patients (48.3±9.9years; 2 males, 2females) hospitalized in the acute ward for schizophrenia and examined data concerning the situation, content, and cognitive awareness of hallucinations, their emotional, physical, and behavioral impact, and the subjects' coping methods. Results and Observations: Through analysis of the data, we were able to identify the cognition of being dominated by hallucinations, the cognition that auditory hallucinations were real, and healthy cognition. In addition, it was also possible to determine the conditions under which auditory hallucinations occurred as a consecutive process and the effect of hallucinations on the subjects' emotional, physical, and behavioral state. The results indicate that using the interview manual to interview patients can help nurses and patients to share information about auditory hallucinations and thereby facilitate individualized nursing care. Using the interview manual also makes it possible to determine the effectiveness of, or problems with, coping methods and to obtain important information for effective nursing care.
