‘More real than reality’: a study of voice hearing

I've just come across this recently published paper by INTERVOICE supporter, Lis-Bodil Karlsson from Sweden, see abstract below:

"Hearing voices can be considered as elusive or illusory hallucinations in the sense that they are perceptions that have no external reason or even that they are divorced from reality. The aim of this article is to describe how participants in different focus groups account for and understand their voice-hearing experiences. The study shows that voice hearing can be such an overwhelming experience that it can even be experienced as ‘more real than reality’. Voices are strong and powerful experiences that sometimes convey memories from the past or difficulties that the voice hearer would prefer to forget but in fact has had to confront. The voices also influence how the voice hearer sees his or her future. This study contributes to our knowledge of the world and language of voice hearers from the perspective of social work."

International Journal of Social Welfare Lis-Bodil Karlsson (2007)
‘More real than reality’: a study of voice hearing
doi:10.1111/j.1468-2397.2007.00524.x