Is Chronicity a Function of the Relationship Between the Person and the Auditory Hallucination?

Thirty psychiatric inpatients each rated their relationship with their auditory hallucination using the Structural Analysis of Social Behavior questionnaires which assess partnerships in terms of interpersonal focus, love-hate, and enmeshment-differentiation. Results showed that all subjects had integrated, interpersonally coherent relationships with their voice. Qualitative differences in the nature of the relationships related meaningfully to diagnosis. Selected clinical excerpts suggested that the relationship with the hallucination may serve an adaptive function. Chronicity may be dependent on the nature of that adaptation.