Abstract

Insomnia has always been thought to be a consequence of schizophrenia and may be predicted by paranoid thoughts. Individuals with a diagnosis of schizophrenia have reported symptoms of insomnia, which can in turn increase psychosis. It is thought that these symptoms can come from decreased daytime activity, reduced cognitive functioning, or distress from psychotic experiences increasing arousal (Waite et al., 2016a; Hodgenkins et al., 2015; Stubbset et al., 2016). However, recent evidence has demonstrated that insomnia can predict later paranoid thoughts. Individuals with comorbid psychotic disorder and insomnia tend to have more severe psychotic experiences such as paranoid thoughts (Freeman et al., 2009; Xianget et al., 2009). The current study explores how insomnia affects an individual who experiences paranoid thoughts. It is expected that insomnia will increase paranoid thoughts in individuals who show varying levels of paranoid ideation ranging from sub-clinical to clinical levels.

Date of publication

Summer 8-26-2020

Document Type

Thesis

Language

english

Persistent identifier

http://hdl.handle.net/10950/2664

Committee members

Dr. Dennis Combs, Dr. Amy Hayes, Dr. Eric Stocks

Degree

Masters in Clinical Psychology

Included in

Psychology Commons

COinS