Self Management strategies to control auditory Hallucinations among patients with Schizophrenia

The aim of this study was to assess self management strategies to control auditory hallucinations among patients with schizophrenia. An exploratory descriptive research design was used for the current study. The study subjects consisted of 60 patients from psychiatric inpatients units of El Abassia mental health hospital. Three tools were used to collect data for this study, TOOL (I): A Structured Interview sheet for the Socio- demographic and clinical data of Psychiatric Inpatients units. TOOL (II): frequency and distribution of auditory Hallucinations by Phenomenology Scale "Modified Version": TOOL (III): Structured interview sheet of self management strategies to control auditory hallucinations: The study results revealed that, there was statistically significant difference between behavioral strategies and both cognitive and physiological strategies. The effectiveness of cognitive and behavioral strategies of self management to control auditory hallucinations in male patients is more than in female patients. Based on the results of the present study, it can be concluded that patients can utilize self management strategies to reduce the characteristics and severity of auditory hallucinations and to experience a significant decrease in these symptoms. In the light of results of the present study, the following recommendations are suggested: Psychiatric health care provider (psychiatric nurse and/or psychiatrist) should provide accurate information to patients with schizophrenia, who have auditory hallucinations, about different self management strategies used by other hallucinating patients, to encourage further self effective self management strategies.