Explanatory Models for Voice-Hearing: How These Are Constructed and Evolve.

Voice-hearers use various explanatory models for their experiences, often differing from health care professionals' views. This study explores the development of these models, focusing on shared sense-making and navigating multiple models. Ten self-identified voice-hearers in the United Kingdom, all Hearing Voices Group attendees, participated in semistructured interviews. Reflexive thematic analysis led to the construction of four themes: others' role in sense-making, independent sense-making, model evaluation, and use of multiple models. Voice-hearers assemble models from multiple sources and evaluate models by assessing costs, benefits, and evidence, including voice qualities and content. This may lead to model shifts or using distinct models for different experiences. This complex process challenges the notion that rejecting an illness model necessarily indicates a "lack of insight." [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]