Psychosis as a dialectic of aha- and anti-aha-experiences: a qualitative study

Experiences of sudden and abrupt insight, sometimes termed aha-experiences, are often reported during psychosis. The aha-experience is described as a radical and sudden restructuring, realization or change in understanding. Based on personal experience, we argued that alongside this aha-experience exists theanti-aha-experience. The anti-aha-experience refers to an experience of sudden insight that does not fit within one's framework, convictions or worldview and has an undermining effect. We have conceptualized psychosis as a dialectic of aha- and anti-aha-experiences and argue that a dialectic tension between aha- and anti-aha experiences undermines a stable personal perspective. In this study, we set out to investigate whether individuals with lived experience of psychosis do indeed report forms of sudden insight, and particularly if they report aha- and anti-aha-experiences, and the dialectic between them. We therefore conducted 21 in-depth interviews and 6 focus groups with individuals with lived experience of psychosis and analyzed the transcripts using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis. The findings show that these phenomena are indeed often reported and could play a significant role in psychosis. Integrating these phenomena into our understanding of psychosis could help to better grasp the lived experience of individual patients and additionally inform other forms of research on psychosis.

Automated summary

Sudden insights, both aha and anti-aha experiences, are often reported by individuals with psychosis. The dialectic tension between these experiences may undermine a stable personal perspective.