--- title: "Psych News Alert: Global Study Finds Some Members of General Population Report Psychotic Experiences" description: Psychotic experiences, such as hallucinations and delusions, are not restricted to individuals with certain mental illnesses—the general ... image: https://alert.psychnews.org/hubfs/Imported_Blog_Media/shutterstock_280598651-Jun-24-2025-06-30-20-6500-PM.jpg --- 5/29/15 12:00 AM # Global Study Finds Some Members of General Population Report Psychotic Experiences ![Picture of Psychiatric News Alert](https://alert.psychnews.org/hs-fs/hubfs/Psych%20News%20Email%20Banners/PN-Blue-Box_rgb.png?width=50&name=PN-Blue-Box_rgb.png) [ Psychiatric News Alert ](https://alert.psychnews.org/author/psychiatric-news-alert) Share: [facebook-f icon ](http://www.facebook.com/share.php?u=https://alert.psychnews.org/2015/05/global-study-finds-some-members-of.html) [linkedin-in icon ](http://www.linkedin.com/shareArticle?mini=true&url=https://alert.psychnews.org/2015/05/global-study-finds-some-members-of.html) [Twitter icon ](https://twitter.com/intent/tweet?url=https://alert.psychnews.org/2015/05/global-study-finds-some-members-of.html) [pinterest-p icon ](http://pinterest.com/pin/create/link/?url=https://alert.psychnews.org/2015/05/global-study-finds-some-members-of.html) [envelope icon ](mailto:?body=https://alert.psychnews.org/2015/05/global-study-finds-some-members-of.html) | ![](https://alert.psychnews.org/hs-fs/hubfs/Imported_Blog_Media/shutterstock_280598651-Jun-24-2025-06-30-21-5649-PM.jpg?width=200&height=166&name=shutterstock_280598651-Jun-24-2025-06-30-21-5649-PM.jpg) | | | --- | --- | Psychotic experiences, such as hallucinations and delusions, are not restricted to individuals with certain mental illnesses—the general population sometimes experiences these symptoms too, according to a [study](http://archpsyc.jamanetwork.com/article.aspx?articleid=2298236) published this week in *JAMA Psychiatry*. Researchers from the University of Queensland in Australia and Harvard Medical School analyzed data from the World Health Organization World Mental Health Surveys that included more than 31,000 adults to assess the lifetime prevalence of psychotic experiences among the general population.  The analysis revealed that 5.8 percent of those surveyed reported having at least one psychotic experience in their lifetime, with hallucinatory experience being the most prevalent at 5.2 percent compared with delusional experience at 1.3 percent. The results also showed lifetime prevalence of psychotic experiences was higher among women (6.6 percent) than men (5 percent), and higher among individuals who lived in middle-income (7.2 percent) and high-income (6.8 percent) countries than those in low-income countries (3.2 percent). However, the psychotic experiences were infrequent, with 32.2 percent of respondents with lifetime psychotic experiences reporting only one episode and 31.8 percent reporting having experienced two to five episodes.  “We are interested in learning why some people recover, while others may progress to more serious disorders such as schizophrenia,” John McGrath, M.D., Ph.D., a research professor in the Queensland Brain Institute and lead author of the study, said in a press release. “We can use these findings to start identifying whether the mechanisms causing these hallucinations are the same or different in both situations.”  For more on psychosis in the general population, see the *Psychiatric Services* article “[Treatment Seeking and Unmet Need for Care Among Persons Reporting Psychosis-Like Experiences](http://ps.psychiatryonline.org/doi/abs/10.1176/appi.ps.201300254).” (Image: Naeblys/shutterstock.com) [hallucinations](https://alert.psychnews.org/tag/hallucinations), [JAMA Psychiatry](https://alert.psychnews.org/tag/jama-psychiatry), [delusions](https://alert.psychnews.org/tag/delusions) ## Related posts [early identification of psychosis](https://alert.psychnews.org/tag/early-identification-of-psychosis), [psychotic symptoms](https://alert.psychnews.org/tag/psychotic-symptoms) ## [Neurocognitive Growth Lag Appears to Accompany Psychotic Symptoms in Children](https://alert.psychnews.org/2014/02/neurocognitive-growth-lag-appears-to.html) ![Picture of Psychiatric News Alert](https://alert.psychnews.org/hs-fs/hubfs/Psych%20News%20Email%20Banners/PN-Blue-Box_rgb.png?width=50&name=PN-Blue-Box_rgb.png) [Psychiatric News Alert](https://alert.psychnews.org/author/psychiatric-news-alert) 2/10/14 12:00 AM In a large population study, researchers found that children experiencing psychotic symptoms lagged... 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[ Read more ](https://alert.psychnews.org/2015/10/raise-study-shows-benefit-of.html) [![](https://alert.psychnews.org/hs-fs/hubfs/Imported_Blog_Media/DNA_iStock-508496956-Jun-24-2025-10-39-50-8982-PM.jpg?height=200&name=DNA_iStock-508496956-Jun-24-2025-10-39-50-8982-PM.jpg) ](https://alert.psychnews.org/2019/11/genetic-data-can-improve-psychosis.html) [schizophrenia](https://alert.psychnews.org/tag/schizophrenia), [ajp in advance](https://alert.psychnews.org/tag/ajp-in-advance), [psychosis](https://alert.psychnews.org/tag/psychosis), [North American Prodrome Longitudinal Study](https://alert.psychnews.org/tag/north-american-prodrome-longitudinal-study), [Diana Perkins](https://alert.psychnews.org/tag/diana-perkins), [genetic data](https://alert.psychnews.org/tag/genetic-data), [DNA](https://alert.psychnews.org/tag/dna), [polygenic risk score](https://alert.psychnews.org/tag/polygenic-risk-score) ## [Genetic Data Can Improve Psychosis Prediction Tool](https://alert.psychnews.org/2019/11/genetic-data-can-improve-psychosis.html) ![Picture of Psychiatric News Alert](https://alert.psychnews.org/hs-fs/hubfs/Psych%20News%20Email%20Banners/PN-Blue-Box_rgb.png?width=50&name=PN-Blue-Box_rgb.png) [Psychiatric News Alert](https://alert.psychnews.org/author/psychiatric-news-alert) 11/14/19 12:00 AM Incorporating genetic data into a clinical tool that predicts whether a person will develop... [ Read more ](https://alert.psychnews.org/2019/11/genetic-data-can-improve-psychosis.html) ```json { "@context" : "https://schema.org", "@type" : "BlogPosting", "author" : { "@type" : "Person", "name" : "Psychiatric News Alert", "url" : "https://alert.psychnews.org/author/psychiatric-news-alert" }, "dateModified" : "2025-06-24T18:31:37.061Z", "datePublished" : "2015-05-29T04:00:00.000Z", "headline" : "Psych News Alert: Global Study Finds Some Members of General Population Report Psychotic Experiences", "image" : [ "https://alert.psychnews.org/hubfs/Imported_Blog_Media/shutterstock_280598651-Jun-24-2025-06-30-20-6500-PM.jpg" ], "mainEntityOfPage" : { "@id" : "https://alert.psychnews.org/2015/05/global-study-finds-some-members-of.html", "@type" : "WebPage" }, "publisher" : { "@type" : "Organization", "logo" : { "@type" : "ImageObject", "url" : "https://alert.psychnews.org/hubfs/PN-Blue-Box.jpg" } } } ```