Detecting Childhood Trauma Through Speech in Schizophrenia: A Case Study

What is it about?

This study proposes listening differently to how a person with schizophrenia speaks. We conducted a deep, qualitative analysis of two real-world conversations from a single case: a clinical interview and a home visit. Instead of generalizing, we focused on identifying specific, reproducible patterns in his speech. The analysis revealed a coherent structure: the patient's grammar was often locked into accusatory questions, his vocabulary was narrowly focused on threat, and his narrative jumped between topics in a way that suggested hidden traumatic memories. His communication style changed dramatically depending on whether he was speaking to a clinician or a family member. This case provides strong evidence that for this individual, traumatic experience was not just a memory but a fundamental organiser of his moment-to-moment communication.

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