Introduction
Dehumanisation.study is currently renewing its’ focus on a set of research areas that connect clinical language disturbance, large-scale social dynamics, and the pathways by which distress turns into harm. Our existing initiatives already emphasise psychological mechanisms and social processes (for example, how workplace and group dynamics can amplify harmful perception and behaviour), and this update situates three concrete threads within that broader mission.
Across the three areas, the shared question is practical: what changes when people lose reliable access to:
- Their own inner speech,
- reciprocal recognition inside large groups, or
- stabilising support from family and close ties.
The goal is to make these mechanisms legible enough to inform better formulation, training, and intervention—rather than treating dehumanisation as a vague attitude that “just happens.”
Three New Research Areas
- The first research area examines how disturbances in inner speech and verbal self‑monitoring in schizophrenia can produce disorganised language, especially when people feel others can “hear” their internal monologue. I want to link this to clinical concepts like risk formulation and the differentiation between disorganisation and cognitive decline in everyday conversations.
- The second area explores the social dynamics of groups that exceed Dunbar’s number, focusing on how prosocial behaviour and emotional labour are distributed and often go unrecognised (“kindness leakage”) in large workplaces and online communities. Connecting classic social network limits with modern platforms, reciprocity norms and facial/contextual similarity effects.
- The third area investigates how family size, family functioning and perceived social support shape whether distress is directed toward self (suicidal) or others (homicidal), particularly in psychosis. Methodologically, using the proposed Python‑based NLP on large anonymised text corpora to detect patterns in internal monologue vs real‑life actions, with the goal of informing new therapeutic and training approaches.
Review of Existing and Modern Research on The Above Areas
Below are snippets of some papers with a short summary of how they relate to the 3 main research goals. Each entry has the paper’s details, its abstract (or article summary where no formal abstract is given), and a short note on why it’s relevant to the ideas.
1. Guiral (2024) – Neuropsychological dimensions related to alterations of verbal self‑monitoring neural networks in schizophrenic language: systematic review (Frontiers in Psychiatry)
Reference
Guiral, J. A. (2024). Neuropsychological dimensions related to alterations of verbal self‑monitoring neural networks in schizophrenic language: systematic review. Frontiers in Psychiatry, 15, 1356726. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyt.2024.1356726
Abstract
Although schizophrenia has traditionally been interpreted as a disorder of thought, contemporary perspectives suggest that it may be more appropriate to conceptualize it as a disorder of language connectivity. The linguistic anomalies present in schizophrenia possess distinctive characteristics that, despite certain connections, are not comparable to aphasic disorders. It is proposed that these anomalies are the result of dysfunctions in verbal self-monitoring mechanisms, which may influence other neuropsychological dimensions. This study set out to examine the neuropsychological dimensions associated with alterations in the neural networks of verbal self-monitoring in schizophrenic language, based on the scientific evidence published to date. Exhaustive searches were conducted in PubMed, Web of Science, and Scopus to identify magnetic resonance studies that evaluated verbal self-monitoring mechanisms in schizophrenia. Of a total of 133 articles identified, 22 were selected for qualitative analysis. The general findings indicated alterations in frontotemporoparietal networks and in systems such as the insula, amygdala, anterior cingulate cortex, putamen, and hippocampus. Despite the heterogeneity of the data, it is concluded that language plays a fundamental role in schizophrenia and that its alterations are linked with other neuropsychological dimensions, particularly emotional and perceptual ones.
Why it matters here
This review underpins the first area by framing schizophrenia as a disorder of language connectivity and verbal self‑monitoring, directly supporting the idea that perceived access to one’s internal monologue can drive disorganised speech.
2. Whitford et al. (2025) – Corollary Discharge Dysfunction to Inner Speech and its Relationship to Auditory Verbal Hallucinations in Patients with Schizophrenia Spectrum Disorders (Schizophrenia Bulletin)
Reference
Whitford, T. J., et al. (2025). Corollary Discharge Dysfunction to Inner Speech and its Relationship to Auditory Verbal Hallucinations in Patients with Schizophrenia Spectrum Disorders. Schizophrenia Bulletin, sbaf167. https://doi.org/10.1093/schbul/sbaf167
Abstract
Auditory-verbal hallucinations (AVH)—the experience of hearing voices in the absence of auditory stimulation—are a cardinal psychotic feature of schizophrenia-spectrum disorders. It has long been suggested that some AVH may reflect the misperception of inner speech as external voices due to a failure of corollary-discharge-related mechanisms. We aimed to test this hypothesis with an electrophysiological marker of inner speech. Participants produced an inner syllable at a precisely specified time, when an audible syllable was concurrently presented. The inner syllable either matched or mismatched the content of the audible syllable. In the passive condition, participants did not produce an inner syllable. We compared the amplitude of the N1, P2, and P3-components of the auditory-evoked potential between: (1) schizophrenia-spectrum patients with current AVH (SZAVH+, n = 55), (2) schizophrenia-spectrum patients without current AVH (SZAVH−, n = 44), (3) healthy controls (HC, n = 43). The HC group showed reduced N1-amplitude in the Match condition (relative to Passive and Mismatch), replicating our previous results. In contrast, the SZAVH+ group showed the opposite effect: enhanced N1-amplitude in the Match condition (relative to Passive and Mismatch). The SZAVH− group showed reductions in the Mismatch condition (relative to Passive and Match). This study provides empirical support for the theory that AVH are related to abnormalities in the normative suppressive mechanisms associated with inner speech. This phenomenon of “inner speaking-induced suppression” may have utility as a biomarker for schizophrenia-spectrum disorders generally, and may index a tendency for AVH specifically at more extreme levels of abnormality.
Why it matters here
This EEG study takes a stance that it is physiological evidence of mislabelled inner speech driving hallucinated voices, directly backing your argument that beliefs about others “hearing” one’s internal monologue can reorganise language production. It fails to prove that the cause is physiological, via correlation not causation.
3. Bettis et al. (2024) – Narrative Forewarnings: A Qualitative Analysis of the Themes Preceding Disorganized Speech in Schizophrenia (Behavioral Sciences)
Reference
Bettis, R. J., et al. (2024). Narrative Forewarnings: A Qualitative Analysis of the Themes Preceding Disorganized Speech in Schizophrenia. Behavioral Sciences, 14(3), 212. https://doi.org/10.3390/bs14030212
Abstract
Disorganized speech is a critical barrier to recovery in schizophrenia, with profound negative impacts on ones ability to engage with the world. Despite the limited efficacy of existing treatments in addressing disorganization, a qualitative analysis of what leads to disorganization in patient narratives has been lacking. This study addresses this gap through inductive thematic analysis of 30 narrative interviews with individuals with schizophrenia, matched based on whether Formal Thought Disorder (FTD) is present. Through this analysis, we identified four core themes (alienation, interpersonal tension, personal benchmarks, and adverse experiences) and eight subthemes. Our findings suggest that disorganization may serve as a protective mechanism against psychological distress and highlight how the severity of FTD influences these themes. Alienation, particularly due to illness-related stigma, emerged more prominently in those with FTD. The themes of personal benchmarks and interpersonal tension pointed towards a heightened sensitivity to social interactions and self-perception among those with schizophrenia. Adverse experiences, encompassing past challenges, suggest a potential link between trauma and symptom exacerbation. Our qualitative analysis of what themes precede disorganized speech has implications for tailoring psychotherapy. By considering an individuals specific triggers and level of disorganization, therapy may be more effectively targeted to improve recovery-based outcomes. By identifying themes within patient narratives, this study advances our understanding of the qualitative aspects preceding disorganized speech in schizophrenia, paving the way for more personalized and effective recovery-focused interventions.
Why it matters here
This paper grounds the notion of “narrative forewarnings” by showing that disorganised speech often follows specific thematic pressures (alienation, interpersonal tension), aligning with a structural account of how conversations unravel. I am currently looking for more research, related to sociological relationships of groups and the “chemical reactions” that occur when groups with different insights disagree, in cases such as schizophrenic patients who have based their learning on fundaments from multiple disagreeing groups/mindsets.
4. Chen et al. (2021) – The Association of Suicidal Ideation With Family Characteristics and Social Support… (Frontiers in Psychiatry)
Reference
Chen, Y., et al. (2021). The Association of Suicidal Ideation With Family Characteristics and Social Support of the First Batch of Students Returning to a College During the COVID‑19 Epidemic Period: A Cross‑Sectional Study in China. Frontiers in Psychiatry, 12, 653245. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyt.2021.653245
Abstract
Objective: To investigate the prevalence of suicidal ideation among the first batch of students returning to a college during the COVID-19 epidemic, and to explore the correlation of suicidal ideation with family characteristics and social support.
Methods: A cluster sampling survey with a self-designed questionnaire was conducted among the first batch of students returning to a college in Wuhu, China. The Positive and Negative Suicidal ideation (PANSI) and Social Support Scale (SSRS) were used to define students’ suicidal ideation and social support, respectively. The influence of family characteristics and social support on the students’ suicidal ideation was investigated using multivariate unconditional logistic regression analysis.
Results: Two thousand seven hundred valid questionnaires were collected, including 673 males (24.9%) and 2,027 females (75.1%), in this study. A total of 146 students (5.4%) showed suicidal ideation. Male respondents reported higher rates (7.9%) than females (4.6%). Multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that a higher risk level of residence before returning to school and lower objective support were the risk factors for suicidal ideation in males. In contrast, a higher level of maternal education, a poorer relationship with the mother, and lower scores for subjective support and support availability had significant effects on females’ suicidal ideation.
Limitations: This is a cross-sectional study, and lacks comparison to the time point unaffected by COVID-19. Moreover, it was limited by COVID-19 epidemic prevention and control restrictions, and the differences in returning.
Why it matters here
This study links suicidal ideation directly to family characteristics and perceived social support, feeding into the third area on how family size and perceived value shape whether distress turns inward or outward.
5. Dou et al. (2022) – Family and Psychosocial Functioning in Bipolar Disorder: The Mediating Effects of Social Support, Resilience and Suicidal Ideation (Frontiers in Psychology)
Reference
Dou, W., et al. (2022). Family and Psychosocial Functioning in Bipolar Disorder: The Mediating Effects of Social Support, Resilience and Suicidal Ideation. Frontiers in Psychology, 12, 807546. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.807546
Abstract
Patients with bipolar disorder (BD) may experience family dysfunction, which might result in worse psychosocial functioning through environmental and psychological factors. Research investigating the mediating role of social support, resilience and suicidal ideation on family and psychosocial functioning in BD is rare. The study aims to explore the predicting and mediating effects of social support, resilience and suicidal ideation on family and psychosocial functioning in BD patients. Two hundred forty-six patients with BD and sixty-nine healthy controls were recruited. The Family Assessment Device (FAD), Functioning Assessment Short Test (FAST), Social Support Rating Scale (SSRS), Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale (CD-RISC) and Beck Scale for Suicide Ideation (BSI) were used to assess family functioning, psychosocial functioning, social support, resilience and suicidal ideation, respectively. Bipolar patients exhibited worse family and psychosocial functioning than healthy controls. Family functioning, social support, resilience and suicidal ideation significantly predict psychosocial functioning in the bipolar group. Social support, resilience and suicidal ideation indirectly mediate the effect of family functioning on psychosocial functioning in bipolar patients.
Why it matters here
This paper demonstrates that family functioning affects psychosocial outcomes via social support, resilience and suicidal ideation, supporting the idea that perceived family structure and value modulate harm direction and risk.
6. Alemu et al. (2025) – Prevalence and factors influencing low social support from family, friends, and significant others among people with mental illness… (University of Gondar)
Reference
Alemu, W. G., et al. (2025). Prevalence and factors influencing low social support from family, friends, and significant others among people with mental illness attending a psychiatry outpatient clinic in Gondar, Ethiopia. (Preprint/early article) https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC12039110/
Abstract
Background: Evidence demonstrates a correlation between high social support and better health outcomes. However, people with mental illness are less likely to receive adequate social support to overcome mental health challenges when compared with the general population. The main objective of this study is to determine the prevalence and associated factors of low perceived social support from family, friends and significant others among people with mental illness attending a psychiatry outpatient clinic in Gondar, Ethiopia.
Methods: Data were collected from 636 participants attending a psychiatry outpatient clinic at the University of Gondar Comprehensive Specialized Hospital. Two individuals consented but did not complete the questionnaires from October 2022 to March 2023. A systematic random sampling technique was used to recruit participants. Perceived social support was measured with the Multidimensional Perceived Social Support scale (MPSS-12). Other questions assessed self-esteem, drug adherence, substance use and severity of illness, alongside sociodemographic factors. Variables were coded and entered into SPSS-28 software for further analysis. Bivariate and multivariate logistic regression analysis was conducted. Adjusted odds ratio (AOR) with 95% confidence interval (CI) and p-value less than 0.05 were considered significant.
Results: Prevalence of low perceived social support was 12.1% (N = 77). In the final regression analysis, several factors were associated with a greater likelihood of overall low perceived social support. These include living alone (OR = 2.40, CI = 1.24,4.63), having a relapse (OR = 2.13; CI = 1.13,4.02), family not participating in patient care (OR = 4.67; CI = 2.49,8.76), having moderate and severe objective severity (OR = 2.51; CI = 1.41,4.45), having low self-esteem (OR = 2.36; CI = 1.34,4.15) and having poor drug adherence (OR = 1.99; CI = 1.02,3.89).
Conclusions: Over 10% of people with a mental illness attending the outpatient psychiatry clinic reported low perceived social support. The study indicates that efforts to address low social support should focus specifically on patients, including those: living alone, having relapses, having families that do not participate in patient care, having moderate and severe objective severity of illness, having low self-esteem, and having poor drug adherence.
Why it matters here
These findings quantify which patients with mental illness are most at risk of low family/social support, giving empirical grounding for the proposal to algorithmically detect support deficits in conversational data.
7. Ayalew et al. (2021) – Suicide Behavior and Its Predictors in Patients with Schizophrenia in Ethiopia (Schizophrenia Research and Treatment)
Reference
Ayalew, M., Defar, S., & Reta, Y. (2021). Suicide Behavior and Its Predictors in Patients with Schizophrenia in Ethiopia. Schizophrenia Research and Treatment, 2021, 6662765. https://doi.org/10.1155/2021/6662765
Abstract
Background: People with schizophrenia (PWS) are at greater risk of suicide. However, suicide behaviors that occur in PWS are often overlooked, inadequately characterized, and not consistently integrated into treatment. Despite this burden and consequences in Ethiopia, there is a dearth of studies concerning suicide behavior in PWS. Therefore, this study is aimed at assessing the magnitude of suicide behavior and its predictors among PWS in Ethiopia.
Methods: An institution based cross-sectional study was employed. Data were collected using the structured interviewer-administered questionnaire from a sample of 300 PWS at Amanuel Mental Specialized Hospital (AMSH). The revised version of Suicide Behavior Questionnaire (SBQ-R) was used to assess suicide behavior in PWS. The data was collected from March 1 to 30, 2019. Binary logistic regression was performed to identify independent predictors of suicidal behavior at 95% confidence level. Statistical significance was declared at p value <0.05.
Result: A total of 300 patients with schizophrenia participated in the study. More than two-thirds of 203 (67.7%) of the participants were males, and 116 (38.7%) participants were between the ages of 28 and 37 years. We found that the prevalence of suicide behavior among PWS was 30.3%. Being unemployed (AOR = 3.65, CI = 1.32, 10.05), family history of suicide (AOR = 3.16, CI = 1.38, 7.23), substance use (AOR = 2.51, CI = 1.13, 5.59), current positive psychotic symptoms (hallucination (AOR = 6.39, CI = 2.86, 14.29), and delusion (AOR = 4.15, CI = 1.95, 14.29)) and presence of comorbid depression (AOR = 4.81, CI = 1.98, 11.68) were independent significant predictors with suicidal behavior in PWS.
Conclusion: The prevalence of suicidal behavior among PWS was found to be high. Hence, designing strategies for early screening and intervention is the most critical prevention strategy.
Why it matters here
This study ties suicidality in schizophrenia to specific clinical and social predictors, complementing the idea of using large‑scale text analytics to flag patterns in risk formulations.
8. Berardelli et al. (2021) – The Importance of Suicide Risk Formulation in Schizophrenia (Frontiers in Psychiatry)
Reference
Berardelli, I., et al. (2021). The Importance of Suicide Risk Formulation in Schizophrenia. Frontiers in Psychiatry, 12, 779684. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyt.2021.779684
Article summary (opening section, no separate abstract)
Suicide is a cause of early mortality in nearly 5% of patients with schizophrenia, and 25–50% of patients with schizophrenia attempt suicide in their lifetime. Evidence points to numerous individual, clinical, social, and psychological risk factors for suicide in patients with schizophrenia. Although recognizing suicidal risk factors in schizophrenia is extremely important in suicidal risk assessment, we have recently witnessed a change in suicide risk management that shifts the focus from suicide risk assessment to suicide risk formulation. Suicide risk formulation is dependent on the data gathered in the suicide risk assessment and assigns a level of suicide risk that is indispensable for the choice of treatment and the management of patients with a high suicidal risk. In this article, we extend the suicide risk formulation model to patients with schizophrenia.
Why it matters here
This review anchors your emphasis on “risk formulation” by showing a clinical move away from categorical prediction towards structured, person‑centred formulation—exactly the type of framework we are proposing analytic tools can support.
9. Gonçalves, Perra & Vespignani (2011) – Modeling Users’ Activity on Twitter Networks: Validation of Dunbar’s Number (PLOS ONE)
Reference
Gonçalves, B., Perra, N., & Vespignani, A. (2011). Modeling Users’ Activity on Twitter Networks: Validation of Dunbar’s Number. PLOS ONE, 6(8), e22656. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0022656
Abstract
Microblogging and mobile devices appear to augment human social capabilities, which raises the question whether they remove cognitive or biological constraints on human communication. In this paper we analyze a dataset of Twitter conversations collected across six months involving 1.7 million individuals and test the theoretical cognitive limit on the number of stable social relationships known as Dunbar’s number. We find that the data are in agreement with Dunbar’s result; users can entertain a maximum of 100–200 stable relationships. Thus, the ‘economy of attention’ is limited in the online world by cognitive and biological constraints as predicted by Dunbar’s theory. We propose a simple model for users’ behavior that includes finite priority queuing and time resources that reproduces the observed social behavior.
Why it matters here
This is the key empirical paper people can cite when talking about “kindness leakage” and the difficulty of sustaining reciprocal, emotionally meaningful ties in online groups far larger than Dunbar’s range.
10. Stsiampkouskaya et al. (2023) – To Like or Not to Like? An Experimental Study on Relational Closeness, Social Grooming, Reciprocity, and Emotions in Social Media Liking (Journal of Computer‑Mediated Communication)
Reference
Stsiampkouskaya, K., et al. (2023). To Like or Not to Like? An Experimental Study on Relational Closeness, Social Grooming, Reciprocity, and Emotions in Social Media Liking. Journal of Computer‑Mediated Communication, 28(2), zmac036. https://doi.org/10.1093/jcmc/zmac036
Abstract
We conducted a randomized-controlled experiment with 201 participants to investigate the effects of relationship closeness, emotions, and the receipt of Likes on reciprocal Liking behaviors. We found that individuals engaged in interchange-oriented social grooming by giving Likes to close friends regardless of whether they had received Likes from them before. However, when relationship closeness was low, participants mirrored their acquaintances’ behavior by reciprocating Likes for Likes. Additionally, high-arousal positive emotions mediated the effects of receiving Likes on the intention to Like other users’ content, but this result only held true when relational closeness was not accounted for in the model. Our study explains why people give Likes on social media and what factors shape their Liking intentions. The results of our study contribute to the existing knowledge of the social norm of reciprocity, social grooming, emotion regulation, relational closeness, and social media Liking.
Why it matters here
This experiment gives a concrete mechanism for the “kindness leakage” idea, showing how reciprocity and relational closeness structure prosocial behaviours (Likes) in large online networks.
Conclusion
These three research areas are the current focus because they meet in the same place: language and social cognition under load. Work on verbal self-monitoring and language connectivity in schizophrenia motivates the first thread’s emphasis on how inner speech boundaries can collapse into disorganised communication. Evidence that online interaction still appears bounded by stable-relationship limits motivates the second thread’s attention to “kindness leakage” and recognition failure in groups that scale past reciprocity capacity. And the project’s third thread aligns with the broader clinical movement toward structured, person-centred risk formulation—making it a natural landing zone for NLP methods that can surface patterns relevant to support, stressors, and risk pathways.
