MAIN PROJECTS
The i4i Mental Health Challenge Award: Immersive virtual reality to transform the lives of patients with psychosis
NHS NIHR Research Professorship: Overcoming Persecutory Delusions
Oxford Virtual Reality (VR) for Mental Health
The Feeling Safe Study
Immersive Virtual Reality Cognitive Treatment (VRCT) for persecutory delusions
Daniel Freeman
PhD DClinPsy CPsychol FBPsS FBA
Professor of Clinical Psychology
- Lead, Oxford Cognitive Approaches to Psychosis (O-CAP)
- National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) Senior Investigator
- Consultant Clinical Psychologist, Oxford Health NHS Foundation Trust
- Psychological therapies theme co-lead, NIHR Oxford Health Biomedical Research Centre
- Founder of Oxford VR
- Fellow, University College Oxford
- Fellow, British Psychological Society
- Fellow, British Academy
Follow Daniel Freeman on Twitter
Research Group: Oxford Cognitive Approaches to Psychosis (O-CAP)
BBC Radio 4 Series: A History of Delusions
* Please note that from April 2023 I have moved to the Department of Experimental Psychology
Email address: daniel.freeman@psy.ox.ac.uk
The purpose of my work is to make significant advances in the understanding and treatment of mental health disorders, particularly the problem of paranoia. Drawing on a variety of approaches, including epidemiological studies, psychological experiments, clinical trials, and a ground-breaking virtual reality laboratory, I use the theoretical knowledge to develop carefully tested psychological treatments that will truly make a difference.
At the moment several randomised controlled treatment trials are in progress. This includes a test of a new targeted, personalised psychological treatment for persecutory delusions, called the Feeling Safe Programme. This is a translational treatment built upon advances by my research group in the theoretical understanding of paranoia. The target is a recovery rate of 50% for persecutory delusions that have not responded to previous treatment. There are also a number of studies running that will lead to a greater understanding of the causes of psychotic experiences. The research is supported by the National Institute of Health and Care Research (NIHR), UK Medical Research Council (MRC), and the Wellcome Trust.
I pioneered the use of virtual reality (VR) to assess, understand, and treat paranoia. Subsequently I have led work designing and testing new automated VR psychological therapies for mental health disorders. The aim is to produce VR therapies that produce greater clinical effects than face-to-face therapies. I founded and am a non-executive board member of Oxford VR, a spinout company from the University. Oxford VR built on my research into the use of virtual reality to understand and treat psychological disorders. I founded the company in 2016 with Jason Freeman, Mel Slater, Bernhard Spanlang, and Mavi Sánchez-Vives.
I’m also committed to making knowledge of the best psychological research and treatments for mental health problems available to the general public. Therefore I’ve written a number of popular science books on mental health issues. The latest to appear is The Stressed Sex: Uncovering the Truth about Men, Women, and Mental Health, which sets out to answer a simple, but crucial, question: are rates of psychological disorder different for men and women? This important issue has been largely ignored in all the debates raging about gender differences.
I studied natural sciences at the University of Cambridge, completed a PhD and a doctorate in clinical psychology (DClinPsy) at the Institute of Psychiatry, King's College London, then held a Wellcome Trust Fellowship and a Medical Research Council Senior Clinical Fellowship. In 2011 I moved to the University of Oxford and set up the Oxford Cognitive Approaches to Psychosis (O-CAP) research group. From 2015-2020 I was an NIHR Research Professor. I am the recipient of the 2020 British Psychological Society Presidents' Award for Distinguished Contributions to Psychological Knowledge.
Recent open access papers
COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy in the UK
Injection fears and COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy
Sleep disturbance and psychiatric disorders
Automated virtual reality cognitive therapy for patients with psychosis
Automated psychological therapy using virtual reality (VR) for patients with persecutory delusions
Coronavirus conspiracy beliefs, mistrust, and compliance with government guidelines in England
Automated psychological therapy using immersive VR for treatment of fear of heights
Virtual reality in the assessment, understanding, and treatment of mental health disorders
Treatable clinical intervention targets for patients with schizophrenia
The weeks before 100 persecutory delusions
The effects of improving sleep on mental health (OASIS)
Persecutory delusions: a cognitive perspective on understanding and treatment [pdf]
Suicidal ideation and behaviour in patients with persecutory delusions
The Dunn Worry Questionnaire and the Paranoia Worries Questionnaire: new assessments of worry
The revised Green et al., Paranoid Thoughts Scale (R-GPTS)
Virtual reality in the treatment of persecutory delusions
The concomitants of conspiracy concerns
Effects of cognitive behaviour therapy for worry on persecutory delusions (WIT)
Targeting recovery in persistent persecutory delusions
Advances in understanding and treating persecutory delusions
Height, social comparison, and paranoia: an immersive virtual reality experimental study
Key publications
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Journal article
Freeman D. et al, (2022), Lancet Psychiatry
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Journal article
Freeman D. et al, (2021), Lancet Psychiatry, 8, 696 - 707
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Journal article
Freeman D. et al, (2021), Lancet Public Health, 6, e416 - e427
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Journal article
Freeman D. et al, (2020), Psychol Med, 1 - 15
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Journal article
Freeman D. et al, (2021), Psychol Med, 1 - 24
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Journal article
Freeman D. et al, (2020), Lancet Psychiatry, 7, 628 - 637
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Freeman D. et al, (2018), Lancet Psychiatry, 5, 625 - 632
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Journal article
Freeman D. et al, (2017), Lancet Psychiatry, 4, 749 - 758
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Freeman D. et al, (2017), Psychol Med, 47, 2393 - 2400
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Freeman D., (2016), Lancet Psychiatry, 3, 685 - 692
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Freeman D. et al, (2016), Br J Psychiatry, 209, 62 - 67
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Freeman D. et al, (2015), Lancet Psychiatry, 2, 305 - 313
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Freeman D. et al, (2015), Lancet Psychiatry, 2, 975 - 983
Recent publications
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Journal article
Freeman D. et al, (2023), Psychol Med, 1 - 9
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Journal article
Isham L. et al, (2023), Schizophr Bull
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The Oxford Positive Self Scale: psychometric development of an assessment of cognitions associated with psychological well-being
Journal article
FREEMAN D. et al, (2023), Psychological Medicine
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Journal article
Finnegan SL. et al, (2023), PLoS One, 18
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Journal article
Sheaves B. et al, (2022), Clin Psychol Rev, 100
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Journal article
Altunkaya J. et al, (2022), J Med Internet Res, 24
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Journal article
Freeman D. et al, (2022), Schizophr Res, 250, 50 - 59
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Journal article
WAITE F. et al, (2022), JMIR Serious Games
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Journal article
Havers L. et al, (2022), Psychol Med, 1 - 13
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Journal article
Diamond R. et al, (2022), Mental Health and Physical Activity, 23
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Journal article
Isham L. et al, (2022), Lancet Psychiatry
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Journal article
Bain N. et al, (2022), Vaccines, 10, 1373 - 1373
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Journal article
Sheaves B. et al, (2022), Schizophr Bull
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Bond J. et al, (2022), Psychol Psychother
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Taylor MJ. et al, (2022), JAMA Psychiatry
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Journal article
Rek SV. et al, (2022), Sci Rep, 12
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Journal article
Hardy A. et al, (2022), JMIR Human Factors, 9, e29725 - e29725
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Grech L. et al, (2022), Behavioral Medicine, 1 - 10
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Day D. et al, (2022), Vaccines (Basel), 10
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Journal article
Freeman D. et al, (2022), Psychol Med, 1 - 12
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Journal article
Greenwood KE. et al, (2022), Psychol Psychother
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Brown P. et al, (2022), JMIR Form Res, 6
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Journal article
Waite F. et al, (2022), Psychol Med, 1 - 9
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Journal article
Freeman D. et al, (2022), Lancet Psychiatry
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Černis E. et al, (2022), Journal of Psychiatric Research, 148, 165 - 173
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Freeman D. et al, (2022), Psychol Med, 52, 794 - 795
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Brown P. et al, (2022), Human vaccines & immunotherapeutics, 1 - 8
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Rosebrock L. et al, (2022), Behav Cogn Psychother, 1 - 12
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Journal article
Bird JC. et al, (2022), Psychol Psychother
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Waite F. et al, (2022), Psychol Psychother
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Freeman D. et al, (2022), Psychol Med, 52
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Journal article
Nguyen M. et al, (2022), Asia Pac J Clin Oncol
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Journal article
Ward T. et al, (2022), Psychol Psychother
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Conference paper
Yu CJ. et al, (2022), Proceedings - 2022 IEEE Conference on Virtual Reality and 3D User Interfaces Abstracts and Workshops, VRW 2022, 868 - 869
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Journal article
Havers L. et al, (2022), Schizophr Bull Open, 3
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What moderates CBT for insomnia? Findings from a participant-level analysis of 8,549 individuals in 12 randomised controlled trials of digital CBT (Sleepio)
Conference paper
Miller C. et al, (2022), JOURNAL OF SLEEP RESEARCH, 31
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Journal article
Alsuhibani A. et al, (2022), PLoS One, 17
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Journal article
Gorisse G. et al, (2021), Sci Rep, 11
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Journal article
Černis E. et al, (2021), Schizophr Res, 239, 11 - 18
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Associations Between the Subdomains of Negative Symptoms in the General Population and Genome-Wide Polygenic Scores for Major Depressive Disorder and Schizophrenia
Conference paper
Havers L. et al, (2021), BEHAVIOR GENETICS, 51, 709 - 709
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Journal article
Bond J. et al, (2021), JMIR Res Protoc, 10
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Preprint
Brown P. et al, (2021)
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Journal article
Greenwood K. et al, (2021), Health Expect
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Journal article
Fazel M. et al, (2021), EClinicalMedicine
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Rek SV. et al, (2021), BMC Psychiatry, 21
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Altunkaya J. et al, (2021), Br J Psychiatry, 1 - 12
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Journal article
Freeman D. et al, (2021), Lancet Psychiatry, 8, 696 - 707
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Journal article
Garety P. et al, (2021), Efficacy and Mechanism Evaluation, 8, 1 - 90
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Journal article
Rek SV. et al, (2021), Eur Arch Psychiatry Clin Neurosci
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McInerney J. et al, (2021), Behav Res Ther, 144
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COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy in systemic sclerosis.
Journal article
Ciaffi J. et al, (2021), Clin Exp Rheumatol, 39 Suppl 131, 165 - 166
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The Oxford Agoraphobic Avoidance Scale.
Journal article
LAMBE S. et al, (2021), Psychological Medicine
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Freeman D. et al, (2021), Psychol Med, 1 - 24
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Journal article
Forkert A. et al, (2021), Behav Cogn Psychother, 1 - 13
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Journal article
Freeman D. et al, (2021), Lancet Public Health, 6, e416 - e427
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Journal article
Knight I. et al, (2021), Design for Health, 5, 98 - 119
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Preprint
Hardy A. et al, (2021)
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Journal article
Smith K. et al, (2021), Evid Based Ment Health
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Journal article
Garety P. et al, (2021), JAMA Psychiatry
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Kuhn SAK. et al, (2021), Psychol Med, 1 - 33
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Halldorsson B. et al, (2021), J Child Psychol Psychiatry
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Rosebrock LE. et al, (2021), Psychiatry Res, 297
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Journal article
Isham L. et al, (2021), Psychol Psychother, 94, 119 - 140
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Henry AL. et al, (2021), J Sleep Res, 30
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Rosebrock L. et al, (2021), Psychol Med, 1 - 10
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Bird JC. et al, (2021), Aust N Z J Psychiatry
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Černis E. et al, (2021), PLoS One, 16
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Reeve S. et al, (2021), PLoS One, 16
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Chadwick A. et al, (2021), Social Media and Society, 7
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Sheffield JM. et al, (2021), Front Psychiatry, 12
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Morrison AP. et al, (2021), Health Technol Assess, 25, 1 - 124
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Cardno AG. et al, (2021), Psychiatr Res Clin Pract, 3, 67 - 75
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Journal article
Freeman D. et al, (2021), Psychol Med, 51, 244 - 253
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Journal article
Černis E. et al, (2020), Behav Cogn Psychother, 1 - 13
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Freeman D. et al, (2020), Psychol Med, 1 - 15
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Waite F. et al, (2020), BMJ Open, 10
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Plomin and freeman honoured
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Plomin R. and Freeman D., (2020), Psychologist, 33, 14 - 15
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Sheaves B. et al, (2020), Behav Cogn Psychother, 48, 631 - 645
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Journal article
Sheaves B. et al, (2020), Psychol Psychother
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Morrison AP. et al, (2020), Lancet Psychiatry, 7, 788 - 800
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Journal article
Marshall E. et al, (2020), Psychol Psychother, 93, 639 - 655
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Journal article
Černis E. et al, (2020), J Psychiatr Res
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Brown P. et al, (2020), JMIR Res Protoc, 9
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Brown P. et al, (2020), Soc Psychiatry Psychiatr Epidemiol
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Journal article
Tsiachristas A. et al, (2020), Health Qual Life Outcomes, 18
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3. Schizophrenia spectrum disorders (schizophrenia,
schizoaffective disorder, short-term psychotic episodes)
Chapter
SHEAVES B. and FREEMAN D., (2020), European Sleep Medicine Textbook (Second Edition)
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Conference paper
Freeman D., (2020), JOURNAL OF NEUROLOGY NEUROSURGERY AND PSYCHIATRY, 91
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Journal article
Waite F. et al, (2020), Schizophr Res, 221, 44 - 56
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Journal article
Freeman D. et al, (2020), Lancet Psychiatry, 7, 628 - 637
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Journal article
Brown P. et al, (2020), Behav Res Ther, 132
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Journal article
Bird JC. et al, (2020), Schizophr Res, 220, 116 - 122
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Journal article
Brown P. et al, (2020), Scientific Reports
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Journal article
Brown P. et al, (2020), Sci Rep, 10
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Journal article
Freeman D. et al, (2020), Psychol Med, 1 - 13
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Journal article
Brown P. et al, (2020)
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BELIEFS ABOUT THE SELF AND OTHERS IN PARANOIA
Conference paper
Brown P. et al, (2020), SCHIZOPHRENIA BULLETIN, 46, S269 - S269
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Journal article
Lambe S. et al, (2020), Journal of Behavioral and Cognitive Therapy, 30, 33 - 40
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THE CAUSAL DYNAMICS OF PARANOIA IN PATIENTS WITH SCHIZOPHRENIA: A THEORY DRIVEN NETWORK ANALYSIS
Conference paper
Bird J. et al, (2020), SCHIZOPHRENIA BULLETIN, 46, S274 - S274
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Journal article
Freeman D. et al, (2020), Psychol Med, 50, 771 - 780
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Sleep disturbance and psychiatric disorders: the non-specific as essential in understanding and treating mental ill health
Journal article
FREEMAN D. et al, (2020), Lancet Psychiatry