Exceptional experiences (ExE) deviate from the ideas of reality, epistemological concepts and scientific principles and laws established in modern societies. In this respect, ExE have similarities with mental disorders from the schizophrenic spectrum, which are characterized by a loss of reality, e.g. in a psychosis.

A paradigm discussed in the clinical mainstream is a psychosis continuum. Therein psychoses are seen as an extreme manifestation of a general disposition, which can develop from inconspicuous manifestations to mild mental health issues to the symptoms of schizotypy and schizophrenia. This takes into account that many clinically inconspicuous people report experiences that are not in line with scientific views. Exceptional phenomena can then be localized as subclinical symptoms on the psychosis continuum.

Equating ExE with psychosis or loss of reality is not consistent with various research findings. A psychosis continuum implies that frequent and intense ExE are clinically conspicuous, while infrequent ExE are still considered inconspicuous. However, studies show that people with meditation practice, near-death experiences or so-called “happy schizotypes” report frequent ExE, but do not show any greater or even less general stress than people in the normal population with a low incidence of ExE.

Against this background, we assume two different continua, a ExE-continuum and a psychosis continuum, which correlate with each other. To test this assumption, we investigated whether the ExE can be distinguished from psychoticism within the personality inventory in the DSM-5 (PID-5).

The results show that ExE are a separate, stable construct that cannot be subsumed under psychoticism (PID-5). The as yet unpublished results were presented in the IGPP colloquium lecture by Annette Zwickel on January 30, 2024 (see video recording).