For anyone who hears voices

I heard voices during psychosis. I was processing some heavy emotional trauma at the time. I like the way the presenter in this TED talk learned to work with the voices to gain insight into her emotional state. I tried that at first, but it became overwhelming. I hope to do better if it ever happens again.

Its a brief and inspiring story. She also mentions a helpful support group toward the end.

Eleanor Longden: The voices in my head | TED Talk

I don't (yet) hear voices. Just wanted to thank you, fern, for sharing the things you learn. I love TEDtalks and they go over well here.

I heard the voices of my dead grandparents. It was quite strange, but I rolled with it at the time. I wish I would have known it was a precursor to my mind going terribly wrong. Now I know to seek help immediately if I ever hear them again.

Mine just feels like I'm in a loud crowed room that I can't get out of. It's very uncomfortable.

I always have like a herd of people walking behind low mumbling, if I’m having trouble it just getting louder, then it just progressed to hearing actual works or them telling me to make an exit. That is when I need help and quickly. None of the voices are anyone I know.

My head is very loud right now.. but nothing I am concerned about at this point.

I’d love to hear Morgan Freeman talking to me he could just read a phone book lol

Yeah, it would be so much cooler if we could pick the voice. Lol. I hate to make light of something serious, but its good to laugh about it

I have heard voices nearly constantly but it's rarely now on the current meds I'm on. For the first time it's quiet and such a relief.it was extremely distressing to deal with. Thanks for the link, I'll check it out.

There's also a good book by Claire Bien called Hearing Voices, Living Fully, my therapist recommended it to me a long time ago and I bought it. And the Hearing Voices Network is a great organization too.

Right!

Ive heard voices saying single words. But once I thought my cable box was talking to me, saying things like "Look at me!" and "Talk to me!"

I hear persecutory voices almost all the time. They tell me that I am worthless, that everyone hates me, that I should kill myself. They boss me around and tell me they will bully me more if I do not obey them.

My psychiatrist and I have tried almost everything imaginable to get rid of them over the past five years. At times, they have gone away or at least been less aggressive, so I have hope.

Haldol seems
To make my brain calm the hell
Down but I take three
Doses a day

Same. But usually more like people talking loudly in the room next door. Its all muddled usually and I cant generally tell what they are saying. Sometimes they sound angry, sometimes they sound excited, and sometimes they just sound- normal.

Sometimes itll be a repeated word. Or a sentence. It is very rare for it to be longer than that. Has happened a small handful of times but most often not. Most often its not something telling me anything of importance so- really- “listening” to them- isnt an option

Do you find that the vibe of the voices matches your emotional state at the time? The speaker in the video began to use the voices she heard to gain insight into how she was feeling subconsciously. That methodology makes a lot of sense to me. I'm curious to know of anyone else notices a similar pattern. It might help to accept the presence of the voices a little easier.

It would be the difference between 'oh crap I am hallucinating voices again' and 'I've just been given a clue to something emotional I need to pay attention to and process'. I'd like to view what I experienced as a sort of gift given to me by my subconscious mind. Framing it only as the voices in my head is much less pleasant and strategically less beneficial.

thanks for this.

Maybe kind of a little though there isnt a direct 1 to 1 link or anything.

Lately my voices, when I have them, are fairly neutral sounding. Maybe its becauss I am medicated and am more mood stable than I am off meds. I do tend to have more scary- disturbing- visual hallucinations when I am depressed and off meds than I do at any other time. I tend to have odder hallucinations when Im off meds and manic. But my voices- I cant really connect them as much to any mood state, though I suppose maybe theres a connection there its just weaker than the visual hallucination connection.

Maybe its because my voices- 80% of the time- seem to be the same thing. Voices talking to each orher, just out of range to make sense of them, in another room. The only thing about that that can be different is the tone of them.

The other chunk, the 20%, might be more worth paying attention to me. I get religious voices in this chunk. When Im manic, its God, when I am depressed, its more “demony”. Those are people worth paying attention to because it can defintely represent my subconscious I would think.

Maybe Im just not good at noticing the patterns in them- mostly the 80%- yet. Its only been a couple of years since they started being a semi regular thing for me. And Ive gone on and off meds too often to really- be in any state to “work on them” because Ive just been too sick- too focused on wishing they would go away. But now- Im healthier- so maybe what you suggest- looking for patterns to work out my issues with- is a good idea.

Thank you for the suggestion and sorry for my longish answer!

I am guilty of the longish answers. No judgment

Perhaps a pattern will present itself now that you know you can think about it in a different way. I have been oblivious to so many of my mood, emotional and physical state cues my entire life. I am only now starting to pay attention and analyze the details. I'm a strategist and analyst by trade. I am working my way back to good after a really bad episode.

I decided to break down and analyze the systems of mental, emotional and physical health down the way I do any other system while working. I'm trying to review all the pieces and gather the details so that I can put myself back together and build systems that are stronger and more effective in the future. I quit my job, so my brain needed something to geek out on. Avoiding relapse seemed like a challenging and worthwhile problem to solve

So many of you have given me invaluable real world data and experience to lean on. Thanks so much for your contributions. Keep me posted if you ever notice any patterns worth noting.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Miguel'smom Mine just feels like I'm in a loud crowed room that I can't get out of. It's very uncomfortable.

That's what happens to me! It seemed to be of great concern to my pdoc, who put me on Abilify.



The TED talk is definitely interesting. I am confused, however, when someone suggests listening to the voices. If I give the voices that much attention they will become louder and more powerful. It seems that, in order to make use of the voices, one has to be absolutely sure that they are real entities...which is where I get stuck.

Does the "loud room" sound come from outside or inside your mind? In my head but I can listen to music in headphones loudly and it helps.

Does the loud room sound come from outside or inside your mind?

Outside. Always outside. Except some things that feel like they arent “my thoughts” coming to me as sort of messages in dreams. But thats only happened a few times and is a totally different thing. They sound as real- maybe a little weirder and “more unlikely”- but they sound as “outside my mind” as a tv would. Or a bunch of people whispering.

And

I tried to keep track of patterns for a while but- Ive had difficulty really getting any clear “results” because the variables keep changing so much.

Like, I keep stopping my meds. Haha. And my symptoms get worse. And then for a while I spend time recovering from that. And so lately, since the psychotic symptoms have become a bigger part of my life- I havent really had much of a period of time to notice any “treated” symptoms.

But if I do notice any patterns I am thinking I will try to track them. Because I mean, that can only be a good thing to do right?