The experience of hearing voices



Last updated 11/06/2007




  • Why call this experience "hearing voices"
    Hearing voices is the best term that has been found to date and it is the way most people who have this experience refer to it. Read why we think so, here.
  • What is it like to hear voices?
    They are like normal voices, there is variety and every experience has its differences. You may think you have never experienced this, but are you sure?
  • Practical information for people who hear voices
    Voice hearers can find themselves experiencing an overwhelming world and their power of reason may be virtually extinguished making it impossible to go about their lives. Open discussion with others offers a means of helping you to accept your voices.

  • Practical information for family, friends and mental health workers
    To assist voice hearers it is important for mental health professionals to examine in detail the frames of reference and coping strategies that seem to be the most useful to the voice hearer. By doing so voice hearers can be supported more effectively in their attempts to deal with their experiences.

  • Three phases found among people who hear voices
    Anxiety, impact, organisation and stabilisation

  • Bereavement and hearing voices
    Voice hearing is commonly experienced following a bereavement. Some examples of research studies into this aspect of voice hearing.
  • Hearing voices and eating disorders
    "It is not very often you hear people talk about the voices that go along with having an eating disorder. I feel it is very important to talk about those voices because they do play a big role in keeping the eating disorder active." (Article by Colleen Thompson)
  • An exercise in how to replicate the experience of hearing voices
    The following exercise was developed by Ron Coleman as a way to simulate what it is like to hear voices and was developed to try to give mental health workers and relatives some insight into what it is like to hear intrusive, negative and commanding voices.
  • Hidden demons : A personal account of hearing voices
    In this article, academic Dr. Benjamin Gray recalls his experiences of dealing with voices that other people could not hear
  • Making Friends with Voices: hearing voices and dissociation
    'Making Friends with Voices' is a personal account of one woman's experience of hearing voices, dissociation and childhood trauma. It explores the inherent meaning hidden behind the voices, and looks at the therapeutic merit of cartoons and icecream for adult survivors of childhood abuse.





  • Further reading and references on experiencing voices
    Research and related articles on the experience of hearing voices









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    1. SeanAugust 06, 2007 @ 02:40 AM
      It has been detected, via MRI scans, that the part of the brain that deals with speech processing, is the part that becomes active when the so called Schizophrenic begins to hear voices. This processed information is then sent to the much more complex areas of the brain, being the parts that are responsible for the very creation of consciousness and its awareness. The areas that deal with the speech processing alone, are the areas that are very primitive indeed, and by no means can they be complex enough to create a complex mind, and voice, that argues with the victim in a manner that requires an extreme intellect indeed. But no one questions this. WHY ???
    2. NickOctober 30, 2007 @ 04:44 AM
      I have been hearing voices since late 2003. However I am pretty sure I am not crazy. There seemed to be people following me and such as well. It was like some big joke was being played on me. Sequently everyone on television started giving a hitchhikers thumb. I thought the T.V. was talking to me as it seemed to be a big fad. The t.V. was matching up with the voices in my head. I thought there was an internet site about me or I was on the radio or something. The movie stranger than fiction then came out years later. This coming from the phrase truth is stranger than fiction. I think I am a huge rumor and am trying to find answers. Please respond with any help.
    3. RjbDecember 16, 2007 @ 12:10 AM
      Hi nick, i get it. I just wrote a superlong comment addressing your concerns, ran out of space and acidentally deleted it. *sigh* i go through the same shit, have for about 13 years. Nobody has jumped out to say surprise. Either were being fucked with paranormally or we're crazy. At least we're cool enough to "see" ourselves on tv and in the movies, but you should know that it is very unlikley that human beings are monitoring you that closely... My thoughts align with 3d reality in a superfast interplay. I like to use he term synchronicity to describe it. Email me if you want and i'll share my other theories with you, roy.buck@gmail.com. I especially like the one about the paranormal prankster that has tricked people into thinking it is god! Good luck to you and fight the good fight! A clean concious is a great weapon out of this madness. And if it gets too isolating remember, animals dont lie.
    4. Fiona MelhuishAugust 24, 2009 @ 03:34 PM
      I had a 'voice hearing' experience for the first time two days ago. I woould love to talk to people who have had similar experiences, to know that I am not alone!
    5. Sue B.CAugust 19, 2010 @ 02:17 PM
      Hi. I have only just connected with this organisation and am so pleased to be hearing of other peoples experiences as I have been a voice hearer for about the past six years. I have been dealing with it more or less on my own as I have been resolute about avoiding the medication route and also have a strong aversion to being labelled by professionals. I am just beginning to be more open about what I am experiencing and think that this is probably what it must be like to "come out" for anyone who has felt the need to be closed about their sexuality because they are gay. It is a difficult time at the moment for my teen-age children as they have depended on me always to be strong and competent and I have put them through some terrible stress and anxiety. Fortunately we are a family full of love and are strong enough to want to try to hear each others feelings and to work to support one another, as a team. It has been easy for me,because of my voice hearing and it's associated difficulties to fall and become embedded in the position of 'the problematic one' in the family. We are all now aware that this is a way for the other members of the family to build a situation of distrust,disrespect and dissing(!) which is wrong and unhealthy for all of us. I hope that slowly but surely my children's trust in me will return fully and they will feel able to rely on me again as they always did when they were young. I think that it is true to say that we are a family who has had it's fair share of ups and downs and that the fact that I am a voice hearer is definitely one of the harder things for us all to adjust comfortably to. However,as with everything in life,openness and honesty is what allows us all to understand,process,empathise and grow and I am immensely fortunate to have two particularly wonderful children who have the courage and strength to do just that and a husband who no longer lives with me but who is now really listening to and making real efforts to understand and support me. My own theories about how I came to be hearing voices definitely have some similarities to other's on this page but I am currently trying to dwell less on how it is that I came to have this difficulty to focussing on dealing with it in such a way that it has the least negative impact on myself and others around me. This takes allot of strength,energy and self control but I am indeed a strong woman ! Love to all you fellow 'hearers'. What a bloomin' business this is!! xx
    6. Sue B.CAugust 19, 2010 @ 02:36 PM
      Hi. I have only just connected with this organisation and am so pleased to be hearing of other peoples experiences as I have been a voice hearer for about the past six years. I have been dealing with it more or less on my own as I have been resolute about avoiding the medication route and also have a strong aversion to being labelled by professionals. I am just beginning to be more open about what I am experiencing and think that this is probably what it must be like to "come out" for anyone who has felt the need to be closed about their sexuality because they are gay. It is a difficult time at the moment for my teen-age children as they have depended on me always to be strong and competent and I have put them through some terrible stress and anxiety. Fortunately we are a family full of love and are strong enough to want to try to hear each others feelings and to work to support one another, as a team. It has been easy for me,because of my voice hearing and it's associated difficulties to fall and become embedded in the position of 'the problematic one' in the family. We are all now aware that this is a way for the other members of the family to build a situation of distrust,disrespect and dissing(!) which is wrong and unhealthy for all of us. I hope that slowly but surely my children's trust in me will return fully and they will feel able to rely on me again as they always did when they were young. I think that it is true to say that we are a family who has had it's fair share of ups and downs and that the fact that I am a voice hearer is definitely one of the harder things for us all to adjust comfortably to. However,as with everything in life,openness and honesty is what allows us all to understand,process,empathise and grow and I am immensely fortunate to have two particularly wonderful children who have the courage and strength to do just that and a husband who no longer lives with me but who is now really listening to and making real efforts to understand and support me. My own theories about how I came to be hearing voices definitely have some similarities to other's on this page but I am currently trying to dwell less on how it is that I came to have this difficulty to focussing on dealing with it in such a way that it has the least negative impact on myself and others around me. This takes allot of strength,energy and self control but I am indeed a strong woman ! Love to all you fellow 'hearers'. What a bloomin' business this is!! xx
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