In 1993, in an interview in the News of the World, the Hollywood actor Anthony Hopkins made a remarkable admission, he claimed he heard strange voices in his head,
“I’ve always had a little voice in my head, particularly when I was younger and less assured”, he said. “While onstage, during classical theatre the voice would suddenly say, “Oh, you think you can do Shakespeare, do you?” and he added; “Recently, I was being interviewed on television and the voice inside my head said to me, “Who the hell do you think you are. You’re just an actor, what the hell do you know about anything”.
Anthony Hopkins locates the root of his voice hearing experience in the insecurity he felt as a child, he says
I’ve always had a little voice in my head pulling me down, particularly when I was younger and less grounded…My school days were not always happy and I wanted to get away from Wales and be someone else. I was stupid at school, I just didn’t know what was going on. I thought I was on Mars, I didn’t know what they were talking about.
Many voice hearers share this description of the trigger for the voice experience and a recent survey showed that Hopkins is by no means alone. Social circumstances are related to the onset of the voices and examples of this include unbearable living situations, recent or childhood traumas, conflicts between the ideal and reality of people’s lives and the person’s overall emotional development.
This is very, very interesting! I have just found this site tonight after hours of reading and researching articles on “hearing music in the head”. I started hearing voices about 4 years ago, and to make it even more bizarre, the “voices” were singing. I thought at first that I was losing it. I hear out of my left ear-instrumental only music which sounds as if it is being played on a distant, static radio with terrible reception. And out of my right ear,I hear choir music(men’s mostly, sometimes with women)- it is powerful, and beautiful sounding; classical, elevator music; pop music; Christmas carols(played all throughout the year!); opera; Christian contemporary music, and basically whatever “these voices” want or “feel” like singing. Then, in the front of my head(straight ahead of me), I hear concerts(yes, really)- a couple of times I heard the artist say, “Thank you!”- like they do at all concerts and I could hear the dull roar of the crowd( sounds like hundreds of single voices all as one) clapping, shouting, screaming, and whistling! And I hear the “voices”- from my left ear, right ear, and straight ahead-all singing their various tunes all at the same time. And the music never ends. I go to sleep with it. I wake up to it-like a loud alarm clock jammed into my brain. And I hear it all throughout the day, every day- 24/7. And it seems to be gaining strength(the more time passes). At first, when it just started, I heard the most angelic, saintly choir a lot. Now I hear a consistent, low pitched “AHM!”(like a backdrop, always there along with all the other music playing), and within the last 5 months or so I now hear this horrible, low and scary sounding chanting-it will play over and over till sometimes I am in tears and holding my head with a terrible headache. This chanting is creepy, and sounds demonic, and every night my husband prays over my head and binds any demonic activity in Jesus’ Name. Also, I am a Christian and do not dabble in any weird or creepy occult stuff. I see a very good neurologist, and he gives me Quetiapine to help with sleep- otherwise the “voices” are so loud that I cannot block them out. It feels like I have boarded a crazy mobile and it is taking me for a long, long ride. Also, I have been checked with a MRI, and have no tumors, and I do not have schizophrenia either.
This is crazy, and makes me feel so “loony toons”, and I just don’t know how this started, or what it could be-not to mention that it seems so ridiculous. But it is very, very real to me, and lately it has been more aggressive, and making me cry. I feel like I am being tortured, to be completely honest. God is the only hope I have for sanity, and He is helping me, but it feels like I am in one of those thriller movies where the husband/wife is deliberately driving their spouse crazy for whatever their sick, twisted motive.
Is there anybody who could talk to me about this? I have nobody to talk to who also may have this “singing” in their heads. I will not talk about it with anyone outside my husband and daughter.(And they are such a wonderful support, and believe me.) But it would be nice to share this with somebody else who has the same thing. Take care, all of you who suffer from hearing voices, and have to deal with this bizarre phenomenon. God bless you with His grace, and love.
Hi
Thank you for sharing your story – there may well be others who have the same experiences. Have you had a look at the “National Networks” page on the site to see if there is a hearing voices group near you?
with best wishes
Website Moderator