Research shows that around 8% of children and young people hear voices that others don’t. So, if you – or your child – is one of them, you’re not alone.
In this section we’ve gathered together a range of information, resources, coping strategies and experiences aimed at young people, their families and anyone else who support them.
We plan to extend this section during the next year, so this is a fantastic time to let us know what you would like to see here. So, whilst we hope there is something here that you’ll find useful – don’t be shy. Tell us what you want to see here and we’ll do our best to include your suggestions as the site grows.
In This Section
For Parents & Supporters
This section includes some practical information and advice aimed at parents, carers and supporters. It includes Dr Escher’s article ‘Don’t Panic if Your Child is Hearing Voices – It’s Not The End of the World’ and a very useful 10 point checklist to help you better support your child.
Your Stories
Even though 8% of young people hear voices, many of those we meet have never spoken about their experiences to another young person. Statistics are helpful, but they are not a substitute for hearing about other people’s stories and really feeling that you’re not alone. In this section, we will gather together stories and articles about young people who hear voices.
If you are a young person who hears voices and would like to share your story with us, please email us.
Also see: About Voices > Personal Experiences
Links and Resources
Knowledge is power. In this section we will include useful tools, organisations, websites and publications. It includes Dr Escher’s Maastricht Interview (a tool for helping a child or young person explore their experiences) and information about Hearing Voices Groups specifically for young people.
I first started hearing voices when I was around 5 years old. Back then, they told me terrible things. Sometimes they would be to take a knife and stab myself….sometimes stab others. My family was pseudo Catholic, so my mother’s first reaction was simply to take me to the priest. At the meeting, the priest asked me a few questions, placed holy water on my forehead and blew on it. The problem didn’t happen again and the voices went away.
I always thought that those voices I heard as a child were simply internal messages from my subconscious of a broken upbringing. I did NOT have a positive, healthy, childhood. My parents fought, separated, got back together. Not to mention, my family was very poor. Often times I went hungry to bed at night. Our cars broke down while my mom attempted to drive us to school. I cried because my dad walked out on my mom and didn’t come home for several weeks, and when he did, he came home drunk and high.
At 26 years old I am in fear of my mental health. I started hearing the voices about a year ago. I am a young adult and I didn’t think that anything in my life should have caused this. These aren’t thoughts streaming my mind. I actually HEAR the sound as if it was outside my head. Sometimes I hear them at night, I wake up, I look around to find that no one is in the room. Sometimes I hear the voices in the middle of a sunny day (or any day with clouds for that matter). There is no specific time of day that I hear voices, but usually, the voice says one word or small phrase. The voice is not scary; however, the very fact that I hear it scares me in and of itself. Sometimes the voices just say my name. I’m not sure what triggers the voice because nothing dramatic seems to be happening in my life. I’m a master’s student, working full-time, and maybe my boyfriend broke up with me but that’s happened a few times before, ya know? I was doing research… ad I just have to say…. that I hope I don’t become schizophrenic or bipolar. Should I get tested or see a doctor? Any reply would be excellent. This happened AGAIN to me last night.
Thank you for your time,
Sarah Jean Chesney
To Sarah J. Chesney, my brother is experiencing the similar systoms. He is 19 yrs old, and he recently has been hearing voices which started a yr ago, when we moved into a new place. He hears voice that speak at the same time and sometimes he hears a voice saying his name repeatily. He has been to numerous doctors and all they want to do is simply diagnose him as schizo , SMH, and give him medication, which in fact dosent seem to work! Im his older sister, 26 and trying to help him either stablize it or cure it. I pray for him everyday.I know for a fact that we have no family history of mental illness. I thought it might be something of an spiritual connection that he is experiencing, but Im still researching on that. The good news is that I finally came to the conclusion that he not going krazy. Oneday me and our mother experienced hearing voices at the same time. It was so shocking to us the next day when we told each other that we herd the same voices of an lady repeating herself over and over, talking over someone else voice. this gave me goose bumps. The next step is to speak with an preist at our community church. Good luck and my heart go out to you. word of advice try to do as much research on your own and connect with others that have similar problems as you , before you seek help from an stranger, oh another thing you said that chruch helped you before maybe you should try it again. keep me posted!
sometimes I get the radio or hear my name or see colours and patterns when I am very tired. Is it possible that this is what happens when it happens to you? If you are looking for patterns, people with mood disorders often keep a mood diary. In this they mark down a rating for their mood for the day, how much sleep they got, if they are a woman they might mark the dates of their period, note down things like and medicine they do take, incidents or notes about stand out events of the day etc and example of one is at http://www.bipolar.com.au/common/pdf/mood-diary.pdf
that way you could have a serious look for any patterns …
To Sarah J. Chesney, my brother is experiencing the similar systoms. He is 19 yrs old, and he recently has been hearing voices which started a yr ago, when we moved into a new place. He hears voice that speak at the same time and sometimes he hears a voice saying his name repeatily. He has been to numerous doctors and all they want to do is simply diagnose him as schizo , SMH, and give him medication, which in fact dosent seem to work! Im his older sister, 26 and trying to help him either stablize it or cure it. I pray for him everyday.I know for a fact that we have no family history of mental illness. I thought it might be something of an spiritual connection that he is experiencing, but Im still researching on that. The good news is that I finally came to the conclusion that he not going krazy. Oneday me and our mother experienced hearing voices at the same time. It was so shocking to us the next day when we told each other that we herd the same voices of an lady repeating herself over and over, talking over someone else voice. this gave me goose bumps. The next step is to speak with an preist at our community church. Good luck and my heart go out to you. word of advice try to do as much research on your own and connect with others that have similar problems as you , before you seek help from an stranger, oh another thing you said that chruch helped you before maybe you should try it again. keep me posted!
I lost a son to suicide due to “hearing voices”. Please know that there is a strong possiblity nothing is wrong with you. I have researched and found a number of people are experiencing the same and it can (not always) be atrributed to spiritual contact, your higher self, you guardian angels etc. Many refer to is an an awakening so to speak. I know this sounds crazy and I am not a spiritual freak.
Please check out some of the following alternatives..
Past life regression
Talking to a reputable medium (list at the link below)
Blog that proves there is contact with those in the afterlife http://www.channelingerik.com
Has he tried talking to a Clinical Psychologist and seeing if he can find someone who will be agreeable to trying Cognitive Behavioural Therapy for voices in preference to taking medication. They may suggest that he do both, but he could say that he is not willing to try medication without seeing if he can do without it using CBT first. This could be something helpful. There is research about this as a treatment. Results tend to be stronger with both treatments, but the sampled population may have had more severe voices or the definition used for ‘better’ may have been different to what your brother would consider ‘better’ as it comes from the perspective of the mental health worker.
Mindfulness Based Cognitive Therapy is also a type of therapy that is common at the moment that they might suggest.
My son is 19. A year and a half back voices began after doing drug. Treatment did not help in the flow of year. That to do?
hey im jay, and i hear voices in my head. i tryed talking to alot of different people but none of them hear voices so they dident understand. for about a year now iv been on several different pills all dealing with different things, and its stoped the voices. but last thursday i met an old friend that i thought id never see again and weve been talkin everyday sence then. and last night when i was trying to go to bed, one of my voices came back, his name is loomis. and he just said “im back” over and over again in a chanting way. if there is anyone out there who can relate with me, dont feel alone iv been dealing with the angry voices for 5 years now, but i remember when i first heard them and i want to tell you dont be afraid. find people that share these issues, hell if you want to you can talk to me. GOD bless you all.
Two weeks ago my 8 yr old son (who has ADHD) began coming to us in the night, crying that he couldn’t sleep. Yesterday, he was working on math and complained, “Ugh, the voices are making it so I can’t concentrate!” I asked him what he meant and he said, “You know, it’s what I was talking about when I couldn’t sleep.” He told me that they come and go, it’s always a male voice, not always the same voice, not a voice he recognizes, and he can’t understand what they’re saying because they talk too fast.
In questioning him (I should mention that I’m a psychiatric nurse) I learned that the voices bother him when he’s working on something he needs to concentrate on, like school work, and when he’s trying to sleep “because they’re so loud!” But other times he’ll notice that he’s having the voices and it doesn’t bother him because he’s not working on anything. For instance, he said he heard them while he was riding the bus to school yesterday but it didn’t bother him at all and they went away after a little while. Because he can’t understand what they’re saying, they haven’t been threatening or scary to him. Just very, very loud, he says.
I found a copy of the book, “Children Hearing Voices” at a used bookstore here in the States and have ordered it. I’ve talked with him about “pushing the voices aside” at night and thinking about calming things–imagery (I specifically painted a picture, complete with scents, sounds, and sensations, of a tropical beach for him to think about). I don’t know if “pushing the voices aside” is even possible, but I’m hoping it is.
I asked him if he thought stress was playing a part and he said he thought so. Having ADHD, he is constantly being redirected and having instructions repeated again and again because he so easily distracted that he doesn’t follow directions. He said it’s stressful having grown-ups tell him to do things all the time. I told him that as he gets better about self-redirection and self-control he’ll find that grown-ups telling him to do stuff all the time will fade away, along with the stress of it. I suggested that next time he’s feeling overwhelmed and stressed in school to ask his teacher if he can put his head down, close his eyes, and think of his beach.
I understand that his having voices doesn’t necessarily mean he’s going to be schizophrenic or anything, but it worries me nonetheless because my mother’s mother was bipolar and committed suicide, my mother’s sister is schizophrenic, my sister has suffered depression all her life, and I have ADHD with resulting anxiety disorder. He’s doomed!! Poor kid. =(
What’s my next step? Is there one? Or should my husband and I just continue with the emotional support and keep our fingers crossed? Should I start taking Oliver to a psych? He went all last school year for his ADHD so we’ve got one we can go to. It has only been two weeks, though, so my inclination is to wait on that for now… Suggestions?
I begin hearing voices in 2010 some of them talked repeatedly where I could not sleep. Well imma tell you the truth most of it comes from the Spiritual Realm! (contact details removed by Intervoice as stated in our policy)
Hi !!!
My daugther is 8 years old with ADHD and she just start “hearing voices” last week, I’m in shock ! and thank God I found this website, the question is, Does your child take medication for ADHD ? My daugther was taking Vyvanse (20mg per day) and I thought this situation was a side effect from this med.
Hi to all, My mother is hearing voices and my father has just separated from us and said he will not be coming back it’s been a little while now that he has not talk to us or seen us I am 16yrs old and the aldest out of 7 and have a younger sister that is only 2yrs of age who is addicted to her dad and she oftenly crys for him. we have brought a house next door and its been 2years and they use to be a really nice old couple living there who have now passed away. But since we have brought that house my parents have never stopped arguing. Becaus emy mother is not that old she is only 36yrs of age and also feels scared in the night as we have had houses that have had theives around our area. I think that if anyone that is my situation or in a similar condition then I think you should think positive and have extra care on your and your family members health and keep yourself and everyone happy and think positive in life as sometimes thinking negative could make the problem worser.
Me and my sister both we are 5 years apart have been threw alot of loss, stress, and never really had anyone but each other to depend or talk to.. me and my mother had alot of issues growing up and i used to get told by voices that there is very few things i could do to make them.. or her stop it was scary and sometimes got the best of me.. i used drugs to self medicate and put me in a bad spot.. i am currently much better i still hear them sometimes but its more possitive now im in a good place in my life surrounded by a girlfriend who loves me and 2 beautiful children.. well my sister is 15 and i feel isnt as strong emotionally as me and have presented me the same problem and is having alot of trouble dealing/ coping or ignoring them all together and i cant tell her to deal with it the same way i have.. i need help im worried! please help
My girlfriend Is 18 and has recently started hearing voices. She says that they tell her that something is coming to get her and that she has to hide. It is really freaking her out and I feel helpless. What can I do?? x
I was eleven when I first started hearing my voices. I didn’t tell anyone, because I was afraid they’d think I was crazy. Eventually, they got so bad that I had to tell my psychiatrist.
My life was in tatters. The voices ruined my life and still are making my life a living hell. I can’t go a day without hearing at least one. It feels like I’m being torn into millions of pieces.
the most better thing is to put soft silicon ear plug in her ear to absorb most of their sounds , they use thought reading devices like neurophone , it is just psychotronic weapon with bad people