Calling for Volunteers interested in talking about their Voices 1
Page last updated 12/12/2008
Calling for Volunteers interested in talking about their Voices
Dear Community,
I am a 3rd year PhD student at the California Institute of Integral Studies, San Francisco. I am also a Marriage and Family Therapist intern and am currently studying for my licensing exam.
I am currently working on my dissertation proposal and I am particularly interested in interviewing 5-6 people who match the following criteria:
I am interested in interviewing such individuals about their auditory hallucinations, and if they ever felt in their lives that their hallucinations were meaningful or insightful to them. I am hopeful that my dissertation will be a voice for all those people with a supposed "mental illness" or a "brain disease" to be heard and seen in a different light.
My school has an extremely thorough review committee called the Human Research and Review Committee (HRCC). This means that issues such as informed consent, confidentiality, providing therapy for subjects should they require it immediately following the interview, etc , will be included and discussed prior to the interview.
Unfortunately, there will be no compensation offered as this is an independent study. The co-researchers will essentially be volunteering their time and will have the opportunity to share their stories and have a voice to express themselves. I am hopeful that this will be enough incentive in itself.
If interested, or if you have any questions, please email me at rochelle9@gmail.com
In gratitude,
Rochelle Suri.
News about research, information, experiences 0
Page updated 02/02/2010
News from 2009
Have you ever received a ‘schizophrenia’ diagnosis?
Film exploring the experiences of people who have received a ‘schizophrenia’ diagnosis
Tom Cotton, film maker and psychotherapist would like to speak to people who have been given SZ diagnoses before filming. He would like the film’s audience to understand what the diagnosis means to the people who receive it, rather than the people who dispense it. If this project sounds interesting to you, you can find out more
here
Hearing Voices Survey: Do you live in the USA?
If you do, you are invited to participate in a study about your experience of hearing voices, how you cope with the voices, and how you cope with stress. The request for assistance comes from Heather Joppich, a PhD student in a Counseling Psychology program at Tennessee State University. Find out more
here
Doctoring the Mind: Why Psychiatric Treatments Fail by Richard Bentall: review, The Telegraph, 05 July 2009
The message of Doctoring the Mind is that the West’s dependence on drugs to treat mental illness is madness ... Bentall argues for a new approach to severe mental illness ... In this person-centred model, the patient partly defines his own recovery.
Stalking Irish Madness: An Interview with Patrick Tracey, PsychCentral, 30 June 2009
The correction has been firmly planted in Europe, the first glimmer of hope coming twelve years ago with the beginning of the Hearing Voices Network in Maastricht. Their meetings have since flourished in Europe. For some reason this more opened-minded attitude has taken much longer to reach and root itself in the United States. It will though–it’s absolutely inevitable like all irrepressibly good ideas.
Mad Medicine: A New Group for People Who Hear Voices Celebrates Mental Diversity, The Portland Mercury (USA), 25th June 2009
Most people, even many of those working within the mental health system, are only dimly aware of the issues being raised by groups like Portland Hearing Voices (PHV). Nonetheless, the questioning of traditional approaches to experiences that are usually associated with schizophrenia has become quite common ...
"Psychiatric diagnoses are less reliable than star signs", Times Online, 22 June 2009
The psychologist Richard Bentall says that psychiatrists dish out drugs but ignore the value of good relationships.
Calls to end stigma of schizophrenia ‘label’, The Sunday Herald, 20 June 2009
....traditionally, advocates of the schizophrenia diagnosis argue that the illness is a deteriorating condition arising from increased activity in the brain of the neurotransmitter dopamine. Yet the success of behavioural therapies and counselling at the Scottish Hearing Voices Network in Dundee suggests that it may be traumatic experiences and other social factors that lead to the development of psychoses.
Psychiatry and Oppression: A Personal Account of Compulsory Admission and Medical Treatment, Schizophrenia Bulletin, April 2009
Dr Ben Gray concludes that there needs to be more attention paid to voice hearers’ stories and accounts of mental illness, which he links to the rise of democratic psychiatry and the growth of the hearing voices movement, headed by organizations such as Intervoice, Asylum, MindFreedom, and the Hearing Voices Network.
Calls to end stigma of schizophrenia 'label' Sunday Herald 11/04/2009
Ron Coleman, diagnosed with schizophrenia in 1982 and treated with electro-shock therapy and drugs, has cited his own nightmare experience in the psychiatric system to call for the term to be dropped altogether.
Unravelling madness, NZ Herald News, 04/04/2009
Bentall prefers to focus on symptoms, usually by getting the patient to list and identify their problems. "A patient may say: 'I do hear voices, but actually it's never really bothered me, but I've got this terrible relationship with my husband' or whatever."
I talk back to the voices in my head, The Guardian, 04/04/2009
I heard a speaker talk about an approach advocated by growing numbers of mental health professionals that involves people engaging with the voices inside their head. He was from the Hearing Voices Network and I agreed to visit him. He said I should be frank and uncompromising with the voices. If they told me to self-harm, I should just say no.
New dialogues on voices, Psychminded/Mental Health Today, February 2009
Cognitive behavioural therapy has long been accepted as a valid therapeutic intervention for people who hear voices. So what does the future hold for more radical approaches, such as voice dialogue, asks Adam James.
People who drink too much coffee could start seeing ghosts or hearing strange voices, UK research has suggested, BBC News, January 2009
Experiencing hallucinations is not a definite sign of mental illness and that about 3% of people regularly hear voices researchers say. "This is the first step toward looking at the wider factors associated with hallucinations," said Simon Jones, who led the study.
Coffee linked to hallucinations, Independent, 14/01/2009
People who consume coffee and other caffeinated products are more likely to have hallucinations
News from 2008
Schizophrenia patients denied talking therapies, Independent, 07/09/2008
Mental health services are failing to comply with national guidelines, relying instead on potentially risky drugs
Hearing voices of reason, The Times, 14/07/2008
Auditory hallucinations can be frightening but are not always a sign of psychosis. They may even be a joyful experience.
Psychologist's non-drug approach provokes reaction storm, Psychminded, 1st May 2008
A non-drug therapy used by a clinical psychologist when working with a voice-hearing client has provoked a storm of mixed reactions.
You can read full article here
Reflections on the making of "The Doctor Who Hears Voices" by Rufus May
"Over a million people watched the drama-documentary when it was broadcast in April in the U.K. on channel 4. Thousands of people are now down loading from several Internet sites. It has provoked a strong response from viewers. Many people have been inspired by the film, others more attached to a medical approach to distress have been outraged."
Read the article here
A dialogue with myself, Independent, 15/04/2008
When Ruth began hearing voices, she turned to a controversial drug-free therapy programme. Now, her story is told in a powerful TV film.
The mad doctor: The extraordinary story of Dr Rufus May, the former psychiatric patient, Independent, 18/03/2008
At the age of 18, Rufus May was diagnosed as an incurable schizophrenic and locked up in a psychiatric hospital. Now, he is a respected psychologist and a passionate campaigner on mental health issues. He is also the guest editor of this special issue. Here, he tells his extraordinary tale.
The Listening Cure, Time/CNN, 21st February 2008
HVN seeks to recast the phenomenon as a normal experience, encouraging members to maintain a dialogue with their voices so they can live peacefully with and even appreciate their presence.
We talked about the voices and my psychiatrist suggested I stop seeing them as a symptom of mental illness, Daily Mail, 07/02/2008
"I often wonder what would have happened to me if I hadn't found a psychiatrist who understood how to treat me."
UEL throws spotlight on 'hearing voices' , Newham Recorder, UK, 12 January 2008
The fascinating experiences of people who hear voices will come under the spotlight at a special one-day conference to be held at the University of East London
News from years 2006 and 2007
2007
What to say to the inner voice, CBC News, December 27, 2007
Daniel B. Smiths fascinating new book, Muses, Madmen and Prophets: Rethinking the History of Science and Meaning of Auditory Hallucination.
Muddy Thinking, The Guardian, 09/11/2007
More and more people like Peter Bullimore are turning their backs on the label of schizophrenia and its conventional treatments in an attempt to reclaim their lives.
'Schizophrenic' label doubles the torture felt by sufferers, The New Zealand Herald, 19/11/2007
Peter Bullimore still hears aggressive voices inside his head, but he has rejected the stigmatising label of "schizophrenia" and is now campaigning for it to be discarded.
The woman who ignores her voices, The Guardian, 08/09/2007
Her method of coping is to dampen the voices with medication and refuse to engage - except, with extraordinary eloquence, in the work she does to help other people understand.
Woman hears voices with a speech impediment, New Scientist magazine, 20/08/2007
Researchers claim a Swiss woman who fell off her bicycle has yielded a unique insight into how auditory hallucinations are generated.
Botschaften aus der anderen Welt, Frankfurter Rundschau, 17/07/2007
Stimmenhören ist für Justiz und Psychiatrie Symptom für eine Psychose. Oft ist es das tatsächlich. Aber es gibt auch Stimmenhörer, die noch nie in der Psychiatrie waren und sich mit ihren Stimmen arrangiert haben.
Trauma care, Boston Globe, 02/07/2007
For over 25 years, Harvard psychiatrists have helped and studied victims of many of the world's most devastating events. What they found is more heartening than you might think.
Hidden demons, The Guardian, 15/06/2007
Academic Benjamin Gray recalls his experiences of dealing with voices that other people could not hear.
Is 'voice-hearing' an act of lunacy, or are we ignorant to the plight of the sufferers?, Belfast Telegraph, 07/06/2007
This week's tragic case of a father in London attacking his young daughter has brought people who 'hear voices' into the spotlight.
Glad to be Mad, New Zealand Herald, May 14th 2007
The links are clear between insanity and creative genius, suggesting better ways might be found to help sufferers of mental disorders.
Mind over medicine, The Guardian, 11/05/2007
Mental health professionals should look beyond the medicalisation of psychosis and recognise the relevance of traumatic life events.
Hearing voices doesn't mean you're mentally ill, icwales, May 2, 2007
Psychologists at Bangor University are planning to delve into the psyches of people who hear voices, but are not mentally ill.
"The harmful concept of Schizophrenia", article by Marius Romme and Mervyn Morris published in Mental Health Nursing explaining why the term 'schizophrenia' is not just stigmatising, but also fundamentally flawed. See article here
Do you hear what I hear?: Psychology undertakes some new directions, Creative Loafing Atlanta, 04/04/2007
Daniel B. Smith's exploration of a grassroots British organization called the Hearing Voices Network is a mind-blowing deconstruction of our notions of normality.
Hearing Voices, Review of "Muses, Madmen and prophets", New York Times, 08/04/2007
What pain could have been avoided if only it had been clear that ... voices are not necessarily signals of mental illness.
Can hearing voices be a good thing? Local people urged to come forward, Manchester University, 03/04/2007
Psychologists at The University of Manchester are seeking more volunteers for their research into hearing voices, and why some people consider it a positive experience while others find it distressing.
Son attempts to reconcile a father's war within, San Francisco Chronicle, 02/04/2007
Smith focuses less on his father's experience of his voices and more on his notion that his father suffered from a pathologizing of voice-hearing in Western culture. To build his case, Smith reflects on earlier eras when voice-hearing was considered both real and powerful.
Voices carry, Boston Globe, 25/03/2007
The message and mystery of auditory hallucinations, from Moses to modern times.
Can You Live With the Voices in Your Head?, New York Times, 25/03/2007
In depth article about hearing voices and the development of the hearing voices movement by Daniel B. Smith from New York, USA.
The Independent on Sunday Mental health special edition: Guest editor, Rufus May, 18/03/2007
Mental health special edition edited by guest editor, Rufus May, mental health activist and INTERVOICE member.
Is there a link between madness and creativity?, Independent on Sunday, 18/03/2007.
Many illustrious thinkers and poets, including Shakespeare, have believed that genius is only a step away from insanity. John Walsh goes in search of evidence in our contemporary culture.
In Your Head: Hearing Voices, Psychology Today, 05/03/2007
People who hear voices in their heads don't always need psychiatric help. Sometimes the voices within can guide you in everyday life.
How I tamed the voices in my head, The Independent, 06/03/2007
When Eleanor Longden began hearing things, she soon found herself drugged, sectioned and labelled schizophrenic. Then a psychiatrist taught her how to talk back.
The harmful concept of Schizophrenia, Mental Health Nursing, 7 - 11 March 2007
Marius Romme and Mervyn Morris outline their suggestions for a more helpful and cause-related alternative to the harmful concept of schizophrenia.
Voices in your head? You may not be crazy, The Times (UK), 23/01/2007
Four per cent of people in the UK are said to hear voices. A new trial could help them.
2006
Top award for hearing voices group, Source: Sussex Partnership Trust, 01/12/2006
'Because of the way that the East Sussex Hearing Voices Groups were initiated by service users and depend entirely on the active participation and enthusiastic support of clients and carers, a Best of Health patients' panel awarded the Patient and Public Involvement Award to them.
Broken home linked to psychosis, BBC, 21/11/2006
People from broken homes may be more prone to psychotic illnesses such as schizophrenia, research suggests.
Time to listen to the voices again, The Herald, 03/10/2006
Sounding out those voices that nobody else can hear, New Zealand Herald, 06/09/2006
Hearing voices when no one is there can be a symptom of mental illness, yet a study of the phenomenon found nearly half the people who heard voices said their hallucinations were mostly friendly or helpful.
Voices in the head 'are normal', BBC, 18/09/2006
Contrary to traditional belief, hearing voices is not necessarily a symptom of mental illness, UK researchers at Manchester University say.
'I learned to live with voices', BBC Online, 18/09/2006
Hearing voices has traditionally been viewed as a negative thing and a symptom of mental health problems, but new research has revealed not only do four percent of people hear voices, but some say that the voices are a positive part of their lives.
Listening to the voices, BBC, 14/09/2006
How can hearing voices in your head be a good thing? Researcher Aylish Campbell says voices are a natural part of life and that how it affects you depends how you react to the experience.
Study into millions who hear voices in head launched to coincide with WHVD, Press Association, 13/9/2006
Scientists in the UK are to investigate why so many "normal" people hear voices in their heads.
Hearing Voices - the invisible intruders, "All in the Mind", ABC Radio, 22/07/2006
The latest research on how auditory hallucinations occur in the brain, what it's like to live with voices in your head—and the healing power of the international Hearing Voices Network.
Child Abuse can Cause Schizophrenia, EurekAlert!, 13/06/2006
The experience of hearing voices is consistently associated with childhood trauma regardless of diagnosis or genetic pedigree.
News from before 2006
2005 Hi, God here. I know you can hear me, The Times, 24/12/2005
It sounds mad but hearing voices is quite common, with up to half the ‘normal’ population tuned in and most getting good vibrations.
Madness is not all in the mind, doctor, The Times, 06/07/2005
The boundary between sanity and madness varies according to geography. Behaviour that might get you diagnosed with schizophrenia in Britain — hearing voices, let’s say — is regarded elsewhere as, if not normal, at least understandable. In Africa traditional healers are often prized for hearing voices as it demonstrates their contact with the spirit world.Research shows that perhaps as many as one in 10 Britons hears voices but most are scared to mention it.
2003 Experts See Mind's Voices In New Light, New York Times, 06/05/2003
Not everyone who reports hearing voices has a mental illness.
Voices of reason, The Guardian, 10/12/2003
The creation of the Sheffield paranoia self-help and support group, the first service of its kind in Britain, was audacious - not least because it is run not by clinicians, but by Molloy and former psychiatric patient Peter Bullimore, the unpaid chairman of voluntary mental health group, Sheffield Hearing Voices.
2002 'You could say I am a mad psychologist' , The Independent, 30/06/2002
They told Rufus May he would never recover from his schizophrenia. Now he is a clinician himself, reforming the system from within.
Speaking out , The Guardian, 09/01/2002
Support is growing for a network that says hearing voices can be a positive experience for schizophrenics
2001 Listening cure, The Guardian, 16/11/2001
Hearing voices is a relatively common - and taboo - phenomenon in children and can trigger educational difficulties, but this could change with the publication of a groundbreaking study in Holland
Making sense of the voices, The Guardian, 16/11/2001
Mental health professionals debate the various approaches to helping voice-hearers.
'They would set her impossible tasks', The Guardian, 16/11/2001
Maria from Manchester began hearing voices when she was seven - three years after being sexually assaulted by a man in her neighbourhood.
2000 Hearing voices 'can be healthy', BBC News, 10/10/2000
People who hear voices inside their heads may be perfectly well and do not necessarily need psychiatric help, according to a study.
Don't believe everything you hear, Independent, 25/05/2000
Around two million people in Britain hear voices, but very few admit to it, fearing they will be thought mad or dangerous. But according to new research, hearing voices does not necessarily mean it's time for a visit from the men in white coats.
Talking heads, Observer, 21/05/2000
A radical report argues schizophrenicsshould listen to the voices they hear - not drown them out with drugs.
1998 Helping children who hear voices, BBC News, 03/11/1998
Hearing voices when you are a child may be a temporary condition whose symptoms lessen with age if they are sensitively handled, according to new research.
1993 Scientists Trace 'Voices' in Schizophrenia, New York Times, 22/09/1993
HEARING voices, the hallmark symptom of schizophrenia, occurs when there is a heightened activity in the same part of the brain people use when they speak or think words, new findings suggest.
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A B C D E F G H J K L M N O P R S T W V Y
Last updated 01/08/2007
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Martin P. J. (2000): Hearing voices and listening to those that hear them. Journal of Psychiatric and Mental Health Nursing 7 (2), 135–141>
Martindale, B., & International Society for the Psychological Treatments of the Schizophrenias and other Psychoses. (2000). Psychosis : psychological approaches and their effectiveness : putting psychotherapies at the centre of treatment. London: Gaskell for the International Society for the Psychological Treatments of the Schizophrenias and other Psychoses.
McCreery, C. and Claridge, G. A Study of Hallucinations in Normal Subjects Personality and Individual Differences, 1996, 21 (5): 739-747
Abstract
A group of 20 subjects who reported previously experiencing at least one ‘out-of-the-body’ experience (OBE) and a group of 20 matched controls attempted to induce OBEs in the laboratory under conditions of mild sensory limitation and physical relaxation. As predicted, the OBErs were more prone than controls to report hallucinations and involuntary imagery in this situation. The reporting of anomalous perceptual experiences was also positively correlated with scores on schizotypy scales, which measure the incidence of ‘positive’ symptomatology at a sub-clinical level. The results are interpreted in terms of a model of the ‘happy schizotype’—a relatively well-adjusted person who is functional despite, and in some cases even because of, his or her anomalous perceptual experiences.
Terry McLeod, Mervyn Morris, Max Birchwood, Alan Dovey (2007): Work with voice hearers: evaluation of effectiveness of hearing voices groups (parts one and two) , British Journal of Nursing, 2007, Vol 16, No 4
More information including abstract and link to full papers
McGee, R., Williams, S. & Poulton, R. (2000) Hallucinations in nonpsychotic children (letter). Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 39, 12-13
Dale E. McNiel, Ph.D., Jane P. Eisner, Ph.D. and Renée L. Binder, M.D. The Relationship Between Command Hallucinations and Violence Psychiatric Services, October 2000, 51:1288-1292
OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to describe the relationship between command hallucinations and violent behavior.
METHODS:
One hundred and three psychiatric inpatients completed measures of command hallucinations, other psychotic symptoms, violent behavior, and social desirability response biases.
RESULTS:
Thirty percent of the patients reported having had command hallucinations to harm others during the last year, and 22 percent of the patients reported they complied with such commands. Logistic regression analyses suggested that patients who experienced command hallucinations to harm others were more than twice as likely to be violent, even when the analysis controlled for demographic variables, history of substance abuse, and social desirability response biases.
CONCLUSIONS:
The results support the clinical utility of asking about command hallucinations when assessing the risk of violence in patients with major mental disorders.
Sara Meddings, Linda Walley, Tracy Collins, Fay Tullett, Bruce McEwan and Kate Owen, The voices don't like it…, Mental health Today (September 2006),
Abstract
Hearing voices groups have been shown to benefit members by reducing the power and influence of the voices and providing an important source of peer and social support. Sara Meddings and colleagues report the findings of the first ever study to use standardised measures to gauge the impact of attendance at a hearing voices group. Their study quantified statistically significant improvements in participants' ability to live with and even control their voices, as well as collecting evidence of the qualitative benefits of knowing that others are also struggling with what can be a very isolating and alienating phenomenon.
Mertin P., Hartwig, S (2004) Auditory Hallucinations in Nonpsychotic Children: Diagnostic ConsiderationsChild and Adolescent Mental Health, February 2004, Vol. 9, No. 1, pp. 9-14(6)
Background: Auditory hallucinations in childhood and adolescence are not necessarily an indication of psychosis, but are more frequently associated with a range of other mental health problems. Although not specifically linked to abuse as an aetiological factor, the literature reporting on hallucinations in children alludes to a range of family dysfunction and disruption.
Method: This study reports on the auditory hallucinations of 13 children referred to a community-based child and family mental health service exhibiting a variety of emotional and behavioural difficulties. The presence of the hallucinations was generally revealed during the course of the initial assessment.
Results: None of the children were considered psychotic at initial presentation; however, all were experiencing high levels of stress and/or anxiety in their lives. Following the initial assessments children were given diagnoses ranging from generalised anxiety disorder, through adjustment disorder, to posttraumatic stress disorder. The hallucinations gradually disappeared over the course of therapy. Two case studies describe the hallucinations and family histories in more detail.
Conclusions: The present study adds further confirmation of the presence of auditory hallucinations in nonpsychotic children. The clinical presentation of the children in the present study indicates an association between hallucinations and high levels of stress and anxiety, suggesting that mental health professionals should enquire more routinely about auditory hallucinations, particularly with those children from abusive and violent backgrounds.
Miller L.J., O'Connor R.N & DiPasquale T., (1993), Patients' Attitudes Toward Hallucinations. American Journal of Psychiatry, Vol. 150, no.4, pp. 584 588
Millham A.; Easton S., Prevalence of auditory hallucinations in nurses in mental health. Journal of Psychiatric & Mental Health Nursing, Volume 5, Number 2, April 1998 , pp. 95-99(5)
Abstract: Seventy-nine nurses and student nurses working in the mental health field were asked to complete a questionnaire that asked about the prevalence of their experience of events that might be considered as examples of auditory hallucinations. Eighty-four per cent of the 55 nurses who returned the questionnaire described having experiences that might be described as auditory hallucinations. This level of prevalence is broadly consistent with other studies, and the difference between voices considered to indicate ‘schizophrenia’ and voices perceived as normal or unimportant is discussed. The relevance of these findings for the process of diagnosis and for the attitudes of nurses working in the mental health field towards voices reported by clients is highlighted.
Morrison A.P.; Wells A.; Nothard S. Cognitive and emotional predictors of predisposition to hallucinations in non-patients. British Journal of Clinical Psychology, Volume 41, Number 3, September 2002 , pp. 259-270(12)
Objectives.
This study adapted the Launay Slade Hallucination Scale (LSHS) to measure predisposition to auditory and visual hallucinations and examine the relationship between meta-cognition and predisposition in a non-psychiatric population. It also tested the hypothesis that individuals highly predisposed to hallucination would show positive and negative meta-cognitive beliefs and report the use of diåerent thought control strategies.
Design.
A within participants correlational design was employed. Methods. A revised LSHS was administered to 105 normal participants who were also asked to complete questionnaires assessing paranoia, meta-cognitive beliefs, thought control strategies, anxiety, depression and beliefs about unusual perceptual experiences.
Results. Two empirically distinct but correlated hallucinatory traits (auditory and visual) were measured by the modified LSHS. Consistent with predictions, it was found that positive beliefs about unusual perceptual experiences were the best predictor of predisposition to auditory and visual hallucinations and that those participants who scored higher on predisposition to hallucination used diåerent thought control strategies and had diåerent negative meta-cognitive beliefs in comparison with participants of low predisposition.
Conclusions.
Meta-cognitive beliefs about thoughts and hallucinatory phenomena appear to be implicated in predisposition to hallucination. The theoretical and clinical implications of the findings are discussed.
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Last updated 15/10/2007
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Allen, J. G. & Coyne, L. (1995) Dissociation and vulnerability to psychotic experience. The Dissociative Experiences Scale and the MMPI—2. Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease, 183, 615-622
Abstract and further information here
Albiston, D. J., Francey, S. M., & Harrigan, S. M. (1998). Group programmes for recovery from early psychosis. British Journal of Psychiatry, 172(Supp. 33), 117 - 121.
Altman, H., Collins, M. & Mundy, P. (1997) Subclinical hallucinations and delusions in nonpsychotic adolescents. Journal of Childhood Psychology and Psychiatry, 38, 413-420
Abstract and further information here
Andres, K., Pfammetter, M., Garst, F., Teschner, C., & Brenner, H. D. (2000). Effects of a coping-orientated group therapy for schizophrenia and schizoaffective patients: A pilot study. Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica, 101, 318 - 322.
Christine Assiz, Heard but not seen; Independent on Sunday, 6th January 1991.
Ikechukwu Obialo Azuonye (1997): A difficult case: diagnosis made by hallucinatory voices, British Medical Journal 315, pp 1685-1686
Full article and further information here
Voices in the head 'are normal', BBC, 18/09/2006 2
Source: BBC Online 18/09/2006
Some who hear voices fear being branded as "crazy"
Hearing voices in your head is so common that it is normal, psychologists believe. Dutch findings suggest one in 25 people regularly hears voices.
Contrary to traditional belief, hearing voices is not necessarily a symptom of mental illness, UK researchers at Manchester University say.
Indeed, many who hear voices do not seek help and say the voices have a positive impact on their lives, comforting or inspiring them.
Human diversity
Researcher Aylish Campbell said: "We know that many members of the general population hear voices but have never felt the need to access mental health services.
"Some experts even claim that more people hear voices and don't seek psychiatric help than those who do."
Some who hear voices describe it as being like the experience of hearing someone call your name only to find that there is no one there.
It doesn't seem to be hearing voices in itself that causes the problem Researcher Aylish Campbell
"I learned to live with voices"
People also hear voices as if they are thoughts entering the mind from somewhere outside themselves. They will have no idea what the voice might say. It may even engage in conversation.
The Manchester team want to investigate why some people view their voices positively while others become distressed and seek medical help.
Ms Campbell said: "It doesn't seem to be hearing voices in itself that causes the problem.
"What seems to be more important is how people go on to interpret the voices."
She said external factors, such as a person's life experiences and beliefs, might influence this.
Context
"If a person is struggling to overcome a trauma or views themselves as worthless or vulnerable, or other people as aggressive, they may be more likely to interpret their voices as harmful, hostile or powerful.
"Conversely, a person who has had more positive life experiences and formed more healthy beliefs about themselves and other people might develop a more positive view of their voices."
Past studies have found that people who hear voices have often had a traumatic childhood.
Ms Campbell said stigmatisation could also play a role.
"If a person starts hearing voices and also holds the beliefs of some of society that this means they are mentally ill, it is going to cause them more distress. It also stops them talking about it to others."
Professor Marius Romme, president of Intervoice, a "hearing voices" charity, said: "Because of the fears and misunderstandings in society and within psychiatry about hearing voices, they are generally regarded as a symptom of an illness, something that is negative to be got rid of, and consequently the content and meaning of the voice experience is rarely discussed.
"Our work and research has shown more than 70% of people who hear voices can point to a traumatic life event that triggered their voices; that talking about voices and what they mean is a very effective way to reduce anxiety and isolation; and that even when the voices are overwhelming and seemingly destructive they often have an important message for the hearer."
Paul Corry of the mental health charity Rethink said: "Rethink welcomes this investigation, which we hope will help support our campaign to bring mental health issues into the mainstream."
People interested in participating in the University of Manchester research should call 0161 306 0405 or l voiceresearch@hotmail.co.uk
.
Participants should be aged 16 or over, have been hearing voices for at least six months and live in the northwest of England.
What voices can do with words 0
Last updated 11/06/2007
What voices can do with words: pragmatics of verbal hallucinations, by I. LEUDAR a1 , P. THOMAS a1 , D. McNALLY a1 and A. GLINSKI
Department of Psychology, University of Manchester; and Academic Department of Psychological Medicine, University of Wales College of Medicine, Bangor
Volume 27 Issue 04 - Jul 1997, Psychological Medicine (1997), 27: 885-898 Cambridge University Press
Abstract
Background. In this paper we consider verbal hallucinations as inner speech with pragmatics. The specific pragmatic properties of verbal hallucinations investigated included the number of voices, the characteristics that individuate the voices, the sequential characteristics of the dialogues between voice hearers and their voices, the dialogical positioning of voices hearers, voices and other individuals, and how the voices influence voice hearers' activities.
Methods. These properties were examined in structured interviews with 28 individuals, 14 of whom had a diagnosis of schizophrenia, while 14 were students who did not use psychiatric services.
Results. The analysis showed that voices were most frequently individuated with reference to individuals significant to voice hearers. The talk with voices was typically mundane and related to voice hearers' on-going activities, as is the case for ordinary inner speech. The voices were typically orientated towards the voice hearer, without direct access to each other or to other people. Contrary to received wisdom, the voices typically did not impel actions of voice hearers, rather they influenced voice hearers' decisions on how to act. This was so irrespective of the diagnostic status of informants. Finally, we have found some differences between the voices of informants with, and without, schizophrenia. These concerned the alignment of voices, the type of action required by a voice and the degree of dialogical engagement between voices and voice hearers.
Conclusions. We conclude that verbal hallucinations can be fruitfully considered to be a genus of inner speech. Pragmatics can be used as a framework to distinguish verbal hallucinations in different populations.
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Bereavement and hearing voices 6
Last updated 25/11/2007
Introduction
This section provides information about the the relationship between hearing voices and bereavement & grief as well as examining the importance belief can play in peoples interpretation and acceptance of the experience. Out thanks goes to INTERVOICE member, Adrienne for reseaching and compiling this information.
Hearing voices, bereavement and grief
To hear the voice of, and/or see the person who has recently died is commonly experienced and research has confirmed this (see research section below), counselling and healthcare sites make reference to the phenomenon, as can be seen from these extracts:
1. Extract from fact sheet on Grief from Magellan Health Services site See fact sheet here
"Some people ... have the sensation of seeing or hearing the dead person. This reaction is a normal defensive mechanism employed to keep people around longer.
People may begin to worry about their own mental health when they "hallucinate" or cannot concentrate because they continue to think of the loss. It helps to know that others go through similar fears and panic before they leave this phase of the grieving process. "
2. Extract from Cambridge University Counselling Service fact sheet on "Bereavement" see fact sheet here
"Preoccupation. You might be so preoccupied with thoughts of the dead person that you imagine seeing or hearing her/him. (You are not going mad - this is quite common!)
Bereavement, voices, visions and beliefs
The connection between peoples belief´s and the feeling of a continuing connection with the person who has died is also commonly reported and is seen by some religions, cultures and individuals as evidence of life after death.
The excerpts below, come from the site of a psychic investigator, who seeks evidence that there is life after death, his site is called the Grief And Belief Connection
Here are some excerpts
"First, my friend, Kelly, lost her husband, Rick, at the age of 35 when a truck hit his car. He had pulled over on the highway to answer his cell phone, ironically for safety’s sake. He left Kelly and two children under the age of five. After the funeral and burial, I saw Kelly at the restaurant. She came at me like a wave, embracing me like she had been eager to speak with me all day.
“Bob, you have no idea,” Kelly began with a peaceful glimmer, “I am so grateful for the reading I had with that psychic medium a month ago. It has helped me get through this, knowing that Rick is still here, that he is all right. I talk to him and he has given me strength to get through this,” she acknowledged."
" A few months later my other sister-in-law, Jen, lost her grandmother. Nana was possibly her closest friend and mentor. At the funeral, Jen shared with me that she still talks with Nana all the time—because of what she learned through my work. She knows Nana is still with her. Jen told me she is glad Nana had the opportunity to read my book and attend an event I gave with five psychic mediums. Jen believes these things helped Nana with her passing."
The After Death Communication site also has some interesting articles on the topic of hearing and seeing a deceased loved one, as follows:
" InfoBeat
May 1, 2001
NEW YORK (AP) - Paul McCartney, who lost his wife Linda to breast cancer in 1998, says he's comforted by thoughts that her spirit lives on. "After Linda died, I think all of us in the family would hear noises or see things and think 'That's Linda; that's mom...' And I think in some ways, it's very comforting to think she's still here," McCartney told ABC's "Good Morning America" Monday.
McCartney said he has been compelled to write poetry since her death, including a poem called "Her Spirit," in which Linda's spirit visits him in the woods, in the form of a white squirrel. "You don't know if it's true. But it's a great thought. And it's an uplifting thought. So I allow myself to go there," McCartney said.
and here is one from the Vatican
"By John Hooper
London Observer Service
ROME – One of the most authoritative spokesmen of the Roman Catholic Church has raised eyebrows among the faithful by declaring that the Church believes in the feasibility of communication with the dead.
The Rev. Gino Concetti, chief theological commentator for the Vatican newspaper, L’Osservatore Romano, denied he was signaling any change in approach. But he agreed that his remarks might come as a jolt to many believers.
He said the Church remained opposed to the raising of spirits, but added: "Communication is possible between those who live on this earth and those who live in a state of eternal repose, in heaven or purgatory. It may even be that God lets our loved ones send us messages to guide us at certain moments in our life."
His comments were first made in support of an American theologian, the Rev. John Neuhaus. Neuhaus had described how a friend had seen a ghost. He said there were various explanations, but "the important thing is not to deny such things a priority."
Concetti said the key to the Church’s attitude was the Roman Catholic belief in a "Communion of Saints," which included Christians on earth as well as those in the after-life. "Where there is communion, there is communication," he said.
Concetti suggested dead relatives could be responsible for prompting impulses and triggering inspiration - and even for "sensory manifestations," such as appearances in dreams.
Concetti said the new Catholic catechism specifically endorsed the view that the dead could intercede on earth and quotes the dying St. Dominic telling his brothers: "Do not weep, for I shall be more useful to you after my death and I shall help you then more effectively than during my life."
even Dr Phil has something to say on it
"The truth is that over 60% of the population reports that they have felt some connection, some communication, with someone that has passed on. And as results-based and empirical as I am, I have to say I’m among that 60%, but it certainly wasn’t through a psychic."
Research
The hallucinations of widowhood by Dewi Rees W.: British Medical Journal,. 1971 Oct 2; 4 (5778): 37-41
Rees (1971) conducted a study of 293 widowed people living in a particular area of mid-Wales. He found that 14% of those interviewed reported having had a visual hallucination of their deceased spouse, 13.3% an auditory one and 2.7% a tactile one. These categories overlapped to some extent as some people reported a hallucinatory experience in more than one modality. Of interest in light of the previous heading was the fact that 46.7% of the sample reported experiencing the presence of the deceased spouse.
The hallucinations of widowhood by Olson PR, Suddeth JA, Peterson PJ, Egelhoff C.: J Am Geriatr Soc. 1985 Aug;33(8):543-7
Widowed residents of two nursing homes who were oriented to person, time, and place were interviewed to determine the extent to which they had hallucinatory experiences of their deceased spouse. Fifty-two interviews were completed with 46 widows and six widowers. Results are reported for the widows. Twenty-eight (61%) of the widows reported hallucinatory experiences of their deceased spouse. Twenty-four (86%) of the widows described the experiences as good or helpful. Thirteen (46%) reported that the experiences continue to happen. Nineteen (54%) of the widows had never discussed the experiences with anyone before this study. These results are surprisingly similar to previously published findings by Rees in Wales and suggest that these experiences are more common in the United States than has been recognized.
Back to Information about hearing voices contents page
More research on hearing voices and bereavement
News on research into hearing voices 2
Last updated 20/06/2007
Here are some examples of news reports about research into hearing voices and associated experiences:
People with schizophrenia not taking antipsychotics more likely to recover, states research
Broken home linked to psychosis
Time to listen to the voices again
Sounding out those voices that nobody else can hear
Study into millions who hear voices in head launched to coincide with WHVD
Hearing about the voices of the deaf
Pleasurable auditory hallucinations
Positive Experiences of VoicesChild Abuse can Cause Schizophrenia
Most children hearing voices stop within three years
Why 'imaginary voices' are male
Sounding out those voices that nobody else can hear, New Zealand Herald, 06/09/2006 1
A report of the research conducted by Vanessa Beavan from New Zealand
For full article go to:
New Zealand Herald, 06/09/2006
"Hearing voices when no one is there can be a symptom of mental illness, yet a study of the phenomenon found nearly half the people who heard voices said their hallucinations were mostly friendly or helpful.
Furthermore, some participants in the Auckland University study considered their voices a blessing - although others thought them a curse."
Study into millions who hear voices in head launched to coincide with WHVD 1
By John von Radowitz, PA Science Correspondent
Scientists in the UK are to investigate why so many "normal" people hear voices in their heads.
The University of Manchester study follows research suggesting that up to 4% of the population may hear voices.
Many of these people are outwardly healthy and not bothered by their experience.