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AlairaKasimer said:
I agree with Myself--people may at first tell you it's schizophrenia (because that's kinda what psychologists will first think when you say you hear voices). In my opinion, however, (and granted, I'm just a second year psychology student), your symptoms don't sound like schizophrenia. This is simply because schizophrenia tends to develop and show the first signs around 19-20 in males and a little older in females. There are one or two signs that can sometimes predict which chidlren will go on to develop schizophrenia, but as far as I know, hearing voices as a child isn't one of them.

The illnesses that come to mind for me are Borderline Personality Disorder (possibly), Schizotypal Personality Disorder (Which is basically a mild form of schizophrenia which is pervasive throughout life), severe depression or mania, and Myself's explanation of DID, sounds plausible, as well.

Keep in mind that something is only considered "psychologically abnormal" if
a) it is statistically abnormal
b)it causes perceived psychological stress to you
c) it is unexpected within a given social context.

It seems like you meet a and c, but you don't seem to be worried by your behaviors.

All the same, I would recommend that you ask a professional about it.

-Kari

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i know this is an old post that i started, and maybe no one will read this, but i was bored and had nothing else to do.

Alaira,
I only mentioned a few of my symptoms-- just the things i thought were normal. I have many other symptoms of schizophrenia--negative symptoms, delusions, visual hallucinations, ocasional auditory hallucinations outside my head, etc. And i have been diagnosed with schizophrenia. I have to disagree with you that i could not be schizophrenic because SOME of my symptos started in childhood. There is something called childhood onset schizophrenia ...it is fairly rare but schizophrenia CAN and DOES sometimes begin in childhood. However, my symptoms did not really take flight until i was about 16 years old. And yes, the voices i heard when i was a child were always very distressing to me, they terrified me, but i was too young to understand what was going on, so i didn;;t tell anyone back then and i came to believe for quite some years that it must be somewhat normal.

Also, i could not be DID, in order to be diagnosed with DID, you must have had one or more personalities preasent. Most people with DID refer to themselves as "we" or "us" and i dont do that. I have never had any evidence of having more than one personality.

Also, i have to disagree with "myself"... Schizophrenics can hear voices internally, externally, or both. I know many schizophrenics who hear voices inside their head, like me. and they are clearly schizophrenic, not DID. They have other symptoms of schiz, like delusions, disorganized speech, negative symptoms, etc.
I hear both external and internal voices, though mostly internal. The ones i heard when i was a child went away for a long time. When i turned sixteen, i started developing more symptoms (bizarre delusions, visual hallucinations, negative symptoms, and voices again) The voices i hear internally are not memories of voices from my past. They are voices of people i do not know. Usually they mumble a lot in the back of my head, or whisper, sometimes they say things that make no sense, or sometimes they comment on things i am doing or command me to do things.

Something called" thought insertion" is a very common delusion in schizophrenics in which the person believes thoughts are being inserted into their head by an outside force. I had this delusion very strongly when i was off meds and it clearly indicates that schizophrenics often DO hear voices internally.

i am about 99.99999% sure that i do have schizophrenia, not just because i hear voices but as it has severely effected my life, i';ve been hospitalized 5 times, i;'ve been delusional, i suffer from negative symptoms, cognitive disfunction AND just about all my symptoms including the internal voices, disappear when i take antipsychotic meds.