I've heard voices for over 2 years now. I very rarely talk about them because most people can't understand. My family (mostly) tries, but it just seems to be outside of their realm of understanding. The only time I properly explained about all of the voices was to my therapist a few weeks ago, but I can't see him anymore. He was the only person to actually understand what I was trying to say. My SIL thinks it's like the cartoons where you have a 'good' angel and a 'bad' devil on each shoulder talking to you, which she thinks is HILARIOUS, which couldn't be any further from the truth.

Anyway, before I went on Aripiprazole/Abilify I heard a man and a woman talking, both in my head and with my ears. Generally they say nasty things to me, like telling me to kill/hurt myself. Other times they'll comment on what I'm doing, saying it's no good or that no-one cares what I think when I'm talking. They also tell me what other people are thinking, which is always negative and about me. At first I found them really frightening, but I quickly got used to them. They make me sad at times, but ultimately they're just saying what I already think anyway so it's not so bad. They can make it hard to concentrate sometimes though.

There's also the malevolent whispers which really freak me out. I don't hear them often, usually only when I'm really stressed, and it sounds like hundreds of people whispering. I can't make out what they're all saying, but I know it's nasty and about me. They really scare me so I'm glad that I don't hear them often.

Anyway since the aripiprazole/abilify has started to work, I don't hear them outside my head anymore. It's gotten to the point where I'm not sure if I hear them or not, which is also kind of scary. I'm constantly questioning myself, like did I hear that or think that?? I know that the voices are really my thoughts so I guess the meds are working but maybe I need a bit more to KNOW that I thought it rather than heard it, because this confusion scares me. I don't like second guessing myself - I'd rather know I heard a voice or know it was a thought than be constantly questioning myself.

Anyway this was an interesting thread. I enjoy hearing other's experiences as it makes me feel less strange. I'm wondering why you feel the need to self-disclose in work though fishsandwich? I think that you can demonstrate through words and body language that you understand, without having to say that you hear voices too. My T showed me that he understood, and I have no need to hear if he knows from personal experience or just professional experience. I want to work in mental health but I don't think that I'd be able to self-disclose. It might help some people e.g. they can see you as a role model "If fishsandwich got through it, so can I" etc, or it could backfire and they could think that there's something wrong with them for them to struggle so much. I have low self-esteem and if I saw someone successful who I knew heard voices, I'd think "well they hear voices and are still successful so why am I such a mess?!" and beat myself up about it. But maybe that's just me?

*Willow*