[Mack2]

I constantly have noise in my head, sometimes it's worse than other times. The noise is things like previous conversations, songs, a line from a program. Sometimes when it gets too much I just shout in my head repeatedly "shut up" this noise means I can't watch telly as I can't hear it for the noise, trying to read is impossible with noise in my head. I know when it's getting serious when the odd suicidal thought pops in as that always ends up the same way, the noise will just constantly be saying to kill myself, and at that point I end up in hospital. I wondered if anyone else has experience of this too?

[Nessa213]

Yes yes and YES!!

It's been much quieter lately but reading is usually MURDER. Makes me so sad. It's exactly as you describe. Sometimes I'll get a movie line stuck in my head and it will repeat for literally hours. It's awful. I call it "chatter".

You're not alone.

[~Christina]

Yes ! when it becomes so overwhelming and I start to wonder if it all true I know its time to step up my self grounding and meditation. If it is still distressing I take a AP on a prn basis for a day or 2.. and that usually tamps it back to a tolerable roar.

[wildflowerchild25]

This is happening to me now. Never as loud as what you describe but vexing nonetheless.

[bluewind]

Yes, I too experience this constantly. I have a song playing through my head, thoughts like conversations and ringing or static...which is tinnitus all going on at the same time. I also have told my brain to shut up. It's worse when I'm overwhelmed or anxious. Maybe try a hot bath, comfort food, meditation, a walk. I take ativan too and I paint. But when it gets bad I can't do much of anything. I so relate.

[Mack2]

I'm so glad you all have the same problem, when I try to explain it to anyone else, they just don't understand how loud the noise can get at times.

[wotchermuggle]

Yeah, I call it "buzzing". Usually happens when I'm really up or really down.

[A Red Panda]

Yeah... sometimes my thoughts and stuff in my head is so loud and all over the place that I have to ask people repeatedly to repeat what they just said - because as hard as I'm trying, I simply don't have a clue what they said because I can't process what I'm hearing!

I actually had mutliple hearing tests as a kid due to this...

It drives me nuts!

[BipolaRNurse]

I'm so used to this that I've never really even thought about it......I just assumed everyone had this sort of stuff going on! It's been a little bit quieter since I went on Geodon, but I still have about 100 of the TV channels in my brain going at the same time, as opposed to maybe 250.

Me, too. I call it "The Hamster Wheel of Death" when trying to describe it to my therapist.

It usually starts with one line from a song that repeats constantly...then different lines from different songs are added in at the same time...then songs I've never heard...then "chatter"...the list goes on.

I wonder if meds help?? What really helps me is extremely vigorous exercise that requires a lot of thought...like rock climbing or trailing running down a really rocky, treacherous route.

I get this too, but I think I had a lot more of it when I wasn't on meds. I still get phrases and tunes stuck in my head all the time though. Most of yesterday it was "lazer beamz lazer beamz lazer beamz lazer beamz lazer lazer lazer beamz lazer beamz..."

However, and I'm not sure if this is related, I also have noise that's not intelligible. It makes it difficult to think because I have to think louder, sort of, and it stresses me out in the same way noises do. Not sure if noise is a good word for that.

Originally Posted by Mack2

I constantly have noise in my head, sometimes it's worse than other times. The noise is things like previous conversations, songs, a line from a program. Sometimes when it gets too much I just shout in my head repeatedly "shut up" this noise means I can't watch telly as I can't hear it for the noise, trying to read is impossible with noise in my head. I know when it's getting serious when the odd suicidal thought pops in as that always ends up the same way, the noise will just constantly be saying to kill myself, and at that point I end up in hospital. I wondered if anyone else has experience of this too?

When the "noise" gets to the point I need to scream, I'm in a very dangerous spot. All I want to do is really scream, not just in my head. I can be very violent, and that really scares me. I try to run away from anyone, just get away, and do deep breathing and I put the states in alphabetical order, that usually calms me down for a bit, so I just keep doing it.

My pdoc put me on an anti-psychotic, and told me to get home, take one and go to sleep. Try to sleep the "noise" off. Although I call it my Sh**ty committee (me, myself and I).

[A Red Panda]

I think I'm pretty lucky that the volume of my noise is fairly quiet - I don't know how but I can USUALLY shove it into the background.

However, I'm uber-sensitive to background noises when I'm trying to do work. Real ones and the ones in my head. Like.... instead of listening to some speaker, I might be listening to the person near me writing with their pen. Or the fan. Or someone coughing. Or I might end up hearing the song in my head more than the person. Or I might keep tuning them out and find my grocery list popping up. Or I might start recounting a conversation I had earlier. When I notice it, I tune back in... but that might only last a few seconds before it's gone again.

Reading quite often works for me - or watching a tv show. It might not work perfectly, but the longer I keep at the activity the more like I am to get my brain to slow down and focus on the task -but only if I enjoy it. It's how I get myself to sleep, because unless I'm EXHAUSTED then my silly little head won't quiet down enough to sleep.

If I can't focus on the book? Then I am in tttrrrooouble and need to be doing something active.

[faerie_moon_x]

Yeah, I get this a lot. It's part of racing thoughts. I call them looping thoughts instead of noise. I have a couple of types of looping thoughts and one is like the songs that get stuck in your head, which I think is a normal thing really for most people. Although, you know, getting 5 or 6 songs or snips of conversations or whatever stuck is pretty normal for me. And, yes, the looping thoughts disrupt reading for me, more often than not these days. They break my thought process and I can't focus on anything.

But then, I get the obsessive looping thoughts. These are the ones that are big problem because I can't get anything done except focus on these racing obsessive thoughts. They can last for a long time. I've had them last for months.

[Mack2]

I showed these posts to my sister who is a psychologist in another part of Scotland. I showed it to her mainly as people just look at me and think I'm daft when I try to explain, here is her reply

Interesting. Not sure this is ever commented on as part of the condition in diagnostic criteria, at least not in this way.

I also have thoughts in my head the whole time, and can get certain phrases, names or songs stuck there, but usually only when I'm not occupied (very often in the shower), so I can ignore it when I'm doing something else, like watching tv. So the thoughts you have in themselves are not abnormal, but the 'volume' is.

You should look up Mindfulness techniques.

[faerie_moon_x]

That's because the diagnostic criteria for bipolar doesn't encompass all of the parts of bipolar in my opinion. There is a lot going on with us that we all see every day on this board that doctors don't consider, because it's not in some book. They treat the fever but not the underlying illness. That's what I'm learning just by all of the questions and comments that come up on here.

That's just how I see it and I believe more every day.