[Sad&Bipolar]

Have you ever heard what sounds like an instrumental song playing, or people having a discussion that sounds like banter on a radio station? I read in a blog once that people with Bipolar often have this symptom.

I have on occasion heard these sounds when there is no radio on anywhere in the house, and there no TV or radio sounds outside, either.

I never hear anyone talking to me through the radio, it's just sounds. If I hear "banter" it is not actual words I hear - it sounds muffled and in the distance. I think it is much different than hearing voices.

[luckyme808]

I have too!! I didn't realize it was a BP thing. I just figured it was just one more way I was crazy!

yes i do - if i am not sleeping and hypomanic or manic.

[wildflowerchild25]

I definitely do but only when I'm in an episode - manic or mixed. It sucks because it really makes me feel like I'm nuts! If that happens I know I'm in pretty bad trouble and I better get ahold of my pdoc ASAP.

[kitten55]

yes. And sometimes I hear church-type bells. It's faint and sometimes difficult to hear over the constant ringing in my ears like crickets.

The radio thing is a constant source of annoyance for me, especially during manic/hypomanic episodes. Sometimes it turns into a broken record player. Sometimes there's just... NOISE. So much noise that I want to take my brain out and throw it into a lake.

[Standup2me]

Yes, yes, yes!!!!!

It sounds like a radio station playing very quietly, but not quite tuned in.

It always plays that 70s-80s music - the Pina Colada song, Lide Shuffle, Margarita Ville

[outlaw sammy]

I CAN'T BELIEVE WHAT I'M READING HERE!!!! I've discussed this very topic with several mental health professionals and they have all said that it's NOT a symptom of bipolar manic-psychosis - but I every time I enter into that elevated state of insanity, I hear the soft, comforting sound of instrumental music. It's relaxing and yet disturbing, because I know that at any moment I may be experiencing even more dangerous forms of advancing psychosis.

Originally Posted by outlaw sammy

I CAN'T BELIEVE WHAT I'M READING HERE!!!! I've discussed this very topic with several mental health professionals and they have all said that it's NOT a symptom of bipolar manic-psychosis - but I every time I enter into that elevated state of insanity, I hear the soft, comforting sound of instrumental music. It's relaxing and yet disturbing, because I know that at any moment I may be experiencing even more dangerous forms of advancing psychosis.

What did the healthcare professionals say? Did they have an explanation for the "radio"? I'm pretty sure that it's not "normal", i.e. none of my friends have experienced anything like it. I'm curious about the explanation from a pdoc or tdoc's perspective.

[Standup2me]

I asked my P.doc about and he said while it is unusual, it is not unheard of, some people do experience it, and that it will be there medicated or not.

He also explained that it typically is not frightening, but can be annoying

[MotherMarcus]

I have what I call brain chatter. Just excessive noise. sounds almost like ball-bearings clanging around in a coffee can.

[r010159]

I have heard what seemed to me to be a radio playing. This was a long time ago. I also had what one here calls "brain chatter". Fortunately I have not had this happen to me in quite awhile.

[doyoutrustme]

About once or twice a month I get that when I'm trying to sleep. It sounds like an old tuner radio that's set between two stations. You sort of hear both, plus some static. I can make out some clips and phrases but I forget them very fast. It's weird and random but I'm told having hallucinations upon waking or falling sleep its common enough to be normal.

tapatalk post.

Yes, many times. It can be disconcerting, yeah? Or just plain annoying(!)

I hear a few different ones: music (of an era I don't listen to… old-timey), sports games -- like announcers and crowd sounds (I don't follow sports), people talking…. um, feel like I'm forgetting one, but anyway, yes, indistinct. Try as I might, can't make out specifics. They're not talking to me or anything, and they sound like maybe they are in another room. Just like you describe.

I've brought it up a couple of times at appointments. Psych said they are nothing of concern. Interestingly, she asked if there was a fan or anything going, because that can also cause that effect. I used to have a job where sometimes I had to be by a generator all night. That was the most disconcerting on the "people talking" front, as it didn't sound like it was in another room -- it was like they were right behind me(!) Very annoying. Usually though, there's not a device. Sometimes I'll try repeatedly to find a source, despite the familiarity of the experience. Psych asked why I looked if I know they're not real. I don't know! Lol.

[grandmaof3]

I hear what sounds like whispering behind me when Im manic. This just started a couple of years ago and my pdoc told me that it was unusual but it does happen sometimes. It is rather annoying and it makes it hard to concentrate on what is really going on

[BipolaRNurse]

During manic episodes I've been known to hear bits of classical music that's never been composed, and then recently during a mixed episode I heard a "ghost radio" playing OVER the radio in the house that was actually playing. That's pretty freaky to me, but I suppose it's better than some of the hallucinations people have.

[canada58]

Originally Posted by grandmaof3

I hear what sounds like whispering behind me when Im manic. This just started a couple of years ago and my pdoc told me that it was unusual but it does happen sometimes. It is rather annoying and it makes it hard to concentrate on what is really going on

i've heard that too, it sounds like someone is saying my name at times. It started happening within the last year. It really unsettles me. Generally happens when I'm lacking sleep as well.

Oh, and to echo (haha, echo) others, yes on upswing. Which I kind of forgot. But I've been on one which has gotten to uncomfortable proportions tonight.
Then amidst antsy pinball semi-thoughts, I suddenly realized the "radio" was on. It's the random jibber-jabber music one. (THAT'S the one I forgot -- try to listen, is it talking or music? It's both. Overlaid and kind of colliding. Like a few radio stations playing at the same time. Definitely annoying.)

[outlaw sammy]

Originally Posted by psychehedone

What did the healthcare professionals say? Did they have an explanation for the "radio"? I'm pretty sure that it's not "normal", i.e. none of my friends have experienced anything like it. I'm curious about the explanation from a pdoc or tdoc's perspective.

I've asked about five psychiatrists, one psychologist Ph.D, and countless psychotherapists - and no one has ever heard of such a symptom throughout their studies or clinical experiences. The reason my music is not an hallucination is because it occurs regularly with each advancing episode of manic-psychosis and that defines it as a symptom (or indicator). This question that you've raised deserves further exploration - I THOUGHT THAT I WAS ALL ALONE IN HAVING THIS SPECIFIC SYMPTOM. I guess that there really are others out who are as deeply disturbed as me (just joking here).

[tigersassy]

I have a soundtrack to my life playing in my head most of the time when I'm manic. It isn't like a halfway tuned radio station its full out.

Tig

[Nammu]

I thought it was just me because I'm hearing impaired. At times it is instrumental music, other times it is just like some of you have said a radio between two settings. Drives me nuts cause I can't understand the words or the tune and often it seems to be choir singing/ chanting or extremely loud engines/ocean waves. Mostly happens like now when I can't sleep.

[TheatreKid]

I hear something similar, but I call it "tv noise" because it sounds like a TV left on in another room. The second time I was in the hospital, my room was at the near end of the hall to the TV room, and I kept asking them to turn the TV off or down and they would say the TV wasn't on. I heard it frequently for a while, but now it's maybe once or twice a month, mostly when I haven't slept.

[Standup2me]

Brain chatter

I love that expression

I don't think anyone's suggesting that it's a symptom. I think what it is is that it's just something many of us experience more frequently than the average bear (and maybe we're just more "tuned in" on ups, on account of taking in more sensory stuff). I'd liken it to rage that way. It certainly is not a diagnostic criteria, or symptom, but does seem to be something we experience at a greater rate than the general population.

As to your original question, psychedhedone, I've never heard an explanation of why it happens exactly. When my psych mentioned the fan thing, I thought about it and figured that maybe it was just our brains trying to put nonsensical sounds into a more familiar form. (Like, machine noises are, really, quite new to our brains compared to speech or music(!)) Reading later, I stumbled across a word for that phenomenon, but cannot think of it at all (and search terms to try to look it up were too broad apparently). I remember it because it was a tiny bit disappointing to learn that it wasn't an original thought, lol! Very silly. (Maybe I was hypo and feeling grandiose at the time. )

But in the absence of such a device, no idea!

[Sad&Bipolar]

Personally, I think it has something to do with the area of the brain affected by our Bipolar. To me it seems like an awakened sensitivity to the white noise of motors from electrical appliances. I notice the instrumental music when my car is idling at a red light. I have also noticed similar sounds when our old refrigerator was going out and it emitted a lot of extra motor noise. This is just my own guestimate - not anything scientific that I've read or heard.