Voices

How do you all tell what voices are real or not? Music I sometimes can't tell. Then when I hear conversations and people talking to me I can't tell. I know that when I hear my cat 'talking' to me I know that's not real. It's getting really annoying and I'd appreciate any tips or tricks.

I had made a thread similar to this about hallucinations and learned to take a picture to see if it's really there or not, which works to a point. I'd appreciate any tips for that either.

I'm pretty sure I just can't tell period. I ask people what they said and they say "I said nothing" so I move on. I ask others if they can hear what I hear and they say no. I don't usually believe them and I'm left unsure. I don't know if I hear things or not.

I can't tell either! Sometimes I ask what someone said and they'll say nothing... which leaves me embarrassed. I also don't believe people sometimes and I'll think I'm perfectly normal.

Last year I allowed my sons best friend (age 19) to live with us for a year. He would always whisper insults at me then deny doing it. I'm pretty sure he was trying to make me snap and was actually doing it. I tried to ignore it for a long time then finally told him he must find a new home....now the little weasel is living with my parents and I'm sure he's up to something.

Oh gosh that's terrible. I'm glad you got him out of the house! Sometimes my sister would whisper things and deny it. I don't know why she would do that though because she knows what it's like to be in my shoes. I'm not completely sure she's doing it but it sure sounds like her.

That sounds like a difficult situation. I hope your sister is not doing this. (((Hugs)))

Me too. I don't do it to her I when she's hearing and seeing things. She knows how it feels. Maybe it's just my mind playing tricks on me since she's a familiar voice. I just wish the voices stop. Bleh

I would stop them for you if I could. I doubt your sister would do that to you....she has no motivation which I could think of. (((Hugs)))

Thanks <3 that's true. She has no motivation. Half the time it's like she's the big sister because she's always taking care of me... I feel useless when she's going through this. I don't know what to say or do. And I doubt she's standing outside my door just to mess with me.

Difficult to say. Depends on your circumstances and the degree of insight you possess. Voices I hear don't tend to emulate people I know. One of the best initial ways is to first evaluate whether what you're experiencing falls in line with what you would expect of reality. If it's questionable or doesn't seem quite right, what you're experiencing may be a hallucination.

One time I overheard that kid who was living here free talking to his friend right in front of me talking about how he was trying to drive me crazy and knew just how to do it right because he's skilled at it.....and nobody believes me....think I was hearing things. And they might be right but I don't think so. They were so happily discussing it and the kid thought I was "out to lunch" so he could get away with it! And he did!

My voices don't usually sound like people I know either. I know it should be somewhat easy to tell what should be there but it's not for me. Especially when someone is talking directly to me.

Wow that really sucks. Sorry that happened to you! People like that are just plain mean. I had a friend I confided in and got freaked out and stopped being my friend. When we had classes together she would mess with me and be like 'did you hear that?' 'Did you see that!' It was really stressful and I ended up dropping the class. This was before my auditory and visual hallucinating got really bad. They were just mild,yet still bothersome.

That is just so wrong!!! Do people think they are being funny? I think they do and they are dead wrong. I'm sorry that happened. (((Hugs)))

voices...are...lame.

Mine are apparently related to psychotic depression (mine went untreated for a while, so everything is just now starting to fade), plus underlying "obsessive traits." So...I get down and I hear voices that revolve around things I think about. Its obnoxious, but not all that terrible. Of course...I live in a secure, comfortable, safe environment and take 4 psych drugs, so...that helps.

According to my shrink, a different drug for the depression might help, but I'm not real big on the SSRI or SNRI drugs. Wellbutrin gets most of the job done.

Still...something to think about...just because you hear voices doesn't necessarily mean you need an antipsychotic/neuroleptic/tranquilizer, or a higher dose if you're already on one. When my doc finally got me to say OK to a depression drug, I was able to drop my 2 as-needed drugs (neurontin and low dose risperdal) within 1 month.

people don't much care for the mentally ill. I think...keep in mind, I live in the southern US (The Bible Belt, y'all!), so things are probably different (read: better) in some other places, but...I get the impression that you can "be in treatment" until you cross a certain line. You're on --that-- drug or you have --that-- diagnosis or --those-- problems, or (God forbid) you're economically unproductive, under-productive, or dependent on disability and/or family. Then..

...then it gets real. Voices...not ok. Not socially acceptable. I first heard voices at 17, in the dorms at college. I thought there were cameras in my room and I also thought people were banging on the door at night and telling me to kill myself. I called a friend and she just said "Look, you have schizophrenia. I have my own problems. We can't hang out." Ouch.

And I got off lightly compared to a lot of people. Hospitals, homelessness, early death, complete and total peer rejection...on and on it goes.

Its sad. Madness has been around forever. I don't know if its been around as long as people have, or if its just the pressures of civilization that made madness a curse. I dunno. But...historically, the mad amongst us haven't fared all that well. :-(

I think maybe things are better now, for a lot of people. Better than at other times in modern, American history, anyway.

I'm very sorry that happened to you. Everything you've written here is very true and very well said....very sad but also with some hope. Things are getting better as time goes on. (((Hugs)))

Yeah I guess they think it's funny. After that I was careful about who I'd tell. Only a few people know now and they're good for me. They learned what to watch out for and how to help. Sometimes I feel like a burden to them but am so grateful too.

I'm sorry this has happened to you! I'm very dependent on my family so I get what you're saying. The voices and paranoia suck, sorry about what happened to you in college. People can be very mean.