I'm new and have many questions.

Hi, my name is Andy. I've had Schizophrenia for 20yrs. Recently, I was diagnoised with Narcolepsy(have night time visitors). I have severe memory loss(since I was 18) or Dissociation. I have voices all the time. But, they are in my head. Only one voice. I had a delusion that I owned an old wood boat that I was restoring. My delusions have changed, now. I also have many sleep and eating disorders. They have changed over the years, too. I'm trying to figure myself out. I'd appreciate any advice or support. Andy

Hello Andy,
I hope this place proves to be a good place where you can figure yourself out and find some answers for yourself.

~ Namaste

Andy, Welcome to the board,
I hope we can help you, and you find what you need here
Good Luck

Hi Andy my name is Erica and I am kinda new too, But this site is everything except a real hug, But there are groups here and really warm and friendly, caring people I hope u get all that I have gotten and more

Hey Andy, I get voices in my head all the time too. It makes it hard to live. How do you experience the voices?

Thanks everyone for the welcome.
I experience the voices as if they come from one source. Aliens or the government. I really don't know which. Years ago they would repeat over and over. Persicute! Then the one voice started started to get rid of the voices that were negative. Over a few years I was down to the one voice that watched out for me. That I had a purpose in life. One thing the voice said to me was to stop watching TV and reading the paper. The amount of messages dropped off quickly. When people talk to me they ask if I have fallen off the planet. I fell very vulnerable at this point in my life. Because, I'm not current. Andy

You're definitely not alone there, Andy. I stopped reading papers/watching news years ago, and there are times when I'm just hopelessly misinformed about various current affairs. The upside is, the lack of information flow helped to stem a great deal of anxiety and curb the frequency of outside messages in my head.

When you have Schizophrenia do have the same sounding voice. Or, different voices. All my voices are internal, not external. Andy

Hello Andy,
Are you familiar with the Hearing Voices Network or IntervoiceOnline? Both may be good resources for people who hear voices.

My own experience of hearing voices is very limited. I've only heard them twice. (I consider this to be different from my other, lengthy experience which included an abundance of conversations but that was different, because it was like being in a completely different level of reality.) I have had a few experiences of hearing something akin to multiple radio stations blaring at the same time, and occasionally, a roar like the sound of a crowd at a sporting event. That makes me a very poor resource for people who have more frequent experiences.

Sometimes however, I have found that the voices people hear can be mapped upon the Jungian model along the lines of the Shadow or Anima/Animus. People who have undergone traumatic life experiences can also sometimes link the voices they hear to the voices of former abusers. They may find it beneficial to explore these connections with a trauma-based therapist.

The idea of entering into a dialogue with their voices doesn't appeal to everyone. Some people have found it helpful but others aren't comfortable with the idea and don't want to try that approach. Still others have found medication to be very helpful at eliminating any voices they might hear, while others continue to hear voices in spite of any medications. As always, the most effective treatment is going to be the one that works for that specific individual.

Hopefully, all of the above might give you (or others) some ideas on how you can interpret the experience of hearing voices and different ways you can respond to them.

Hi Andy,

Wecome to psychcentral. I hope you find this site helpful. I have schizophrenia too but I hear other things, not voices. I have PTSD and the PTSD is the reason I cannot watch the news on TV so I am like you and am not familiar with current events.

Are you taking any meds now? Have they helped in the past? Have you ever been in outpatient group therapy? I did outpatient group for a few years and it helped me somewhat.

Same here. I leave the room when Hubby watches the news, and I stopped paper delivery (he reads it at work) I have also had to leave the room when hubby and son talk current events. i see bad stuff coming, and the news often confirms my visions, and I get very concerned about what to do.

wow...I have 3 voices commenting on everything I do. I also have some PTSD "echos" in my brains of things I was told or feelings I felt.
I have found some help with medications, although I had to try million combos before I found the right ones.

Hello, I have had some trauma in my past. This sounds crazy, but I've had some alien abductions(experiences). I had one when I was 25yrs old. I've been plagued with voices ever since. I'm taking Invega, Cogentin, Haldol, and Zoloft. I also take Nuvigil and Requip for Narcolepsy. I'm stable right know. But' I can't figure myself out. I just woke up one day. Andy

What was it like with the aliens?

I had a lifelong belief that they were beneviolent. When I was 25yrs old they contacted me first. That they were real. It was happiest day of my life. I don't remember much of what happened next. It was like they broke into my mind and took me out of my body at the same time. I still feel like they listen to my thoughts. Their also very cold and calculating. I feel like I'm human pet in some ways or guinea pig. I would see thier face all the time in my thoughts. All I really got out of it was that I have a purpose in life. What I don't know! Andy

Strange..

You might want to check this book out :
http://www.amazon.com/Sleep-Paralysi...9513270&sr=1-1
I have read before that people with Narcolepsy are more prone to experience sleep paralysis.
There is also a theory that people who experience alien abduction are actually having a sleep paralysis experience. SP can sometimes turn into a lucid dream or an OBE.
I see some similarities between schizophrenia and SP though most people can have SP experiences without schizophrenia.
Hope this helps some.

Last year I was sleeping about an hour a day. I took a sleep latency test that read I wasn't getting any REM sleep. I started taking Nuvigil to wake me up during the day. And, to get rest at night, which has worked. When thr Dr diagnoised me with Narcolepsy. He said that people are sometimes mis-diagnoised having Schizophrenia. But, I have voices all day long and I'm delusional. Not just during sleep paralysis. He thinks I have both. I also think I have Dissociation not memory loss due to Narcolepsy. They feed off each other! Andy

I understand what you are saying Andy. There is a definite connection between dreams and hallucinations. If we don't get the right kind of sleep then hallucinations can develop. That is what this one psychiatrist told me once. I was drinking myself to sleep at the time. That is why alcoholics sometimes get DT's I believe. There is a condition that is also called REM rebound where people can have very vivid and lucid dreams if they wake up in the middle of the night, stay up for a few hours, and then go back to sleep. I don't know that much about Narcolepsy, but I think that it might be an organic brain condition. The book that I recommended is the best book out there on SP as you should be able to see from the reviews. It might help you better understand yourself as I think you stated that as your quest.
I think that it was Emerson who said, Knowledge is the antidote for fear.
Take care and hang in there, Shoe

Hey Andy, here is a very interesting lecture on dissociation by Stanley Krippner. I am not sure if you can just click on this link or if you have to join the site first. You can join for free though. Shoe
http://noetic.org/library/audio-lect...-with-stanley/

I am very glad you are here. I know you will find answers as well as friends who share your concerns and problems. Welcome!

Hi Everyone. I haven't posted since March, 2011. I heard a voice that said to stay away from screens(TV's and Computers)? Since, then my voices have reduced. I've read some books on alien abductions, NDEs and sleep paraylsis. They are all very interesting! Friday, I saw a Shaman and she said the aliens were real! I have a tramua-based therapist now, too. I'll try to post from now on! Andy

That is really good news, Andy. I'm so glad you're finding answers that help you.