[Tsunamisurfer]

When I told my psychiatrist about the voices and visions I had been experiencing, she wasn't happy to hear about them. She gave me the choice of voluntary hospitalisation or being committed by her. The last thing I wanted was to be on antipsychotics and be institutionalised. Tough luck!!!!!

Since then I have come across the following article:
http://www.mentalhealth.org.uk/help-...earing-voices/

It takes a lot less pathological view of "voices", and gives people the dignity to accept and interpret their experiences with less fear.

Looking back, I think the voices themselves were nothing to be afraid of. Instead, they were an indicator that I was experiencing a lot of distress. The buzzing in my brain, the paranoia, the difficulty expressing myself verbally, the confusion, and agony experienced from noisy environments was a greater cause for concern. It was from those symptoms that I was happy to receive the relief of antipsychotics rather than from the somewhat bewildering voices and visions.

With those symptoms gone, the remaining severe distress of disorientation, loss of productivity through excessive drowsiness and sleep, and a sense of distance from reality that came from the neuroleptic drugs needed to be dealt with.

I hope I never have to go back onto neuroleptics again. So far so good.

I hear you.

[costello]

Originally Posted by Tsunamisurfer

When I told my psychiatrist about the voices and visions I had been experiencing, she wasn't happy to hear about them.

I don't think the voices are bad in themselves or necessarily a sign of "mental illness." It's a fascinating topic to me. I wish I had more time to compose a longer message. I just wanted to take a minute to say that some researchers have found that there is a huge number of people who hear voices who never come into contact with mental health professionals. The difference between the patients and the non-patients is that the former find their voices to be distressing and the latter don't.

I also wanted to say that I've been listening to the audiobook version of Oliver Sacks' Musicophilia. He relates the story of one of his friends who put one of his favorite pieces on his stereo and listened to the entire thing with great pleasure. When it was finished he got up to turn the record over and realized that he hadn't actually started the music playing. And yet he'd "heard" the whole thing!

Isn't this an auditory hallucination?

[Tsunamisurfer]

Originally Posted by costello

...When it was finished he got up to turn the record over and realized that he hadn't actually started the music playing. And yet he'd "heard" the whole thing! ...

LOL. That is brilliant!
Thanks for sharing it.

[sduck]

My voices were mainly just after-sound of things like things I've heard from video games or movies... Usually the voices are hard to make out, while some of them sound very clear... They didn't seem to give me orders or effect my thinking negatively, they were just very annoying to the point I wanted to cut my ears off... really.

[costello]

Originally Posted by Tsunamisurfer

LOL. That is brilliant!
Thanks for sharing it.

I've continued listening to Musicophilia. It's fascinating. The story above was from chapter 4 on imagination. But chapter 6 is on musical hallucinations. He distinguishes "psychotic" hallucinations from "neurological" hallucinations, but the similarities between the musical hallucinations and hearing voices is really stunning to me. For example, some people with musical hallucinations get relief from focusing on something or from listening to "real" music or white noise. I've heard these suggested for people troubled by voices.

People who have musical hallucinations sometimes hear a repeating phrase over and over. I've heard people with voices make the same complaint; they'll hear a single word or short phrase repeated constantly.

People with musical hallucinations will think at first the sound is coming from outside of themselves - a radio, tv, neighbor's apartment, etc., until they realize there's no external source.

Few people with musical hallucinations enjoy the experience, but some admit they'd kind of miss their hallucinations if they disappeared because they've gotten used to them. I've heard these same sentiments from voice hearers.

There are psychological components to both. Stress increases both kinds of hallucinations. People often learn to cope with both kinds of experiences over time.

In most of the case studies of musical hallucinations he discusses, the music the person hears isn't necessarily the kind they like. Some actively hate the music. For example, one Jewish man heard Nazi music from his childhood in 1930's Germany. Obviously many voice hearers hate the messages they're hearing.

Some people with musical hallucinations fear they're losing their minds or fear others will think so if they tell about their experiences. Obviously voice hearers have the same fear.

I think there were other parallels I've forgotten. I'm going to have to get a copy of this book in paper and read that chapter closely.

[costello]

Originally Posted by sduck

My voices were mainly just after-sound of things like things I've heard from video games or movies... Usually the voices are hard to make out, while some of them sound very clear... They didn't seem to give me orders or effect my thinking negatively, they were just very annoying to the point I wanted to cut my ears off... really.

This resonates with the musical hallucinations Sacks discusses in Musicophilia chapter 6. He mentions a 7 year old boy who tells his parents he hears music all the time, day and night. They think the music started when he was much younger, because one time at age 5 he was riding in the car and he clutched his ears and began shrieking for the radio to be turned off, even though it wasn't on.

Many of the case studies in the book had other medical problems associated with their hallucinations such as seizures, head injuries, or hearing loss.

[mgran]

I get musical hallucinations, but I tend not to consider them serious or disturbing. Annoying occasionally, yes, particularly if I'm trying to sleep.

Interesting... perhaps if I try to foster the same neutral attitude to the voices they may lose power to disturb me.

[costello]

Originally Posted by mgran

Interesting... perhaps if I try to foster the same neutral attitude to the voices they may lose power to disturb me.

That's what I was wondering. It may be harder, though, with voices - especially when the content is extremely negative and targets the person's self-perceived weaknesses. The musical hallucinations don't seem to do that as much. Although, one elderly woman was annoyed when she woke up early and was treated to The Old Gray Mare She Ain't What She Used To Be. And the author says he "heard" (not a hallucination, but what he called "imagination" - like getting a song stuck in your head) Oh, Come Let Us Adore Him while he was eating white fish - which he "adores."

[costello]

I have a copy of Marius Romme's book Accepting Voices, but for some reason I haven't been able to put my hands on it recently. He talks about the experiences of voice hearers who aren't distressed by their voices, how they cope with them and how they understand them.

I see he has a newer book out called Living With Voices. I'd love to own it, but it's not in the budget right now.

[newtus]

hallucinations of sounds and noises..are they the same?
same category?
i mean as musical ones?

hm...

[newtus]

i have music, sounds, and voices stuff

actually i refuse to call them "hallucinations"

[Trippin2.0]

I experience both kinds. Both seem to be disturbing to a certain extent, but for very different reasons.
The music I tend to hear is just absurd, like old grammaphone (sp) music, consisting mostly of string instruments, and I'm not even old enough to know what a grammaphone(sp) sounds like plus it's REALLY loud and eerie.
Also I tend to hear children singing, almost as if they were rehearsing for a school concert, those freak me out too cos they tend to repeat certain lines.

Then there are the voices, if I hear 1, it's usually a sign that I'm taking strain, if I hear 2 or more, a bipolar episode is starting. So THAT'S why they're distressing, they're a sign that I'm in a bad way, something I can't always see as I'm too busy holding it together, had my 1st AAP bcoz of such an episode, as it was really scary. I think tho, that now that I know what they are, and I'm not some nutjob, I'm better equipped, should they make an appearance again.

On a more positive note, I've been med free for 4 months, and no voices