[busbi07]

Hi firstly this is my first post so hi to whoever is reading this..

Basically 6 months ago i had a really scary experience, that night my head felt like it was in overdrive (I'd never felt this way ever in my life). I started to hear voices, i don't really want to go into what they were saying but you get the idea.

Ever since that night, I've thought about what happened every single day, sometimes i still have bad episodes, and until now i've never spoken about it to anybody, I'm too afraid of what will happen, like being locked up in an institution or something... it sounds over the top but i really cannot help but worry about it.

The thing is, i don't know whether the voices are just my thoughts or what, please bare with me i know this isn't making much sence! I feel in my head that it IS me thinking all these thoughts, but just thinking alot at the same time, one way of putting it is that my head feel's crowded, and some nights when i'm in bed its unbearable. Does this sound like i have schizophrenia? I don't know whether that is the case or not, I've always had an over active imagination all my life, but i've never really noticed, now all of a sudden it feels as if I'm conscious all the time about what I'm thinking, if a bad thought enters my head then i quickly try and think of something positive. This does help but then it gets to the point where i'm going over the same thoughts.

Any responce would be appreciated! it feels like a weight has been lifted now i've got this out, i can't keep it to my self any longer. x

[Bri7]

This definitely, to me sounds to be some kind of mental illness rearing it's ugly head. I was diagnosed with schizophrenia several years ago, and I had similar symptoms. It could also be bipolar disorder, or a whole spectrum of other mental illnesses. My best advice is to see a doctor. Try going to your gen. physican first. He/She may suggest seeing a psychiatrist. The sooner you see a doctor, the better prognosis you have. Early treatment, as with any other illness, is essential to a good recovery. Please, see a dr. ASAP.

Bri7

[busbi07]

Thanks for the reply,

I think it could be bipolar also, there are times when im in a good mood, i forget about the schizophrenia thing and i feel better again, then the thought of it will pop into my head and i'll hit rock bottom again and feel suicidle etc over it, I'm not going to go do something like that, but it does help me feel better for a while ironically.

I should go see a doctor, i think i've been trying to kid myself by telling myself im not going mad, there was a short period afew months back when i felt better if i drank alcohol every night, but that just makes things ten times worse the next day so i dont touch the stuff anymore.

xx

[schizoidwoman]

Hi busbi,
I am schizoaffective which is like schizophrenia and bipolar combined. I understand how scary it is to have these symptoms and not know what to do. But I am happy to tell you that i found a great combination of meds from my doctor that take away the symptoms COMPLETELY! If you go see the doc, they probably won't lock you up because it's expensive. If you're not suicidal or homicidal, they will probably just get you some good meds and send you off to take them on your own. I take abilify for hallucinations/delusions, and lithium and seroquel for the bipolar. I very highly recommend abilify. Not so much seroquel but i am very sensitive to it. You just have to keep experimenting in conjunction with your doctor to get the meds that work for you without a lot of side effects. I agree - get to a dr. asap and you will hopefully feel better soon.
Take care!

[Soidhonia]

Hello and welcome to Psych Central. It is good tha tyou are sharing your story in order to get the help you need at this time. seeing a Therapist for a diagnisis is the first step in the right fdirection. You do not have to suffer to this degree with your disorder taking the right medication and getting the right therapy. Take care. I hope the best for you in the future. Soidhonia

Hey there. Did something happen 6 months ago to trigger the experience? Were you going through a particularly stressful time or something like that?

There are two main theories of hearing voices. One theory is that they are thoughts that are experienced as 'not mine' or 'other'. Another theory is that they are the misinterpretation of 'noise in the channel'. The idea there is that a hunter might be waiting for a deer compulsively asking himself 'is it a deer? is it a deer?' Eventually he sees some movement (noise) and interprets the movement as 'yes!' and fires his gun. It turns out to be a leaf moving or his companion or whatever. I guess voices that sound fairly disorganised (simple phrases or repetitions of the same word) might be better explained by the last theory while more complicated statements might be better explained by the first theory.

> The thing is, i don't know whether the voices are just my thoughts or what

Yeppers. They are your thoughts. The regions of your brain that are active when you are generating thoughts are active when you are hearing voices. Language production areas. Most people don't really actively choose the thoughts that occur to them. Sometimes thoughts occur to us that we don't believe are true. Just because thoughts occur to us DOES NOT mean that we believe the thoughts are true (false things occur to me all the time like: 'you are a lazy sack of %#@&#! alexandra_k') and just because thoughts occur to us DOES NOT mean that we have to act on them (e.g., doesn't mean we have to do what the voice says), While we can control out thoughts (by directing them) sometimes nobody does this all the time.

> my head feel's crowded, and some nights when i'm in bed its unbearable.

Sounds very stressful to me. Sounds like you are going through a very stressful time right now. If you went to see a doctor they would most probably give you some kind of anti-psychotic which would work by sedating you a little. As a result of that your thoughts would seem to slow down a little and / or you would feel less distressed by them. The medication would also help you sleep.

Alternatively... Is there any way that you could take some time right now to take care of yourself? Your body might be trying to tell you that it needs some time out. Some time off work, perhaps. Some time to do something nice and relax and recouperate. Do you have anyone who you can talk to? I think that it is possible to get through this kind of thing medication-free but getting through it medication-free is helped a lot if you have good social supports and if you are in the position to be able to take it easy and stuff while you get through this.

What happened 6 months ago? Was it a traumatic experience? It might be that this is your bodies way of coping with it. Would you be able to try and see a councellor or therapist? They would only suggest an institution if they thought you were in danger of hurting yourself or someone else and if you don't give them any reason to believe that you would do that then they certainly can't make you go into an institution.

Hang in there.