Help voices

[TJuk]

Hi, i am wondering if anyone can help me regarding voices.

what coping methods do you use?

anything else you recommend that is helpful when you are having voices?

 

[noaccount]

What bothers you about them? Do they tell you to do things you don't want to? My friend who had that said that the thing to do was just tell them, "No, why would I do that?" He said it was like practice for being more assertive to people in real life - a voice can't pressure you to do things the way a person can, it doesn't even have a body.

Oh maybe check out HVN:

Basic Information About Voices & Visions – National Hearing Voices Network

www.hearing-voices.org

 

[pete_x]

Now, I play my cello.
5 years ago I played my banjo.
10 years ago I wrote poetry.
20 years ago I wrote poetry, played classical guitar and did heroin.

It changes. You have to experiment and see what is effective without being evil, injurious, or destructive.

 

[TJuk]

Bothers me that they are so loud, sometimes can't concentrate on what's been said by a person cause voices so loud.

They also go on about killing myself and stabbing myself and then been negative about me. The voices that are sarcastic don't bother me.
There's an hearing voices group in my local area, but does anyone know what happens at them as never been and not sure what there setup is like

 

[timf]

There may be several possibilities. The voices could be a part of your mind left to run on free association. Bringing it back under your control might be accomplished by seeing how much the voices bother you when you are doing a complex task. If the voices fade, you may find improvement by doing things like a crossword or sodoku puzzle.

Christians, Muslims, and Buddhists consider spiritual beings capable of messing with people. This might be tested by experimenting with calling on the name of religious figures to help and seeing what effect it has.

Regardless if the voices have an internal or external origin, they are not physical and one might be emboldened to confront them. For example, if they suggest you kill yourself, you might tell them to kill themselves. Regardless of the practicality, it might prove useful to exercise some control over the situation.

 

[GoBack]

Years ago when it first started after about a year if chaos I learnt how to concentrate on my own voice and let them fade into the background.

That worked till my last breakdown when they have taken over. I don't know what to do with them now.

If you can concentrate on your own voice it does help though

 

[BPD Barbie]

I just try and remind myself they aren't real and they won't hurt me. It's scary, my voices come inside of other sounds so they aren't constant like some other peoples. But try and keep yourself busy, really try and focus your mind on something else. I think that support group could be useful, I imagine it's just a lot of talking, people telling their stories and how they coped etc. Could be really good for you :) For me, medication also helped me to stop hearing things.

 

[terry_a_davis]

Bothers me that they are so loud, sometimes can't concentrate on what's been said by a person cause voices so loud.

They also go on about killing myself and stabbing myself and then been negative about me. The voices that are sarcastic don't bother me.
There's an hearing voices group in my local area, but does anyone know what happens at them as never been and not sure what there setup is like

Have you told a doctor about this? If you have, what happened? If you haven't, it might be an idea.

 

[TJuk]

Have you told a doctor about this? If you have, what happened? If you haven't, it might be an idea.

Firstly thanks for your response and everyone elses.
I have spoken with my psychiatrist about the voices but he just said I need to focus on getting better so wasn't much help. This was discussed when I was only having feelings of been better off dead and not actually looking at methods.

My psychiatrist isn't much help really, unfortunately I can't change tho. I have my care coordinator and my therapist and we are working on trying to find ways to cope with them. They are both on annual leave this week

 

[terry_a_davis]

Firstly thanks for your response and everyone elses.
I have spoken with my psychiatrist about the voices but he just said I need to focus on getting better so wasn't much help. This was discussed when I was only having feelings of been better off dead and not actually looking at methods.

My psychiatrist isn't much help really, unfortunately I can't change tho. I have my care coordinator and my therapist and we are working on trying to find ways to cope with them. They are both on annual leave this week

I'm not a shrink but i'm surprised medications weren't brought up, do you have any other symptoms like delusions, paranoia, anxiety, low motivation? These are common symptoms of schizophrenia as are voices.

 

[noaccount]

Every Hearing Voices group is a bit different - probably worth contacting the one near you to find out more! But, they're all run by people who've been there and deal with the same things, not by professionals or clinicians.

(Whether or not we describe an experience as "schizophrenia" doesn't really give us any new information about it, and there's no strong evidence that the common medications alleviate particular symptoms for the majority of users, rather than just being general sedatives.)

 

[Wallace]

Would you mind telling us what other symptoms or diagnoses you have, besides hearing voices?

 

[terry_a_davis]

@noaccount I asked if op has the other symptoms of schizophrenia because if he/she has then he/she might have schizophrenia which would be new information gained. Hearing voices is very common in schizophrenia, but can sometimes happen in other illnesses like BPD and bi polar but i don't know much about the other symptoms of those.

Anti psychotics have been demonstrated to have some efficacy in treating auditory hallucinations.

Hallucinations in acutely admitted patients with psychosis, and effectiveness of risperidone, olanzapine, quetiapine, and ziprasidone: a pragmatic, randomized study

Hallucinations are prevalent in schizophrenia and related psychotic disorders and may have severe consequences for the affected patients. Antipsychotic drug trials that specifically address the anti-hallucinatory effectiveness of the respective drugs ...

www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

"Hallucinations are fairly responsive to anti psychotic drug treatment"

If the only symptom is voices then it seems overkill to take anti psychotics for it, may be that's why the psychiatrist didn't mention them. I've very briefly heard voices and it wasn't good, op's situation sounds much worse.

 

[TJuk]

My other symptoms are anxiety, severe depression, ptsd. Low self-esteem, little motivation or focus on future.

I am on antidepressants - sertraline and venlafaxine
I'm also on extended release quietiapine
I'm also on prn diazepam and zolpidem.

None of the psychiatrists I've ever seen since 2010 have really looked into voices much. I get told, well they are just voices by him

 

[terry_a_davis]

@TJuk So you're already taking an anti psychotic but still hearing voices. May be you could consider a different AP, even a dose change if you're not at maximum dose but this increases chance of side effects. Might be worth researching if any particular AP has been shown to be better than others at getting rid of auditory hallucinations. I just did very quickly and found nothing.

 

[noaccount]

It's actually a myth that, when a doctor labels someone schizophrenic, they're telling them something objectively new about themselves - unlike a medical prognosis of say downs syndrome, or pregnancy, or lyme disease, there's no objective biological condition that's being "discovered" in calling someone schizophrenic - it's just a vague, subjective descriptor of any number of human experiences, which can have little or nothing in common, caused by any number of widely-disparate reasons.

This may help to illustrate the issue:

Psychiatric diagnosis 'scientifically meaningless'

A new study has concluded that psychiatric diagnoses are scientifically worthless as tools to identify discrete mental health disorders.

www.sciencedaily.com

So may this:

Schizophrenia as Political Weapon

“There is a schizophrenia, as the psychologists or the psychiatrists would call it, going on within all of us. And there are times that all of us know somehow that there is a Mr. Hyde and a Dr. Jekyll in us….There’s a tension at the heart of human nature. And whenever we set out to dream our...

www.theroot.com

 

[terry_a_davis]

It's actually a myth that, when a doctor labels someone schizophrenic, they're telling them something objectively new about themselves - unlike a medical prognosis of say downs syndrome, or pregnancy, or lyme disease, there's no objective biological condition that's being "discovered" in calling someone schizophrenic - it's just a vague, subjective descriptor of any number of human experiences, which can have little or nothing in common, caused by any number of widely-disparate reasons.

You cannot diagnose a brain disorder as easily as doing a dna or blood test as their is no such indicators for mental illness.
It is a biological condition, what do think causes mental illness? Fairies? Mental illness is related to neurochemistry and/or brain injury/tissue loss which cannot easily be examined and diagnosed, the brain is inaccessible in a live person, so it must be diagnosed on how a person acts. Btw schizophrenics have been shown to have brain tissue loss.

Getting a schizophrenic diagnosis is new information, and very helpful information if it's accurately diagnosed.
There's a clearly defined diagnostic criteria for schizophrenia, symptoms are varied but there's a few common one's like hallucinations and delusions. The brain is very complex and a lot can go wrong, it doesn't make it any less of an illness. Causes can be genetic, environmental like stress/abuse/addiction, or just bad luck, and is probably a combination of those in many cases.

 

[noaccount]

Hi Terry - Actually, whether or not something is called a "brain disorder" is not scientifically-based. ANYTHING a person experiences - enjoying a cup of coffee, crying at a funeral - has to go through their brain and their neurochemistry for them to experience, of course. All life experiences are neurological experiences. But whether or not it's called a "mental illness" is entirely subjective - did you get a chance to look at the article on how black men's political dissent was labeled as "psychosis" by pro-segregation doctors? Are you familiar with when, exactly, being gay was listed as a mental disorder until?

Of course, psychological and emotional experiences people have can be very distressing for them, and people deserve support and help with this. But one thing the "disease model" obscures, is the difference between what would provide you with relief, and how another external authority arbitrarily wants you to change. For instance, "I feel depressed about my marriage - Do I want to feel better about it, or do I want to leave it?" Or, if someone is having voices and visions, do they feel the need to stop those, or would they like to learn to live with them?

Another hat-trick they pull with the disease model is implying that, if un-drugged, certain distressing experiences will lead to brain damage or "deterioration" - when this is not at all proven! Thus, a person who might personally want to change their lifestyle to alleviate depression, or be content managing their voices with support from fellow voice-hearers, might be scared into taking drugs they otherwise wouldn't. Mis-informed people can't give informed consent - And everyone deserves the chance to make well-informed choices of their own free will! Many people, also, are not fully warned about brain-and-body damage that psych drugs themselves can cause.

 

[terry_a_davis]

@noaccount
Yes it is, a brain disorder/mental illness is considered to be related to a brain dysfunction that has a clear detrimental effect on someones life in an advanced society. Drinking coffee does not involve a malfunctioning brain. Yes some people, like blacks and gays, were unfairly diagnosed as being ill, this doesn't discount those who are genuinely mentally ill. Excess blood was once thought to be the cause of most physical illnesses at one time too and was treated with leeches, things move on. Yes diagnosis is entirely subjective but there is no other way.

Tissue loss has been proven due to pyschotic episodes in things like schizophrenia, there's many studies like this. No doubt you'll find an obscure study somewhere stating something different.

Progressive loss of cortical gray matter in schizophrenia: a meta-analysis and meta-regression of longitudinal MRI studies

Cortical gray matter deficits have been found in patients with schizophrenia, with evidence of progression over time. The aim of this study was to determine the extent of progressive cortical gray matter volume changes over time in schizophrenia, their ...

www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

Over time, patients with schizophrenia showed a significantly higher volume loss of total cortical gray matter

Yes I would say a person hearing voices that tell them to kill and harm themselves would want to try to get rid of them rather than "learn to live with them".
Yes people should always be made aware of the damage of psyche drugs, this needs to improve.

Are you/have you been schizophrenic?

 

[noaccount]

Many people do want to stop hearing voices, as is their right. Many other people want other things, which is also their right. Might I remind you that this is a pro-choice form.

Fun fact: All people in those studies, by and large, were on drugs which have been demonstrated themselves to cause tissue loss.

Do feel free to take a look at the Harvard study linked above, as reported in Science Daily, and give reading it a try before giving your personal feelings on it.
As an unpaid private citizen, I think I've done about all that can be expected here. But, fortunately, there are well-paid researches who've gotten funding to do a lot more research and reporting.

 

[terry_a_davis]

Why is trying to suggest possible ways to get rid of distressing symptoms not being pro choice? I'm describing a choice as are you.

Yes tissue loss has been attributed to antipsychotic medications but more so to untreated schizophrenia. A schizophrenic untreated will not recover, a treated one has a chance of improvement or go into a remission.
I've quickly looked at those studies. The science daily i dont agree with and the other one is an injustice, life isn't fair sometimes, many things aren't at times, but it doesn't invalidate a whole field of medicine.
I see you didn't answer my question about if you are/were schizophrenic. Unfortunately it seems for some people to truly appreciate the reality and suffering of mental illness you have to experience it, I was one of those people. I hope you never become seriously mentally ill.

 

[noaccount]

Don't worry, I can't become mentally ill, neither can anyone. There are ALWAYS other ways of understanding mental suffering and dissent. I didn't answer your "question" because it's based on an ignorant false premise.

"We may be able to come up with all kinds of cleverly nuanced perspectives on how we, as professionals and philosophers, understand psychiatric diagnosis but the fact remains that people are being told that they have mental illnesses and disorders, with all of the usual connotations of those terms in Western societies. Moreover, they are heavily encouraged to take on the particular narrow understanding that you refer to–we are all bombarded with messages about "mental illness" being "as real as a broken arm", and needing to be managed by drugs "just like diabetes." Even the dubious compromise of the "biopsychosocial" model–a way of acknowledging some role for psychosocial factors while at the same time instantly relegating them to "triggers" of a disease process–is not much in evidence on the ground.

And furthermore, the biomedical message is reinforced by the fact that these labels are being applied by doctors and nurses working in hospitals and clinics, who use not just the labels themselves but the whole medicalized discourse of symptom, patient, prognosis, treatment, relapse, and so. The "stereotypical biomedical understanding of diagnoses", as you put it, is absolutely everywhere. […] I have yet to hear any real life service user say "Although the doctor told me I have schizophrenia I'm not too worried, because "illness" is just a metaphor for suffering in this case and it doesn't exclude personal meaning." I'm sure readers are aware that the consequences of being diagnosed–such as being sectioned, forcibly injected, and so on–are not just metaphorical. Some of these learned articles strike me as a form of defense against admitting to the fundamental inadequacy and devastating damage of the current diagnostic system. Essentially, we need to acknowledge that we are not dealing with patients with illness, but people with problems." -

— Lucy Johnstone, PsyD, Moving Beyond Psychiatric Diagnosis

 

[terry_a_davis]

@noaccount "Don't worry, I can't become mentally ill, neither can anyone. LMAO stop talking out your ass bitch. There are ALWAYS other ways of understanding mental suffering and dissent."

Yes you can, just about anyone can. I have been and it nearly killed me. And treatment saved me.

 

[TJuk]

I don't have schizophrenia but my psychiatrist won't look into the voices.

Left trying to cope with them

 

[noaccount]

LMAO Terry I'll stop calling you a bitch when you stop calling people schizophrenic.

I don't have schizophrenia but my psychiatrist won't look into the voices.

Left trying to cope with them

I am so sorry.

Schizophrenia is just a label that doctors put on some people's experience, it doesn't actually *explain* what's *causing* that experience.

They tend not to listen to people like us much anyway about the bigger picture or our deeper needs.

Whether or not drugs would take the edge off, whether or not that's something you want, that's up to you. They can alleviate symptoms if not the root cause.

What would help you to cope? Have you looked at humanistic / non-medical peer groups of people who've been through similar experiences, like Hearing Voices Network?

Unlike the bullshit that Terry is saying, about how "A person WOULD and MUST want the voices to stop," many people have diverse experiences and needs around voices. Some find that the first, most important step, isn't *stoppping* them but rather *understanding* and *dialoguing* with them.

 

[terry_a_davis]

LMAO Terry I'll stop calling you a bitch when you stop calling people schizophrenic.


I am so sorry.

Schizophrenia is just a label that doctors put on some people's experience, it doesn't actually *explain* what's *causing* that experience.

They tend not to listen to people like us much anyway about the bigger picture or our deeper needs.

Whether or not drugs would take the edge off, whether or not that's something you want, that's up to you. They can alleviate symptoms if not the root cause.

What would help you to cope? Have you looked at humanistic / non-medical peer groups of people who've been through similar experiences, like Hearing Voices Network?

Unlike the bullshit that Terry is saying, about how "A person WOULD and MUST want the voices to stop," many people have diverse experiences and needs around voices. Some find that the first, most important step, isn't *stoppping* them but rather *understanding* and *dialoguing* with them.

Bro i am making suggestions based on what i've read and my own experiences. I am diagnosed schizophrenic have heard voices, not often but did (my illness was mostly bizarre delusions), was treated and got better.

 

[esse_est_percipi]

I don't have schizophrenia but my psychiatrist won't look into the voices.

Why not?
What do the voices say?

 

[noaccount]

No, you're grandstanding about what people "must want" and repeating pseudo-scientific myths about DSM labels being causally linked to known biochemical root causes when that's just not the case. Even the American Psychiatric Association is trying to backpedal away from that one now. Don't you get it? There's NO REASON for me to frame ANY of my mental experiences as illnesses, no matter what they are, I could in fact experience the EXACT SAME THINGS AS YOU and STILL not conceptualize it through the disease-metaphor, and that's my right and every person's right and a good deal less superstitious and dogmatic than the alternative.

 

[terry_a_davis]

Well thats your opinion and experiences. Mine were i became ill, heard voices (only rarely but happened) & had many bizarre delusions for years which caused a terrible quality of life & nearly died, i was eventually diagnosed with schizophrenia, medicated, and got better. Just what happened bro, all your ranting can't change that.

 

[greekyfish10]

I hear voices too and I don't really know what's wrong with me and that just causes more confusion. And as far as coping mechanisms go... it's kinda tough but I typically just try to remind myself that it's not real and eventually they'll shut up (at least for me eventually they will stop). I'll end up just sitting in my room and closing my eyes, trying to let it pass. It's terrifying I know, but it helps to try and focus on other things. Oh yeah I almost forgot, put on headphones and listen to music and try to block them out. That helps me sometimes. I wish you the best.


hugs.