What do voices tell schizophrenics

Why do people hear voices? People may hear voices because of: traumatic life experiences, which may be linked to post-traumatic stress disorder stress or worry lack of sleep extreme hunger taking recreational drugs , or as a side-effect of prescribed drugs mental health conditions such as schizophrenia , bipolar disorder or severe depression. If your voices are the result of a mental health condition, you may be offered: talking therapy such as cognitive behavioural therapy CBT.

CBT can help you learn what triggers your voices and how to manage them. This may stop the voices, make them quieter or make you feel less concerned by them. You may only need medication for a short time while you learn other techniques to manage the voices. Ways you can look after yourself Sometimes, voices are a problem because of your relationship with them. Understanding your voices Understanding how your voices relate to your life may help you to manage their voices.

Taking control Some people find that standing up to the voices, choosing when to pay attention to them and when to ignore them, and focusing on voices that are more positive can help them feel more in control. Keeping busy Keeping busy can distract you from the voices, help you express yourself and feel more relaxed and allow you to meet new people.

Sharing your experiences There can be a stigma around hearing voices which can make it hard to talk about them, even to friends or family.

Looking after yourself Though it can be difficult, it is important to look after and be kind to yourself. They have a guide for employers who want to support people who hear voices in the workplace. Hearing Voices Network provides information and support for people who hear voices who have other unusual sensory experiences.

Intervoice is an international network for people who hear voices. They have information on living with voices and offer workshops and events. Standing up to voices that frighten or bully you can be tough. You may find it helpful to have talking therapy to help you to take the power away from the negative voices. Distract yourself Listening to music, the radio or an audiobook may help you focus on something else.

Concentrating on a task such as a household chore or hobby can help to distract you from your voices. Keep a diary You could keep a diary of your voices. You may want to keep a record of the following. Keeping a diary may help you to notice patterns and if anything you are doing is making them worse. This may help you to find new ways to cope with them. Your doctor may offer you peer support.

Peer support is when you work with someone who has lived experience of hearing voices. And who are now in recovery. They should be able to offer advice and support with:. Managing your condition on your own is called self-help. Health professionals may offer you help to manage your condition on your own.

They may call this a self-management programme. NICE guidelines state that you should be given your own assessment through the community mental health team CMHT to work out what effect your caring role is having on your health. And what support you need. Such as practical support and emergency support. The CMHT should tell you about your right to have a carers assessment through your local authority. How do I get support from my peers? You can get peer support through carer support services or carers groups.

You can search for local groups in your area by using a search engine such as Google. Remember that not everyone who hears voices will have a mental illness.

They may also not feel the need to get treatment for their voices. The care plan is a written document that says what care your relative or friend will get and who is responsible for it. A care plan should always include a crisis plan. A crisis plan will have information about who to contact if they become unwell.

You should be given information about what to do in a crisis. You can use this information to support and encourage them to stay well and get help if needed. Can I be involved in care planning? As a carer you should be involved in decisions about care planning. The healthcare team should encourage the person that you care for to allow information to be shared with you.

She talks about her journey back to better mental health. And she makes the case that by learning to listen to her voices she was able to survive. Website : www. This BBC radio programme looks at what causes people to hear voices. You can listen to it online or download it. A website produced by Durham University together with mental health professionals, voice-hearers and their families. The website aims to make it easier for people to find information about different approaches to voicehearing.

And ways of supporting those who are struggling with the voices they hear. This NHS trust has a lot of self-help materials on different areas. They have a leaflet called, Hearing voices and disturbing beliefs.

The service is for young people in the SLaM area. But there is lots of useful information on the website and resources you can download. Researchers have been looking into how computer-based treatment may help with hearing voices. This treatment is known as avatar therapy. Avatar therapy is not available at the moment. In this therapy you create a computer-generated face with a voice which is like a voice you hear. You work with a therapist to talk to the avatar and gain more control over the voice you hear.

Results show that this therapy is helpful for some people. But there is more research taking place. You can read about the study by following the link below.

Avatar Therapy UCL webpage : www. They also support people who have visual hallucinations and people who have tactile sensations. It gives information and support through its website and self-help groups across the country. Intervoice Intervoice are a charity.

They encourage people all over the world to share ideas through their online community. You can also find information about hearing voices through their articles and resources. Voices network This is a UK wide, London based project supporting children and young people who experience voices. They also offer advice and support for carers, family members and professionals. Telephone: Email: info voicecollective.

Action on Postpartum Psychosis A national charity for women and families affected by postpartum psychosis. They run a peer support service, provide information, training to health professionals, do research and promote awareness. Donate Search Menu. About us About us. See our contacts page Looking to contact us? Covid support. Supporting yourself Read more Supporting yourself. Covid information hub See all pages Covid information hub. Help in your area. Find peer support online Visit the Clic website Find peer support online.

Advice and information. Contact our advice service today Need more information? Get involved. Become a campaigner Sign up today Become a campaigner. Get help now. Advice and information About mental illness Learn more about symptoms Hearing Voices.

Hearing Voices Hearing voices is a common symptom of a mental illness. If you would like more advice or information you can contact our Advice and Information Service by clicking here. Download Hearing Voices factsheet. Share: Contact us:. Hearing voices is not always a sign of mental illness. Treatments for hearing voices can include medication, talking therapies and peer support.

Need more advice? If you need more advice or information you can contact our Advice and Information Service. Contact us Contact us. There are different types of auditory hallucinations. You may experience the following things. People talking to you People talking about you Hearing music Hearing animal noises Hearing background noises, like people chatting What is it like to hear voices?

Hearing voices can be different for everyone. Or only say occasional words or phrases, and talk at the same time as other voices. They may talk between themselves, or comment on what you are doing.

Is hearing voices the same as intrusive thoughts? But both can be upsetting and difficult to ignore. Stevie's story. Up to 1 in 10 people hear voices. Hearing voices is not as rare as we used to think. You can find more information about: Spirituality, religion and mental illness by clicking here. Psychosis by clicking here. Schizophrenia by clicking here. Schizoaffective disorder by clicking here. Bipolar disorder by clicking here. Personality disorder by clicking here. Dissociation and dissociative disorders by clicking here.

Depression by clicking here. How do I get help if I am hearing voices? You should be assessed quickly. A secondary mental health team will usually be called the: early intervention team EIT community mental health team CMHT , or crisis team. You can ask your GP for their details. You can call NHS Use an internet search engine. How can social services help me?

For example, you may need support so that you can: get out of the house, keep in touch with friends and family, get a job or take part in education, clean your house, prepare meals or go shopping, keep safe, manage your money, take part in leisure activities, or contribute to society e. What other help is available? Charities In some areas, charities will support people who hear voices. Self-help There are things that you can do to help manage your mental health.

What causes someone to hear voices? Life experiences You may hear voices as a way to cope with difficult experiences. These include: stress, anger or anxiety, drugs and alcohol, homelessness, delirium. This is a state of mental confusion which may follow a serious physical illness or an operation, grief, divorce or separation, tiredness. Genetics Research does suggest that mental illness can run in families. Research suggests that changes to your brain chemistry can cause you to hear voices.

What treatment should the NHS offer me? Medication Antipsychotic medication can help with hearing voices. They are as real as hearing a person in the same room speaking and indeed research carried out by scientists has shown that the parts of the brain that are activated by hearing real speech, i.

Sometimes only one voice will be heard, but other people may hear a number of different voices at the same time. Sometimes the voices will give the person direct instructions. It is not uncommon for. For people with schizophrenia the constant assault by persecutory voices can lead to a total defeat of their self esteem. This criticism might only be heard intermittently, or it can be constant throughout the waking day, commenting on every little action or thought.

The criticism can often be so personal that the person may be very reluctant to disclose to others what the voices have been saying. This is a key point for carers and clinicians; whilst it is never wise to collude with psychotic thinking, it is also important to recognise that a person suffering from persecutory voices is under constant assault emotionally and psychologically from their voices, and whatever you can do to reinforce their self esteem will help them to feel better and develop better insight into their condition.

Voices that people with schizophrenia hear will often command them to harm themselves or drive them to suicide. Sometimes voices can be dangerously deceptive. For instance, one young man with schizophrenia was told constantly by his voices that they would only stop if he jumped from an upstairs window. He did. There is now evidence that some people who do not have any mental ill health may also hear voices during their life, and their voices are often benign or friendly.

The evidence for this is still emerging and the estimates of exactly how many people hear voices ranges very widely. It is also a commonly reported experience for people who are recently bereaved to continue hearing the voice of their loved one after they have died.

Similarly, in some cultures the phenomenon of voice hearing is accepted and even valued as a legitimate religious or spiritual experience. Auditory hallucinations can also result from a range of physical conditions such as head injuries and some infections.

It is therefore important for the doctors to eliminate this as a cause in the diagnostic process. But for people with a psychotic illness, the most common experience is to hear voices that are persecutory or nasty ones that may insult, ridicule or abuse them.

When voices appear as a psychotic symptom, they may also be an indicator of other conditions such as bipolar disorder, schizo-affective disorder or psychotic depression. Even in cases where schizophrenia has not been diagnosed, voice hearing should be taken seriously as recent research has suggested that voice hearers who are not suffering from a psychotic illness are twice as likely to take their own life as those in the general population We must be very clear that whatever the experience of voice hearing is in the general population the experience of voice hearing for people with schizophrenia is more often than not far from pleasant.

One of the most important questions about voices is why are they so powerful? Why can voices make people do things that are irrational, bizarre or even dangerous, and why are they so successful in causing suffering? Well, part of the answer to that is that they know you intimately. Because they come from inside you, they have a perfect understanding of your whole psyche. All of the things you most love and care about, and because they know you so well they can attack you where they know that you are most sensitive and where they can do the most damage.

For instance, the person may be told by the voices to harm the family members they most love. They may be told to give up their studies, sports, or the career they have worked at all their life. They may be told to harm themselves in the most painful ways.