Hearing voices
“As I walked on, I heard the voice again. The voice was familiar, and this time I was able to put a name to the voice. When I realized who the voice was, I became unconcerned by the voice being present and continued my way.” Matt Ball
Hearing voices without anyone talking to you has been regarded as a sign of ‘madness’ or ‘psychosis’. But it isn’t necessarily so. Hearing voices is more common than you might think and could be a helpful or even heartwarming experience.
The experience of hearing voices is different for everyone - how often you hear them, what they sound like, what they say, and whether they sound familiar or unfamiliar.1
Sometimes hearing voices can be upsetting or distressing, or they may say hurtful things or things that can be frightening. Other people experience their voices as neutral or positive. And each person will have different feelings about their voices at different times in their lives.2
Matt Ball from the Humane Clinic3 has a helpful understanding of voices based on his personal experience. From his perspective voices can be useful and offer important information into your thoughts and feelings. Becoming familiar with your voices, embracing them, can be a path to peace and greater connection to yourself and others. For Matt, hearing and embracing his voices offered him understanding of how much an event and a person meant to him.4
References
Rethink. (2019). Factsheet. Hearing Voices. Version 6. Retrieved from: https://www.rethink.org/advice-and-information/about-mental-illness/learn-more-about-symptoms/hearing-voices/
Mind. (2018). Hearing Voices: Living with Voices. Retrieved from: https://www.mind.org.uk/information-support/types-of-mental-health-problems/hearing-voices/living-with-voices/#.Xc6QxVf7SM8
https://www.madinamerica.com/2018/02/used-psychotic-heard-voice/
