I hear voices and everytime I tell people this they tell me that I need to be on medication because I have a mental illness. Im not sure why my hearing voices bothers people so much.

only go on medication if the voices pose a problem for YOURSELF, not other people.

Well thats what I tried to say, but the psychs don't seem to give a damn what I think. As one said, "You wouldn't argue with a neurosurgeon or rocket scientist would you?"

What do your voices sound like? Or maybe I should rephrease that to who do your voices sound like?

I for one had to go on medication because the voices were a problem for me. It was/is like having other people's opinions voiced inside of my head that are not my own.

Sure, it just doesn't bother me. I think its intriguing.

Hmmm... one quick question, please! You say voices... is it that you ACTUALLY hear a voice (almost as if to make you look around to see who's there), or is it more like a thought!? I've always wondered about this with people whom hear voices. Do the voices sound as if they're coming in through the ear (like they are right there) or more like you "thinking" the voices as if maybe GOD was putting the thoughts (which talk you) into you mind... maybe like your conscious telling you "Hey man, I wouldn't do that if I were you!"

Some people hear voices outside of their head, like there's actually someone speaking to them. Me on the other hand, mine is more like you said "thinking" the voices meaning I don't hear them outside of my head. I only hear them with my "mind's ear" so to speak.

I'm the same as you. I hear voice 'thought processes' in my head, as if I am constantly debating within myself. There have been times about three years ago when I actually heard voices speaking to me from outside. But normally I am inner-debating. It gets really wierd sometimes. It's like I have a spilt personality or something - one side of me has one view, while another 'being' argues with me, telling me I'm wrong! But there's only one me, and I can't BOTH be wrong, can I?

Overdrive, I went/going through the same thing that you describe. Except that my voices sounded like people I knew that would argue with me in my head. It's very messed up indeed if I do say so myself.

Yeah, but people... EVERYBODY does that. They're thoughts are ALWAYS arguing with one another. If they say they don't have those thoughts (voices), then they aren't human! Like everytime I do something wrong that I KNOW is wrong, I can hear my mother saying "Eric, what the heck are you thinking? You know better than that!". Also, "conflicting" thoughts (voices) in your head is like the little angel and devil sitting on your shoulders. One telling you one thing, the other the opposite. Sometimes they even argue! Just because they carry the voice of somebody you're familiar with doesn't make you any different than anybody else!

Now, if these voices interfere with your everyday activities, then I guess that'd be the boundary where you should seek some assistance.

At the risk of sounding different from what others are saying, I am offering my two cents, even though I am not suffering from schizophrenia, but I have a mother who does and had a brother who did (he died of his illness that was coupled with paronia). Please take my two cents from an outsider who cares...
Hearing voices that are disturbing (such as kill someone or pick up a knife and stab that person and/or interferes with being able to function in every day life's activities) IS A PROBLEM. My mother continues to argues with her voices that tells her to cause damage to others (in her head of course), but it is disruptive to not only her, but her loved ones as well - we would live in constant fear if it was not for the drugs that she takes.
My brother BELIEVED in the outer voices - this eventually caused his demise - proper drug dosage was never found for him.
Overdrive has a section here where you can witness his transformation - it is sure hopeful for those of you who suffer from this condition, and those of us who have had to live with it. Please read his thread.

Thanks Esperanza! Really, though my meds are so strong (Haldol), they make me feel groggy and I have had several side effects. BUT - if in doubt, stay on the meds! I am not someone who takes kindly to meds (in fact, I hate the idea of popping pills), but, given that my pdoc says I am a high risk relapse candidate (have had three episodes, 2 untreated), I would rather endure side effects than have other entities control my being. I like to be in control of my own destiny, but when voices start telling you to literally kill yourself (as happened in 2000), you gotta get help. It took me 2 years to do so, and, while the transformation may seem rapid, it's due to the strength of my meds, and the fact that I WANT to get better. I value my mind more than my physical well being. That said, I am running an 89km race on June 16 (Comrades marathon). A side effect of haldol is skin sensitivity (and thus risk of heat stroke when exposed to the sun for too long a time). I know I am taking a risk by running tghis race, but I will bail if I need to - and the participating is the important thing - ie we must get on with our lives as best we can. We MUST live! Otherwise what is the point?

here is the thing. my voices are also like thought processes, not heard with my actual ear but kind of in my head. the thing that makes them different from thought processes is that they take the form of beings other than yourself. its like you are talking to someone else, but in your head, its so hard to explain, and you have a image of them too in ur head.
schizophrenia is a battle with reality, and for schizophrenics, the voices seem real and so does other stuff that sounds illogical to people without schizophrenia, such as thinking that you are famous when you really arent. i dealt with that one A LOT. its so hard to explain, hope this helps! luv, libby

I am the mother of a 7 year old girl. I am trying to figure out if the voices she talks about her thoughts or the beginning of schizophrenia. Is 7 too young for this diagnosis? The first time she mentioned the voices she was around 5. She said that she thought she should shoot someone. Then she started to talk about being a bad girl. We called the voices her bad brain. I had her evaluated by a LISW who said it was the beginning of her councious. She has since then talked about the voices the last time was few months ago when she said her bad brain said that daddy is going to be hurt on his business trip (he was flying to another state) things like this. She has never once mentioned hurting anyone again. I asked her if it is a boy voice or girl and she says she thinks it is a male voice.However, I don't know if she is just answering it as she can't explain it to me. She has ADHD and a learning diability. But she is normal otherwise but very argumentative! She knows that I am concerned about hte voices as I question her when she mentions them so I don't even know if she is telling me all of the episodes she has. Anyone have any advice or commnets?

My dr told me to go on medicines when I first started hearing voices. I didn't listen. Then the voices turned violent and wanted me to kill my family and self. Then I ran to the dr and got hospitalized and put on meds. I think the reasoning is that you never know when the voices are going to turn violent on you. There are no guarentees. Better to be safe then sorry.

My two cents (for what it's worth)

The voices I hear are not audible voices that you hear when speaking to somebody, neither are they a thought process. They are voices I hear with what somebody referred to as the "mind's ear". My voices are both male and female, voices I've never heard before. I can recognize the voices, they are from different spirits. The voices I speak to and that speak to me most often are friendly, many times I will hear evil or mean spirits telling me to do things to harm myself or others. When this happens I quickly tell them I do not believe their lies and to leave me.

Once my g/f left to go out of town for a few days. While she was gone the voices bombarded me with lies of I was worthless, crazy and how she didn't love me. They told me I would be better off dead, believed them to the point of picking up the gun. It hit me that I was playing into their hands, I laid the gun down, stood up and told them to leave me I wouldn't believe their lies. They left and I was able to recover from that episode. I do believe there is another level of existance out there. How about the guys on tv who reach the "other side" to talk to the spirits of a dead relative, how are they doing that? Spirits in another level of existance.

Lemonwater, I wish I could speak to you about your daughter in private. I'm not sure how much I can get into what I believe on these boards.

I'm sorry if anything I have said makes no sense or offends anyone. These are my thoughts and beliefs, so take them as you like. As I sat here typing this and a reply to another post, the thing that kept going thru my head is they are going to laugh and think "wow, he is one messed up dude" and I wondered how many others have thought the same or just didn't reply for fear of being labeled crazy.


[This message has been edited by smartazz (edited 07-11-2003).]