Understanding Voices

First World War poet and composer Ivor Gurney who suffered with hearing voices probably lived with schizophrenia.

Hearing voices, or auditory hallucinations as psychiatrists call them, is a common experience for people living with schizophrenia. In fact, it is so common that it is considered to be one of the principal indicators when doctors are considering a diagnosis. Voices are often one of the most difficult experiences to cope with and sometimes they can lead to dangerous behaviour. They remain one of the biggest issues for people with schizophrenia and should be taken very seriously by doctors, patients and carers alike.

What is it like to hear voices?

To the voice hearer, the voices coming from inside them are very real and are often indistinguishable from real people’s voices. Sometimes the person may hear voices of people that they recognise, e.g. relatives or friends. For other people the voices may have no distinct personality, being just a non-descript voice with no discernible accent.

The experience of voice hearing should not be confused with the normal inner voice that we all have in our minds when we are in good health. Voices caused by psychosis are profoundly different. They are as real as hearing a person in the same room speaking.

Why is voice hearing so significant?

One of the most important questions about voices is why are they so powerful? Why can voices make people think and 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 the voices know you intimately. Because they come from inside you, they have a perfect understanding of your whole psyche.  They understand all of your strengths and weaknesses, all of your secret fears and hates, 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 sufferer may be told by the voices to harm themselves or 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. In some cases sufferers may be told to harm themselves in the most painful ways.

Some people may experience voices that are benign or friendly but in schizophrenia the common experience is for voices that are malevolent and hostile.

Voice hearing is a very common experience for many people living with schizophrenia and is a very serious issue. It is vital to try to understand voices in order to cope better with them.  You can read more about voices in schizophrenia on the Living with Schizophrenia website at https://livingwithschizophreniauk.org/information-sheets/understanding-voice-hearing/.

Contact us on email at: info@livingwithschizophreniauk.org

Image: Richard Hall, Ivor Gurney Estate/Gloucestershire Archives