I have been a voice hearer since childhood, but it was not until my
adolescence that I was hospitalizedfor hearing voices that were
distressing. For many years I felt isolated and stigmatized for
carrying a label of mental illness and for hearing voices that
continued to be distressing for me. Psychiatric drugs did not make my
voices "go away" although there were times when I was so drugged I
didn't care about anything, including what the voices had to say.
Therapists showed little interest in my voice hearing experiences. In
fact, during the seventeen years that I was labeled and treated for
schizophrenia, my therapists called my voice hearing experiences
"auditory hallucinations". They seemed to view my voice hearing
experience asnothing but the random fluctuation of neurotransmitters
in my brain. In essence they viewed my "auditory hallucinations" as
evidence of somesort of "neurotransmitter meltdown".
This attitude of ignoring voice hearers' experience is quite prevalent
in the helping professions. For instance, when I consult to programs
that provide services to people who hear voices that are distressing,
I find it remarkable that staff know so littleabout the individual's
experience. For example, I recently consulted with staff that work in
a residentialprogram with a man who hears distressing voices for
approximately80% of his waking hours. This man has been hearing
distressing voicesfor over ten years. Yet if you look at his record
all it says is: "Has auditory hallucinations that sometimes command
him to hurt himself". In ten years of treatment no one has explored
the voice hearing experience with this individual. No staff person has
thought to inquire if the voices are male or female. Do they speak
English? Are there helpful voices aswell as distressing voices? How do
you understand the existence of these voices? Are there one or many
voices? When do the voices come and when don't they come? Doyou have
any personal power in relation to the voices-i.e., can you communicate
with them, can you reason or bargain with them, can you turn your
attention away from them and get involved with another activity, can
you tell them you will talk with them later in the evening, etc.?
Indeed, hearing voices seems to be stigmatized not only in the wider
Western culture, but also within themental health community as well.
It seems that as a general rule, most mental health staff feel it is
taboo to inquire into the voice hearing experience of the people they
work with. Of course such stigma and taboo only serve to further
isolate those of us who hear voices that are distressing.
The good news is that voice hearersthemselves have begun to organize
and speak out about the voice hearing experience. Two excellent books:
Hearing Voices: A Self-Help Guide and Reference Book (1993) by
JohnWatkins, Melbourne, Australia. Available online.
Accepting Voices (1998) by Marius Romme and Sandra Escher, MIND
Publications, London. These authors have done pioneering work in the
areas of listening to the experiences of voice hearers and helping to
bring them together to share life strategies. Available online.
There are self-help groups run by and for voice hearers in Europe and
now the United States. These groups hold regular meetings to share
experiences, publish newsletters, hold conferences, share information
and educate professionals and the general public. Hearing Voices
groups do not pathologize the experience of hearing voices or
experiencing otheraltered/extreme states, instead they ask what does
the experience mean to you?
Intervoice: The International community for hearing voices
www.intervoiceonline.org
New USA hearing voices network: Support groups for voice hearers and
also trainings for leaders of support groups. www.hearingvoicesusa.org
Hearing Voices Network, Manchester, UK (has links to other hearing
voices networks and online groups): www.hearing-voices.org
Voice-Hearers Support Group: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/voice-hearers
Hearing Voices Movement: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hearing_Voices_Movement
Hearing Voices Info Booklet: http://hvna.net.au/upfile/HVNA_Info_Booklet.pdf
Through these resources and networks voice hearers are beginning to
let the world know thatnot all experiences of hearing voices are
pathological or indicativeof mental illness. Many people in Western
Judeo/Christian culture have heard voices, including St. Paul, Joan of
Arc, St. Francis, Socrates, William Blake, George Fox (founder of the
Quakers), the classical music composer Robert Schumann and the
psychiatrist Carl Jung. Hearing voices does not automatically mean you
are "sick". However, there are clearly voice hearing experiences that
can be very distressing and can disrupt ourlives and ability to work,
make friends, reach our personal goals, etc. Voice hearers are
beginning to learn from each other how to creatively cope with and/or
eliminate distressing voices. We are learning that we do no have to be
victims of our distressing voices. Some self help strategies include
these:
*. Don't isolate. Find people you cantalk with about your voice
hearingexperience. Perhaps start a Hearing Voices Network in your
area!
*. Some research suggests that if you put a rubber band around
yourwrist and snap it each time the distressing voices start, they
willdecrease in intensity and/or frequency.
*. Some people have found it particularly helpful to use "I
statements". For instance, if a voice begins to tell me I am a whore,
worthless, no good, etc. I can say out loud, "Right now I feel
worthless, I feel like I am notgood, I feel I am a whore", etc. This
is very different than saying"the voices say I'm no good, a whore,
worthless" etc. In this strategy I say what I am hearing and own it as
my thought and when I do this the voices don't have to keep reminding
me of it and they quiet down.
*. Keep a record. Some people have found it helpful to keep a record
of the time, place, day and what they were doing just before the
voices start up. By keeping a record for a few weeks you may begin to
see a pattern. For instance you may begin to notice that your voices
start up after visits to your family, after being in crowds, just
before work, only when you use alcohol, etc. Once you notice a pattern
you can avoid those situations and thereby eliminate the voices
related to those situations.
*. Try some music. Research has shown that for some people usinga
Walkman™ and listening to yourfavorite music can help diminish the
intensity of voices. Interestingly, it's not that loud volume "drowns
out the voices". Rather, what seems important is that your attention
is focused on music you like. Thus, if you reallylike Metallica but
only have a Brahms concerto to play on your walkman, no matter how
loud you listen to Brahms it probably won'tdiminish your voices. So
make sure you are listening to music that engages your attention and
that you really like!
*. Don't forget that physical factorscan effect the voice hearing
experience. For instance, some people find that they hear voices that
are particularly distressing when they have a fever or when they are
pre-menstrual. Others find voice hearing gets worse after using
alcohol, street drugs or over-the-counter drugs such as caffeine,
sugar, antihistamines (cold medicines that cause drowsiness, such as
Contact, Drixoral), etc. Knowing your body's reaction to fever, PMS,
over-the-counter drugs, street drugs and other physical conditions can
help you both predict when voices may be most distressing and help you
eliminatethese factors or at least be able to predict the length of
time you will feel acutely distressed. For instance you could say
"each timeI drink alcohol my voices get worse, so I will stop drinking
alcohol" or you might say "each time I am pre-menstrual my voices get
worse so I know this will only last for several days andI will arrange
for extra support from my friends each month during this time".
--
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