Lived Experience Forum

[JT]

During assessment for bipolar some of the questions I was asked were around seeing and hearing things.  When asked do you hear voices I said yes, but doesn't everybody?  You know like the inner voice.  

The last couple of days I've been contemplating what exactly is the diiference; what is considered a regular inner voice and what constitutes voices that perhaps aren't meant to be there?  They dropped the subject and didn't ask any more but I have more than one inner voice, they have different accents and they argue with me and with each other. I'm not suggesting they impact on my life or anything but how can I respond accurately to the question if no one tells me what the norm is lol

[kristin]

Hey JT,

I so love your honesty. 

Hmmm.. I hear voices too. Sometimes they are mine, sometimes it's god. Is this normal? I don't really care anymore about "normal" because I'm not interested in being normal so I can't help with that - sorry.

I have had to learn for myself that there are:

• some voices I need to listen to immediately - my intuition telling me something/someone is not safe for me (even when there is absolutely no apparent logical reason)
• some voices I need to ignore or refute - my rampant self-hatred in destructo mode
• some voices I need to sit with for a while - when I'm asked to do something differently or change (sometimes in a way that is very challenging or frightening) for my own or others' well-being
• the voice that says (in the midst of others telling me otherwise) I'm a worthwhile and loveable person who makes mistakes - this makes me human, not bad

These are a few of the important ones. There are probably others. Some are helpful, some are not. The latter are the most difficult to deal with because they are usually in full cry when I am struggling most. That is when I need to be quiet long enough to hear the still small voice that tells me I am loved & loveable as myself.

Kind regards,

Kristin

[kato]

Wow I never thought of this..... great question
I always have answered no because I thought the voices I hear are normal but your right what is normal.... I have a few different ones also in my head when I am up I have who I refer to as the devil he always wants to do fun stuff...... and by fun I mean he tells me to drive faster or that person next to me in thier car wants to race sometimes I hear a quieter almost feminine voice as well telling me not to be stupid and to think about it.... when I am depressed there are again a couple of voices distinctly different but both equally quiet whispering so low that I can't make out what they say half the time but sometimes when I can they are both encouraging and reminding me of good things...... I thought this was normal
I have found that lately I have to have headphones in alot with music playing because the devil as I refer to him is egging me on to do fun stuff more.... it seems the less I di the more he speaks about what I should do..... by fun I mean highly illegal stuff ir gambling or drinking or all of the above while driving to queensland..... lol fun stuff

I have never thought of it as hearing voices tho
is it normal I wonder

Well for me yes it is normal
do they bother me no not really but it can get trying having to talk myself out of doing fun stuff

[Uggbootdiva]

My psychiatrist says the difference is how you hear them, in your head or through your ears, ie aurally. When I was really sick actually heard them like you hear a tv. Although it was more like a kind of whispering. For me it was quite different.

[JT]

@kristin  you're right there, normal is the cycle on a washing machine and nothing more for me.  I think I mean normal in the regular sense of the word.  More black and white as what is right or wrong.  Though in that sense there's nothing necessarily wrong with hearing voices either.  I think I am wondering more about how I can draw comparisson on something that has been there for so long that for me could be seen as normal rather than something that shouldn't be there?

@kato I put on headphones to block it too, and drive with loud music at times to avoid the distraction.  I think you're right though, if they aren't a bother why question it but it'd still be nice to know the difference.

@Uggbootdiva  darned if I know how to work out if it's aural or inside.  To me I can hear them and they interupt me.  I know I hear noises that aren't there and I see things that aren't there so perhaps that is the questions they should be asking me instead lol.  They're real to me and always have been since childhood.  They interupt me and they keep me awake at night.

[Uggbootdiva]

@JT If they are real to you then they are real. Mine only appear when I am really really sick so there is a difference for me. But like @kristin said what is normal? Is more important to ask does it disrupt your life? Which I think you said they do. Would you feel better if they were gone or would you miss them? I guess you'd get to sleep at night!

[JT]

Guess so @Uggbootdiva and yes @kristin is right. They aren't always there or always upfront and annoying though and I wouldn't say they  disrupt my life except maybe that I've listened to them a little too much in the past.  Would I want someone to try and stop them though?  Not contemplating that until someone can convince me they shouldn't be there lol  Bit still, as kato said good question in the first place.  I'm sure we're not alone in wondering the answer.

[Uggbootdiva]

I wonder if what you call voices is the same as my conversation that goes around and around in my head all night keeping me awake. It may be a matter of terminology.

[JT]

That's the question really isn't it.  I hear voices talking.  They talk to each other and they talk to me.  Are they just random thoughts or a simple conversation?  I'm calling them voices because they are distinctively different from each other.

[kato]

Well it seems to me that I have similat expierence to all of you who have posted which makes me feel like it is normal lol
headphones to quiet them and I do always play loud music when I drive I don't know if I am sick or not as I am having a lot of trouble decivering what is reality and what is not
or better put what is real and what is fake
I had a discussion with my mum regarding the night and day of my episode I will cal it in september her story differs alot from my memory of it which makes me wonder how much of what I think has happened has actually happened and how much is a twisted form of what didn't happen
but I think I will discuss this further with my psychologist and get her view point on it as well
regarding what I expierence and then also what is reality anf what is not
thank you for posting the question and thank you to everyone who has also posted your own examples and expierences