Auditory Hallucinations

@Former-Member

Thanks for your support. It’s really helpful and it makes a lot of sense. 🙂

Hi @Ballard1891

Thanks for the reply.

That is based on my lived experience.

Some will agree. Others not.

I respect your way.

Good night

@Former-Member

Keeping busy is the key.

Sitting at home and doing nothing is the worst thing I can do because it makes me think and I’m an over thinker.
So I need to find something to do that keeps my mind busy from thinking and from having these bad thoughts.

It’s a shame I can’t listen to the t.v or watch a movie but I can keep busy in other ways like playing board games, walking, writing, reading, music, dancing and even meditation 🧘‍♀️

I need to try and stay positive and hope that things will keep better with the right medication and dosage.

My aim is to be well enough to go back to my job and work again but I have a long way to go.

I just need to shake out all of these bad thoughts out of my head and make them disappear.

Talking to you on here is helping.

Hi @Ballard1891

From google.
What does an idle mind is a devil's workshop mean?

The popular proverb "An idle mind is the devil's workshop" teaches us that evil thoughts enter our mind easily when we are lazy and idle. When a man is overcome by idleness, all sorts of evil ideas come to his mind and it becomes the perfect place for the devil to do evil works.

Re: [I just need to shake out all of these bad thoughts out of my head and make them disappear.]

I do not want to pester you, so if you tire of me, please say. "I am hard to offend these days" Focus on that comment too.

I was trying to say, firstly l joined a church but more so found the bible. But that should not matter to you. My lesson is the Devil is always looking for new people and plants evil thoughts in ourare minds. Often by us meeting bad people. I believe God is greater. But if you are not religous or of another faith, you are Greater. You are greater than the ideas messing in your head.

So the bad messages may never leave. If you drive, someone is going to sit close to the back. Someone is going to take your parking spot at Xmas shopping. Acts of the devil.

So what do we do? We take control. We use the power in our head to not respond. We are upset. But we see what happens to those who voice concern to the bad ones. Verbal abuse etc.

i can give you an exercise that works for me. But l may have said too much. See by that. We need to learn when we have said enough externally.

Re: Talking to you on here is helping.

Reading others stories sometimes shows me where l was. No support that helped. Most was defensive comments.

Some do well by telling others. So they say anyway.

I think there is more power in holding the tongue.

In the bible there is a bit about the tongue is like the smallest part of the body, but can do the most harm

@Former-Member

Thanks for your reply.
What is the exercise that works for you?

Hi @Ballard1891

This may or may not work for you

Once you hear, you may change it to suit you.

This is my idea.

When I was really really battling and holding things in, it was very hard and I imagined I was the only crew on a sailing boat.

When I felt low, I imagined a sailing boat with no wind going backwards or nowhere.

The boat was out of control. No anchor. Drifting anywhere.

My job was to wind the sail as high as I can get it, like a huge Spinnaker.

The analogy was winding the rubbish that others were doing to me out of my head space.

I would Wind it and wind it thinking I am going to make it through this mindful period.

Shift the negative thoughts. Focus on the wind to win the race or just go forwards.

Stop the bad thinking.

The bad thinking was true things happening to me at that time. Things I could not control.

But my power to Ignore what was happening at that time was going to be greater than the negative forces I was enduring from them.

I could focus on that.

I will move forward.

I will Catch the wind (ignore the rubbish) some how.

If I stay idle, I have no hope of catching the wind. (idle mind)

I could feel my head get better and I just kept winding that damn sail so high.

It was hard, But it was possible.

The spinnaker was finally full, taking all the wind and it pulled me out of my thoughts into a good direction.

Then I would rest.

Maybe call LifeLine to vent.

It took a lot out of me.

What was happening to me was real. I did not like it. I could not stop it.

But I could use my power to be greater than the bad people and they had no idea how I was feeling.

I did not say one word to them. Speaking failed years ago.

My lips were sealed. My mind went through a lot to stay stable.

How does that resonate?

Can you build on that for you?

It can even be climbing a mountain on a rope.

I cannot believe I am sharing on this forum. I suppose I do not like critics for what works for me.

That's a powerful tool to have @Former-Member .

I power on in similar ways. I use a lot of self talk whether it be using analogies or even simple goal setting.

It gets me through the toughest times.

Hi @tyme

Thanks for that

I think the chats to @Ballard1891 are confirming we do say things to ourselves to control the situation.

As you call it self talk.

So I am glad.

Always worried as I open up here that someone is going to attack the ideas we use.

So far no attack's, but I can cope anyway.

Similar ideas from you on self talk and I tend to think @Ballard1891 is finding her thoughts are things others do since they write here.

Self talk is better than shouting at everyone.

I know someone who says she wears her underwear on the outside.

Never heard of that before. Apparently it means she does not care what others think.

As someone said there if there are 2 opinions to something, she thinks and argues her opinion is always the right one.

Hence I do not visit her anymore!

And she is a church person like me. It confirms, not all who follow the bible have the same interpretation. Just like those we meet outside the church.

Hi @tyme

Happy if you want to elaborate what works

If not that is also fine.

Main point is as I said, I hope if @Ballard1891 likes it, they can work out their own method and realise yours is similar.

Unless @Ballard1891 thinks I am crazy now. I do not think so.

Ahoy there!

What works best for me is if I see a challenge as a positive and not a negative. e.g. instead of saying, I made a mistake because I'm stupid etc, I can say, "I made a mistake so I can learn from it". Sometimes, it's not even about making mistakes. It could be a day where everything just seems to be going bad.

Still, I practice gratitude and name all the things I am grateful for. This is incredibly powerful. I've read research where it says that if when your mind is focused on gratitude, you cannot actually have ingratitude at the same time.

Hope I'm making sense @Former-Member @Ballard1891 @Eden1919