Hearing voices and psychosis 🗯️

Hey @Bunniekins, that's interesting that your son experienced seeing things at such a young age, and I am sure it must have been challenging for you both. I'm curious how he is doing now and if he identifies with the diagnosis or interprets his experiences differently. It is very common in this thread to have alternative views to the medical model. Take care RiverSeal ❤️

@RiverSeal my son hears voices and entities all the time like you and i talking now. they just butt in and join in the conversation. he hasnt had a visual hallucination for a long while. it is weird like that. i have more visual hallucinations than he does.

Thank you for sharing this, @RiverSeal
[name removed by moderator]

@rav3n

Thank you for your response, I found the forum interesting but unfortunately could not find a way to post to it and so have written a post within this post plus added some of the forum contributors. It may help somehow, if it can be added into the forum that would be great, if not then hopefully the others will receive this message.

Regards

Altitleorange

@Dimity

Thank you for your story.

Before I tell you mine let me tell you what brought me to SANE and that was to see if I could find some type of peer support network rather than the usual psychologist sessions. The reason is that there is no one beyond them in my day to day life to discuss my schizophrenia and paranoia with, because when I did it once with a new friend they nearly freaked.

It tends to make you button your lip, and tragically events in society such as a shopping Centre rampage not by me but others that were reported as schizophrenic do nothing to help this.

I have friends and acquaintances, not though that know my health record, and even with my family it is not discussed.

Now to my story.

I divorced in my mid 30’s, and at roughly the same time stated to hear voices. At first it was an irritant and not something I bothered with. Over the next two years this increased and my head turned into a not so well supported FM Radio station, with music and playlists and back stories and voices.

It made it difficult to function, and especially in a high-pressure job.

I had epilepsy as a child and that taught me to delve into the root cause of things, but this was a mystery to me. In time the paranoia crept in and the media were following me everywhere. I could not watch even Playschool it got that ridiculous and did not read a newspaper for nearly two years.

Eventually things got even worse as a voice took charge, and this was malicious and was trying to drive me towards suicide. In time I saw a GP in Melbourne and explained all this who referred me to a psychiatrist that medicated me successfully. This took years for me to achieve though, not the medication but the simple process of getting the nerve to discuss this ‘insanity’ with a Doctor.

I live on my medication, which was changed but still controls this situation, and perhaps as others on this site indicate it will shorten my life but it is not much of a life without it.

I have written a self-help book that is a fiercely independent as me, and still write occasionally, these my outlets beyond medication and psych’s, and it is possible that the psychosis even allowed me to develop these skills that had been so underdeveloped before.

That in summary is my story, and reason for initially seeking something like SANE. It seems worthwhile if I can contribute to the overall conversation and perhaps assist others in some way with my tale.

Does it repair the isolated state? No, that is something that the stigma of society for the moment it seems precludes to some extent however I did find a research project with aims, and from my review good data, to if not correct then ameliorate this to some extent.

I can only wish Melbourne university, SANE, you and others success in this.

Alittleorange

Others from the Hearing and Voices Forum who may be interested are:

@Dimity @RiverSeal

Hi everyone,

this thread was recommended to me and a lot of the things people have said resonate with me. I’d thought I’d post here because I find it to be such a lonely experience - I can’t talk about it with the people around me because they don’t understand and tend to make things worse. I also am having a difficult time with psychologists - it’s like it’s impossible to find one that listens and doesn’t invalidate everything I say.

I was diagnosed with DID though I’m quite sure that isn’t all there is to it. I’ve heard voices for years, some of which aren’t my alters and a few of which are dangerous and can take control of me at times. I’ve ended up doing frightening things over the years because of them, and I never know when they’ll take control. Not all the voices are bad though - some of them are helpful or protective. I’ve done some work with a previous psychologist on integrating some of the alters to some success, but when I’m having a psychotic episode pretty much everything goes out the window. Meds do almost nothing and I struggle to keep taking them without assistance. I get persistent delusions that make it difficult to get professional help (on top of it already being hard to get in with someone to speak to as it is).

I don’t really know what recovery would mean for me or what that looks like. I think that there are things that are in the way of me finding out what that is. I think I just want to connect with people who get it, and who wouldn’t look at me like I’m stupid or mad or dangerous for having these experiences.

Thank you so much for sharing @SleeplessRaven . I can't say I know much about what it's like, but I'm keenly reading along to learn more from you and everyone else here.

I'll tag in @RiverSeal and @Dimity in case they want to respond (no pressure!)

@SleeplessRaven @Alittleorange @tyme I'm glad the thread has been fixed and it's possible to comment again.

Sorry to hear meds don't really work for you @SleeplessRaven . I feel like you @Alittleorange that it's worth persevering with meds because the benefit outweighs the side effects and risks.

I agree there's ongoing stigma and hostility even when in remission. I navigate it as best I can - eg getting certificates of competency for legal stuff - but have internalised it and have high anxiety about it and other things.

@DownMoreThanUp might have more to add.

Finding good and empathetic health practitioners is so important. It's very difficult and can take years. Perhaps that's why some end up with complementary medicines and therapies and/or self-medicate.

@RiverSeal

@SleeplessRaven that's an important conversation. For me the psychiatrist and I have titrated the maintenance dose down to a level that seems effective and relatively comfortable with regard to side effects. [edited by moderator] I experienced a psychotic break earlier this year and had some insight going into it and asked for additional meds. I succumbed and was prescribed a multiple dose, which was effective within weeks. It was my first serious relapse and hospitalisation in over 20 years. After recovery and discharge my psychiatrist titrated me back down to the maintenance dose.

I guess for me I acknowledge and appreciate the longterm relationship and monitoring from my psychiatrist, and his flexibility and responsiveness re tailoring my medication level according to my needs When I relapsed I'd just had a surgical procedure and other adverse circumstances. But I'd hate to be indefinitely locked into the high dose I needed in the acute phase.

My primary diagnosis is bipolar so I guess that's already a recognition that my problems are episodic not ongoing.

Hello @moderator I'd appreciate it if I could say I can self monitor and take additional med as and when needed, as agreed with my psychiatrist. I think it's an important point. I didn't mention the medication name or dosage.

Edited to add tag: @SleeplessRaven