Many people who hear voices actually hear multiple different voices with distinctive qualities, and experience different effects from them, according to a study in The Lancet Psychiatry.
Led by Durham University researchers, the study collected answers from 153 people who completed an on-line questionnaire.
“Less than half the participants reported hearing purely auditory voices with 45 per cent reporting either thought-like or ‘inbetween’ voices with some thought-like and some acoustic qualities,” stated a press release about the study. “This finding challenges the view that hearing voices is always a perceptual or acoustic phenomenon, and may have implications for future neuroscientific studies of what is happening in the brain when people ‘hear’ voices.”
Many people felt bodily sensations “such as feeling hot or tingling sensations in their hands and feet,” stated the press release, and could experience either negative or positive emotions.
“It is crucial to study mental health and human experiences such as voice-hearing from a variety of different perspectives to truly find out what people are experiencing, not just what we think they must be experiencing because they have a particular diagnosis,” the lead researcher stated. “We hope this approach can help inform the development of future clinical interventions.”
Voices in people’s heads more complex than previously thought (Durham University press release on ScienceDaily, March 10, 2015)
Woods, Angela, Nev Jones, Ben Alderson-Day, Felicity Callard, and Charles Fernyhough. “Experiences of Hearing Voices: Analysis of a Novel Phenomenological Survey.” The Lancet Psychiatry. Accessed March 12, 2015. doi:10.1016/S2215-0366(15)00006-1. (Abstract)
My supposedly “holistic Christian dream specialist” psychologist claimed in her medical records that my concerns of the abuse of my child, by friends of hers (unbeknownst to me at the time), disgust at 9.11, concerns of the withdrawal symptoms of a non-“safe smoking cessation med” and the ADRs of a NSAI, plus a query about a religious dream were proof of “psychosis.” She immediately shipped me off to be drugged.
A child’s dose of Risperdal caused a chemical imbalance in my brain, that resulted in an actual terrifying psychosis within two weeks. My understanding is this was likely the result of an allergic reaction to the neuroleptic drug, my grandmother was also allergic to a neuroleptic drug. And medically it would be due to what’s known as the central symptoms of neuroleptic induced anticholingeric intoxication syndrome.
I switched from the psychiatrist that prescribed that neuroleptic to a neurologist, since the psychiatrist thought the cure for neuroleptic induced anticholingeric intoxication syndrome was to double the amount of the neuroleptic. Of course, in reality, to cure neuroleptic induced anticholingeric intoxication syndrome the doctor must take the patient off all neuroleptics. It appears that almost all psychiatrists today do the opposite, and the psychiatric practitioners may not even know that the symptoms of neuroleptic intoxication are almost exactly the same as the symptoms of schizophrenia.
Unfortunately, unbeknownst to me, this neurologist was completely deluded by the therapist, and according to his medical records, he didn’t “believe” a word I said. And he had odd delusions that the Wellbutrin withdrawal symptom of increase libedo (including uncontrolled movements in my privates) were “voices” in my head. It never occurred to me that doctors wouldn’t know the difference between one’s head and one’s private parts. One would think a person incapable of distinguishing between a person’s head and private parts shouldn’t even be admitted into med school.
This neurologist proceeded to take me off the Risperdal that had caused me to become psychotic, but then put me on another neuroleptic plus lithium. How illogical can doctors be? Why would they think that neuroleptic induced anticholingeric intoxication syndrome could be cured with more or different neuroleptics? Then he added the Risperdal back into the mix, but lied to my husband and I claiming it wasn’t the same drug that had caused the psychosis. This drug cocktail gave me actual “voices.” The neurologist spent 3 1/2 years switching this 142 pound pacifist onto massive (even over the maximum recommended dose) of multiple neuroleptic cocktails. The man was loony, and likely a psychopath.
After I was finally weaned off the drugs, the “voices” went away, but I ended up suffering from a drug withdrawal induced super sensitivity manic psychosis.
So, yes absolutely, all these different neuroleptic induced psychoses and “voices” are different. The initial Risperdal induced one was terrifying, it was like a struggle with God. He asked if I’d be willing to follow Him all the way to hell. I believe God will bring about justice in the end, so I said yes. He showed me what psychiatric hell is. The incessant “voices” were inane (they were the supposed “voices” of the grown adults who’d harmed my children, bragging about their abuse of my child and getting away with their negligence in the murder of their own first born). And the withdrawal induced super sensitivity manic psychoses functioned as an awakening to my subconscious / dreams, which is actually a really interesting lyrical libretto love story, culminating in Jesus calling judgement day.
I’m not certain what to think of all of this, other than it’s an interesting story, and ironically my prior psychiatrist’s rationale for drugging me was because I felt God was inspiring a story. Oh, He seemingly did. But whether my dreams are prophetic or not, I do not yet know. But I do know that sometimes my dreams are prophetic, as were my grandmother’s. And I do have concerns that all those unrepentant, hypocritical doctors creating “mental illnesses” in patients for profit, and unethical reasons like covering up child abuse, will not be written into the book of life. As a recent song states, “don’t say I didn’t warn you.” What if there is a God? And He does choose to judge all of humanity some day, on faith alone?