It is estimated that 4-10% of the population hear voices that others around them don’t. This is recognised as a highly stigmatising experience, and one that is often medicalised.
I have been involved in developing the ‘Hearing Voices – a guide to understanding, helping and empowering individuals’ app which offers support around this issue.
A central feature of the app simulates the experience of hearing voices to provide deeper insight, empathy and understanding. People using this feature are engaged in a number of cognitive and social tasks while listening to recordings created by people who hear voices.
The app provides information on different ways of understanding and helping with hearing voices. Podcasts of people who hear voices are incorporated into the text, allowing a number of stories to be heard.
The app may be of use to people who hear voices, their family members, as well as health and social care professionals, and can be downloaded for free from the Apple app store and Google Play.
