Not Everyone Wants to Silence the Voices in Their Heads

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FromĀ Science of Us: There seems to be a growing interest in the concept of healthy voice-hearing. The idea that hearing voices may not be a sign of a serious mental illness has been covered in a variety of publications over the past few years includingĀ STAT,Ā The Atlantic, andĀ The Lancet.

“…Last month,Ā The AtlanticĀ publishedĀ a piece on the psychics who have happy relationships with the voices in their heads; earlier this year, a study found that about one in five readers surveyed sayĀ they can hear the voices of fictional characters bouncing around in their headsĀ long after theyā€™ve finished a book. Also of note: a 2015Ā paperĀ published inĀ The Lancet, which argued that writing a novel can be thought of as a form of voice-hearing. The essay opens with a quote from David Mitchell, who has compared novel-writing to having a ‘controlled personality disorder ā€¦ to make it work you have to concentrate on the voices in your head and get them talking to each other.'”

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5 COMMENTS

  1. I agree. All voice hearers are imagining, creating, diversifying.

    If I wish to, if I wish to give enough time and energy to it, I can make a mole on my inner thigh talk, take on an identity, a past, and an emotional life, all of its own.

    For some peculiar reason, some 21st C. adults have a hard time coming to terms with their imaginations.

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    • Why “shouldn’t” we conflate the 2? If you spend any time listening to someone “psychotic,” then it soon becomes clear that what they experience is on the continuum of inner-outer voices. Learning to listen to the voices is like a process of adopting oneself and getting to know the different parts, and deciding which ones stay, and which have to go. But we’re ALL crazy.

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      • Human beings are social animals and social thought is normal in human beings.

        The average qualified doctor and maybe the Lancet can’t tell the difference between social thought inside the head and the hearing of voices outside the head. This is the way “Auditory Hallucinations” found its way onto my records.

        “Mental Health” is a complete mess anyway.

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