Hearing voices

At a glance

• What does it mean?
• What is the experience like? 
• Learning to cope better with voices happens in several stages: 
• why do i get them?

What does it mean?

• Hearing voices that other people do not hear is a fairly common experience.
• It is thought that about 1 in 8 people will hear voices at some point in their lives, but this can increase to about 75% if you include one off experiences like someone calling your name out loud.
• If you hear voices, see visions or have some other unusual sensory experiences – it’s important to know that you’re not alone.
• But it’s not something that people often talk about, because they are often terrified of being seen as “crazy” or fear they will be discriminated against in some way.
• Hearing voices that others around you do not, doesn’t have to be seen as a sign of a serious mental illness, such as schizophrenia or psychosis. In some cultures people view their voices as a mystical or spiritual experiences, or a comforting reminder of someone who has died, as a special gift worthy of celebration.
• For someone who is feeling alone, hearing a voice may provide real value that they can have a trusted confidant. A person who has recently lost someone they care about may love the opportunity to talk to them at the end of the day.
• Others find these experiences to be a source of inspiration. Authors, for example Charles Dickens, sometimes talk about how the characters can come to life and write the story for them.

However, for some people these voices and visions can be extremely distressing – criticising, threatening or causing confusion, it may be why you have found yourself upon this page.

Sometimes distressing voices may be a result of trauma or abuse. People who hear hostile voices are very much more likely to have experienced traumas of various kinds and its probably not coincidental that voices often appear for the first time after a traumatic event.

What is the experience like? 

As with most things in life, there is no single answer. Some people hear voices through their ears, in the same way as hearing anyone else speak, while others hear them in their heads or other parts of their body.

Voices can be male or female, or perhaps a mixture of both.

They can be really loud and really loudly or whisper.

Sometimes these voices sound like people you have actually known, or else they say the same things that people in your life have said.

Learning to cope better with voices happens in several stages: 

First, it’s often helpful to understand and find out more about the voices. You can do this with a mental health professional, or on your own. This means thinking about when they started, what was happening at the time, what seems to trigger them in the here and now, who might they may remind you of, and so on.

Some useful coping strategies might include:

• distraction, popping headphones on, listening to music,
• Mindfulness (to really focus your attention), focusing only on the pleasant voices, setting aside a time of day to listen to the voices, and so on.
• Talk back to distressing voices to increase your sense of control -this can be done anywhere – if it needs to be done in public, and you are fearful of how others may respond, you may pretend to be speaking on your mobile to someone. This is often the start of building a better relationship with them.

why do i get them?

For some people it might be helpful to work through trauma memories. As we have said in other parts of this website, not everyone wants to do this. It is your choice. You can discuss this with a mental health professional or GP when you feel more in control of your voices. It is important not to feel on your own with these experiences.

Connect with others that hear voices. Hearing Voices groups are now running throughout the UK, both inside and outside services. By following these steps, many people have learned to come to terms with their voices and live full and productive lives, you may wish to look at the work of Elanor Longden (she also does a wonderful Teds talk) or Jacqui Dillon to name but two inspiring voice hearers..