Hearing voices

[Jonn]

What do we mean when we say ‘hearing voices’?​

Hearing voices is a term used to describe the experience of hearing someone or something talking when the source of the voice is not directly present. Some people also hear other noises and sounds. There are a number of different terms used to describe this experience, including 'voice-hearing' or 'auditory hallucinations'.


Hearing voices is more common than people realise. About 10 percent of people report that they have heard voices at some time in their life. Some people describe hearing pleasant voices, but for many people, the voices are unwanted, intrusive, negative, critical or threatening.


People often say that these difficult voices can make them feel worried, frightened, down, embarrassed or frustrated. They can also make it hard to concentrate or be around other people or get in the way of doing day-to-day things. The experience of hearing voices can be very different from person to person, and it can change over time.


Voices might be experienced inside the head or outside the head. They might be the voice of someone recognisable or familiar or be unknown. There might be many voices, or just one or two. They can be loud, or quiet like a whisper. Sometimes they are just brief and sometimes very persistent.

https://www.swinburne.edu.au/research/centres-groups-clinics/centre-for-mental-health/voices-clinic/

 

[Judge]

Context is everything in a question like that.

The first thing I think of are auditory hallucinations. Those that occur as the result of hearing some type of auditory stimulus, versus other such hallucinations in which there is no auditory stimulus present. Those type of hallucinations may have serious explanations in conditions like schizophrenia.

I sometimes hear sounds akin to a news broadcast, the result of some kind of mechanical "droning" sounds. Like air conditioning, heating, an air conditioning condenser. Hearing a possible human voice, yet never making out any discernible words. Harmless, but technically a hallucination. My tinnitus on the other hand, sounds nothing like any kind of voice. Just high pitched ringing in my right ear that never seems to end.

https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/symptoms/23233-auditory-hallucinations
And then of course, there's always the possibility of hearing a human voice because someone in the vicinity actually said something.

 

[Jonn]

I don't have voice hallucinations.
Never did.
The problem I used to have was intrusive thoughts.
I suspect they may be related.

 

[tree]

https://www.healthline.com/health/mental-health/i-hear-voices-in-my-head#vs-intrusive-thoughts

 

[Judge]

Voices in one's head like "Son Of Sam" ? Yeah, that's a problem. When your neighbor's demonized dog tells you to go out and kill strangers.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Berkowitz

 

[Jonn]

^
There was a spate of this sort of thing at one time.
Thankfully, things seemed to have calmed down.

 

[Au Naturel]

^
There was a spate of this sort of thing at one time.
Thankfully, things seemed to have calmed down.

These things come and go, almost like fashions. Hysteria is infectious.

 

[Jumpinbare]

My tinnitus on the other hand, sounds nothing like any kind of voice. Just high pitched ringing in my right ear that never seems to end.

So I guess my tinnitus is twice as bad as yours. I hear it in each ear, at a different frequency in each ear. Since birth.

 

[SusanLR]

Tinnitus. Both ears with me also. I can't stand total quiet because of it.
I don't remember having it from birth, but I do remember it started around age 13.
Anxiety makes it worse.

@Jonn I've never had auditory hallucinations or external voices or sounds either.
But I did have intrusive thoughts around age 13 too.
Not imagining something like the dog or chessboard was putting them there.
Looking back, that was the age I started having spontaneous panic attacks.
I believe anxiety triggered the intrusive thoughts since they mainly happened around people in groups. Such as school or crowded shopping areas.

It was almost like I was scaring myself into a state of anxiety.
Maybe a part of OCD.

 

[Outdated]

I sometimes hear sounds akin to a news broadcast, the result of some kind of mechanical "droning" sounds. Like air conditioning, heating, an air conditioning condenser. Hearing a possible human voice, yet never making out any discernible words.

I experienced something like this when I was living out in the bush, it only happened when I was going to sleep. On really still nights when everything was dead quiet I imagined I could hear.... something. To me it sounded like I was hearing radio stations, but all of them at once. Garbled and nonsensical, so quiet as to be right on the edge of hearing.

 

[thejuice]

I experienced something like this when I was living out in the bush, it only happened when I was going to sleep. On really still nights when everything was dead quiet I imagined I could hear.... something. To me it sounded like I was hearing radio stations, but all of them at once. Garbled and nonsensical, so quiet as to be right on the edge of hearing.

My hearing specialist i saw for my tinnitus said when its really quiet in nature the brain thinks predators are around so the brain is on high alert. It turns the distortion/gain up on your hearing and could result in the white noise you were experiencing?

 

[thejuice]

I used to play saxophone with earplugs in due to getting hyperacusis (sensitivity/ pain to sound). I could hear little birds tweeting whilst i was playing, to the point where i went outside to check. But it was only when i had earplugs in. Also saxophone sounds really bad when you have earplugs in, all you can hear is the top end reverberating around your skull

 

[Judge]

I experienced something like this when I was living out in the bush, it only happened when I was going to sleep. On really still nights when everything was dead quiet I imagined I could hear.... something. To me it sounded like I was hearing radio stations, but all of them at once. Garbled and nonsensical, so quiet as to be right on the edge of hearing.

Point taken. While I might hear what sounded like human voices, they were still very much garbled and nonsensical, without being able to discern any specific words. Not at all similar to say a schizophrenic hearing complete sentences, let alone individual words.

 

[thejuice]

I hear strange sounds when i have my noise machine on (artificial noise machine, not a fan)

So I guess my tinnitus is twice as bad as yours. I hear it in each ear, at a different frequency in each ear. Since birth.

I hear multiple tones.. so I have many noise machines and fans in my house, it's like a tropical rainforest sometimes!

 

[Judge]

I hear strange sounds when i have my noise machine on (artificial noise machine, not a fan)

I hear multiple tones.. so I have many noise machines and fans in my house, it's like a tropical rainforest sometimes!

LOL..I hear that! My computer workstation is in my kitchen/dining area. I hear the incessant drone of my HVAC and refrigerator which all compete with my ceiling fan and rather quiet computer case and cpu fans.

With the tv occasionally in the background. Last but not least, tinnitus in my right ear.

Sometimes I think of actor Theodore Bikel in "I Want To Live!" when in disgust, he leaves the parking lot at San Quentin and reaches into his shirt to turn off his hearing aid.

 

[Au Naturel]

So I guess my tinnitus is twice as bad as yours. I hear it in each ear, at a different frequency in each ear. Since birth.

My tinnitus has gone on at a low level in both ears since childhood, but it was low enough that I could easily ignore it. Since I turned 67, it has suddenly gotten worse. Sometimes, it is bad enough to interfere with regular hearing. Getting distracted by something interesting and having white noise in the background are the only ways I have to deal with it.

 

[thejuice]

I'd say the tinnitus WEEEEEEEEEEEEE sound is almost always the most dominant sound in my life. But sometimes I can still forget about it if I'm absorbed in something

 

[Jumpinbare]

I'd say the tinnitus WEEEEEEEEEEEEE sound is almost always the most dominant sound in my life. But sometimes I can still forget about it if I'm absorbed in something

I'm currently half-way watching "Bill and Ted's Bogus Journey" while I'm on my laptop. The tinnitus just about as loud as the show. The tinnitus level never fades, but can ignore it if I'm adequately occupied.

 

[Jonn]

I believe anxiety triggered the intrusive thoughts since they mainly happened around people in groups. Such as school or crowded shopping areas.

I suspect caffeine and emotional instability may be the culprit for me, and that is why I focus so much on managing my emotions.

 

[Rachie]

I am hypersensitive and a bit hyposensitive.. I have auditory sensitivity as well confirmed by an OT in autism and sensory issues. With sensory processing issues sometimes you can hear your thoughts in your head. You might pick up on it if you wear noise cancelling or ear defenders. This happened to me and it freaked me out I would be praying to remove it and going to my GP. But when I really studied the words it was echocing my thoughts processed of what I just said but in a slightly different voice. It really threw me for a while, but it was how it was meant to be. I feel for people though who struggle with hearing real voices though, it is a real tough one.