If you're a young person with schizophrenia, how do you deal with the voices?

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So i’m rather young at 14, almost 15 and I want to know how other young people deal with the voices. I realise different people have different methods but I just want them to stop for a short while. I also have hallucinations, the doc doesn’t know about those though and I honestly don’t want to tell him. As i don’t see you people face to face i would appreciate a little help with those as well. They involve rape and they scare the heckers out of me. It actually feels like it’s happening and for someone so uncomfortable with the subject of “the female body”, it’s quite intimidating and terrifying. Umm that’s all and like I mentioned before, help would be appreciated.

  • Elly
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hi elly. i’m not young but i do hear voices and see memories of myself being raped so i know how you feel. all i can say is talk to your shrink and try out different medications. you’re still young with no responsibilities yet so try as many as you can while you can. i know the voices can be distressing as well as the imagery but you will get through it. here any time you need a chat. jayne xxx

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Hi there. I’m not young either. But I get a break from voices when I listen to music in my ear phones. Not too loud tough, because that will make the voices to scream. Or louder than the voices. Try out different sorts of music. Sometimes classical music without song is the best to quiet down the tea party in my head.

Also trying to not listen to the voices i good. Not do as they say. I know it’s hard. I don’t always manage that myself.

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Thanks Jayne, but i just don’t think I can talk to my doc about the hallucinations. I mean they seem so real and I don’t know how to bring up the topic, he is male after all. Also they are frequent, are imagery as you put it meant to be so frequent???

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I’ve tried music but i haven’t tried classical yet so that might be a good place to pick up on. It gets harder to ignore the voices each day, i find myself copying what they do and say to my friends around me. I guess i have to just tough it through right. Thanks for the advice, i hope it works.

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You could ask for a female doctor / medical officer.

A while ago, I had sexual impulse with my female doctor and I explicitly told her I want to see male doctor, and she changed for me.

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Would that really change my outlook on the subject though, i mean of course it won’t be easy for me to admit it to someones face but I’m not the type of girl who says those types of things. I guess i should man up or something. Did it help when she changed you over?

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It did help. Later then the psychiatric team of that hospital organized a meeting to discuss this issue with me as to whether my dosage of antipsychotic would cause sexual urge.

With right doctor, maybe you can bring up this subject, after all, you have to know although the voice is not real, it is annoying and may have effect on you if you listen to it.

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EllyThePanda. Please stay morally clean no matter what the circumstance.

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i think the imagery is all down to the individual to be honest elly. sometimes with me, it’s frequent, other times i can go a couple of weeks with nothing. listen, you won’t be telling your pdoc anything he hasn’t heard before. it’s important that he knows ALL your symptoms so you can both decide on the best way to treat them. xxx

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I’m 21 but started hearing voices at 15, I listen to calming music, I’d write them out, I’d not reply out loud though although did at the beginning which made matters rather bad they’d just exacerbate, the more importance you put on them, the more loud they get. I’d also draw them? What they look like in my head, sometimes what they’d say, often the things that distressed me most, it takes a lot if thinking but it gets them on paper and then I’d put them in a box, like a money box with a lock and lock it.

This sort of stemmed from my mum, when I was little and had worries or nightmares she’d tell me to imagine a box at the back of my mind and put it all in there and then lock it. I needed something more physical with voices though, I still have it.

Mindfulness helps, when they are happening I do deep breathing or controlled breathing; in hold for three, out hold for three, it gets your breathing under your control, grounds you and reduces anxiety, you can get online mindfulness exercises that you may feel you’d be interested in. But I only have little concentration spans so I do body scan and controlled breathing, it can put them in the background.

To be honest though the thing that worked most was the meds I’m on now it lessened them, I still get them a few days a week but it beat every day, and they only get like that when I’m overtly stressed, cbt therapy has also helped immensely, it’s the only talking Therapy to have done any good.

As for the physical hallucinations, I get this, I used to get it it a lot. I’d feel the penetration but I went through a traumatic period in my life, where I was possibly raped (I don’t have much memory, it’s surfacing now) I know not all of it was flashbacks I’d feel penetration when no anxiety was present, night is hell for me. I can’t talk to my mental health team about it and even if I wanted to I wouldn’t feel comfortable talking to a man as well. If you feel you need to talk about it, change to a female doctor/therapist and possibly write a letter rather than talk. It will help to get it out, as then they can give you techniques on how to ground yourself from them.

If you have any more questions feel free to message me or ask more questions here;
Take care,
Meg.

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Alright thanks ill give it a try Plumber

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Okay then, I know the doc needs to know everything but it’s just an awkward topic maybe i’ll ask for to be transferred to a female one. Thank you x

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ur welcome hunni xxx

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Thanks Meg, that must have been tough for you. Are you better now? Listening to music was one of the ways i stopped hearing the voices and it worked for a while though i’m going to start up again with classical music, maybe there is a difference. Writing is a strong idea and I can relate to your box and lock. My concentration span is low to and my breathing is usually all other the place so i might give that one a go. My meds do little to nothing,the doc says the voices should have eased off but if anything they just get louder when I take them.

That’s awfully sad you can’t remember but maybe it’s for the best, you say they are resurfacing now but after al these years do you still want to know? Night is hell for me as well, I never enjoyed the dark and with the voices it’s just gotten worse.
You take care as well and thanks

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I’m not better, I’m probably going to be as good as I’m going to get as my psychosis was mistreated for two/three years.

How long have you been on the meds? Sometimes they take a while to work and sometimes it’s not the right medication, keep trying and stick with them if you’ve been on them for a while, it may be time for a change or an increase.

Um well it’s not really a choice, one of my first diagnosis’ was PTSD so it’s that which is flaring up right now. I was told it would surface after the memory loss. You can dig deep into psychoanalytic theory etc more than often, it comes back at some point.

I hope you can find some solace, take care,
Meg.