I don’t know if you can download this and hear if you are abroad, but it works for the UK residents.
It is a 28 minute podcast talking with a voice hearer (Rai) and her experience with the Hearing Voices Network. A couple of psychiatrists feature in it too.
It goes on to describe CBT therapy to cope and the 4 stsges of they use to deal with voice hearing.
For most voice hearers, it is about lifting your self-esteem and self worth for the voices to change from persecutory to helpful voices. (A subject that I have been going on about for years when I discovered the scientific research that explored voices being what you expect to hear)
It is also about how modern psychiatry deals with voice hearing currently with a change from the elimination of voices but to living with them.
The story of Rai is very relatable and I like how she looks at voices as an extended family.
I also like the perspective of the pdoc to look at voices as the mislabelling of ones own thoughts.
What I am critical about is the CBT with voices. I had a psychologist talking to my voices and it just made them louder and was uncomfortable. The best thing is to not engage with them is my experience.
I think it’s about how much voices you get and if you can handle it.
I’m also currently lowering my meds, but I’m not taking it to a point that I can’t handle it anymore and am just laughing (or crying) with my voices all the time.
Mine have changed over the years in the beginning they were very threatening (as I was surrounded by a lot of very ‘negative’ and tough people). And wasn’t acting in line with my core values being in a corporate job.
Now that I look at others and myself with a kinder eye, my voices have also mellowed. But it’s a process that can take many years and is not achievable for everyone.
Absolutely! The environment one is in is going to reflect profoundly on the type of voice one hears.
Did you see that study that proved voices are what one expects to hear? And to extrapolate that if one deals with the traumas of chidhood to one of self love the voices will change to accomodate that?
It takes away all notions of the supernatural, alien, religious sources of voice creation and proves that the voices are part of our psyche in that they reflect our opinions.
It is like an echo chamber before reiterating what one wants to believe over and over again, deeper and deeper into the rabbit hole; but when you know it is simply what you expect to hear you smash the echo chamber.
