I haven’t been formally diagnosed with a Schizophrenia Spectrum Disorder but deal with auditory hallucinations daily. I have been trying to use reason to close the gap between reality and non-reality as I struggle with this. I had given my phone number out to the voices and I thought last night to use a Turing test to see if they were real. I made the test impossible to fail for voices who claimed to be real people. I said to use my cell number text me their name and “I am not real” as a catch-22 proof that they were real. Here I was trying to flush out any remnant of belief that the voices had a basis in reality beyond my subconscious.
Of course when given the task the voices told me they were unable to do so because they were from another planet. But in the moments after I felt a return of the Zen peace and calm that I haven’t felt in a long time. Thought someone might want to try this if paranoia isn’t too bad to give voices that aren’t real your number.