RealClearScience - We Can Learn from Those Who Hear Voices

"What we don’t know yet is why they are active," he told Metro Magazine. "One possibility is that the answer will be found in how these language centers are connected to other parts of the brain, such as the motor cortex and areas linked to long-term memory."

We do know, however, that hearing voices is often triggered during prolonged bouts of stress, low self-esteem, or drug use. It may also stem from traumatic events in early life or overwhelming fear or unexpected situations. When they appear, voices can sound corporeal as if someone is talking to you. They may also originate internally, but outside the bounds of one's own control. Plainly different from personal thoughts, explains Dr. Anna Tickle, a clinical psychologist at the University of Nottingham who, along with her partner Dr. Lucy Holt, just completed a review exploring the experience of hearing voices from the hearer's perspective.

"Voices were generally experienced by participants as coming from outside the self but manifested inside the body whereas thoughts were perceived as ‘belonging’ to the self," she said.

According to Tickle and Holt, Western medicine has typically categorized hearing voices as meaningless, nothing more than a sinister symptom of mental illness. But in the fast [sic] decade or so, that's been changing.

"There has been increasing recognition of the importance of treating voices not just as a 'symptom' but as an experience with meaning," Tickle told RCScience. "Although sadly some professionals are yet to catch up."



RealClearScience - We Can Learn from Those Who Hear Voices

Untreated mental illness an imminent danger? - 60 Minutes - CBS News

An interesting piece tho I'm a bit disappointed as no "solutions" were offered besides the standard medication, therapy and/or hospitalization. While they all may be necessary to some degree, the thinking is too rigid and why the experience and work of Eleanor Longden are important,,,

Untreated mental illness an imminent danger? - 60 Minutes - CBS News

Transcript

See also:

A first-class recovery: From hopeless case to graduate - Eleanor Longden was a diagnosed schizophrenic and heard menacing voices in her head for 10 years. Now, she has fought back and has graduated with a brilliant honours degree in psychology

How I tamed the voices in my head - When Eleanor Longden began hearing things, she soon found herself drugged, sectioned and labelled schizophrenic. Then a psychiatrist taught her how to talk back

Eleanor Longden: The voices in my head - YouTube

Whilst perusing the listing of TEDtalks, I came across this gem which has once again opened a Pandora's box of thinking in regards to how mental illness is seen and dealt with in society. So much of her experience I can relate to but in the end Longden, like so many others, has been able gain valuable insight into the inner workings of her mind. To some degree, her schizophrenia can be viewed as a gift which allowed her to be aware of her emotions and motivations. Something that many of us seek through our explorations of spirituality, through meditation or prayer. It makes me ponder this so called veil of normalcy, or as Longden puts it this, "well crafted veneer."

Like Longden I was lucky, after previous failures with therapists, I came across one that looked beyond my diagnosis. My shrink was decent, my psyche nurse was the bomb, but I didn't do so well with therapists after 7 tries though I hit pay dirt. Longden had a similar experience and was told, it would almost have been better if she’d had cancer because it would be easier to cure.

"A broken and haunted person began that journey but the person who emerged was a survivor and would ultimately grow into the person I was destined to be."