Mental health problems – you may hear voices as a symptom of some mental health problems, including psychosis, schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, schizoaffective disorder or severe depression.
If your voices are very troubling and you have been referred to a psychiatrist, they may prescribe an antipsychotic drug. These drugs may: Stop the voices or reduce how often you hear them. Make the voices less frightening and more manageable.
Distraction techniques, such as listening to music on headphones, exercising, cooking or doing a hobby may help quiet the voices. Joining a support group with other people who experience auditory verbal hallucinations. Taking control, such as ignoring the voices or standing up to them.
Antipsychotic medication can help with hearing voices. Medication may not make symptoms go away, but it can make voices seem distant or less noticeable. Sometimes the first antipsychotic that you try may not help.
Sometimes, once you and your doctor solve that problem, the hallucinations go away, or at least may not happen as much. In some cases, there's an easy solution. Your doctor may lower the dose of a medicine you take. In others, treatment is more complex, and you may need to try several things to see what works.
In most people with schizophrenia, symptoms generally start in the mid- to late 20s, though it can start later, up to the mid-30s. Schizophrenia is considered early onset when it starts before the age of 18. Onset of schizophrenia in children younger than age 13 is extremely rare.
There can be “voices that are more thought-like,” says Jones, “voices that sound like non-human entities, voices that are perceived as the direct communication of a message, rather than something you're actually hearing.” Voices aren't always voices, either. They can sound more like a murmur, a rustle or a beeping.
While the voices go away for some, for many, they never completely fade. But it's possible to learn to manage them and take back some control in your day-to-day life.
Auditory hallucinations are an example of a symptom that may lead many to fear a more serious disorder. While anxiety doesn't cause these hallucinations on the same level as schizophrenia, it can cause what's known as "simple" auditory hallucinations that some people find extremely frightening.
Responding to Hallucinations
Speak slowly, calmly and quietly, using simple concrete language. Be patient – it may take the person longer to process information. Reduce stimuli: turn off radios, televisions, bright lights, or anything else that may cause stress.
The exact causes of schizophrenia are unknown. Research suggests a combination of physical, genetic, psychological and environmental factors can make a person more likely to develop the condition. Some people may be prone to schizophrenia, and a stressful or emotional life event might trigger a psychotic episode.
Unfortunately, most people with schizophrenia are unaware that their symptoms are warning signs of a mental disorder. Their lives may be unraveling, yet they may believe that their experiences are normal. Or they may feel that they're blessed or cursed with special insights that others can't see.
The auditory hallucinations experienced by people with schizophrenia are phenomenologically diverse. One dimension on which the sounds and voices vary is their perceived location. Although always perceived as if other-generated, they may be heard as coming from some external location or from inside the head.
Psychosis can also be triggered by traumatic experiences, stress, or physical conditions, such as Parkinson's disease, a brain tumour, or as a result of drug misuse or alcohol misuse. How often a psychotic episode occurs and how long it lasts can depend on the underlying cause.
Some people suffering from severe mental illness, particularly schizophrenia, hear “voices,” known as auditory hallucinations. This symptom, which afflicts more than 80% of patients, is among the most prevalent and distressing symptoms of schizophrenia.
Medications available in this class include risperidone (Risperdal), quetiapine (Seroquel), olanzapine (Zyprexa), ziprasidone (Zeldox), paliperidone (Invega), aripiprazole (Abilify) and clozapine (Clozaril).
After 50 h without sleep, there is a progression toward complex visual hallucinations, auditory hallucinations, and multimodal hallucinations (28–30, 32, 34–37, 42, 48) (Figure 4). These continue to increase gradually in complexity, severity, and persistence over time.
Yes, severe anxiety can cause a person to hear voices. It's not that severe anxiety can lead to psychosis, but that severe anxiety stresses the body, and stress can cause psychosis-like sensory symptoms, such as hearing voices that aren't real.
The hallucinations usually last for about 12 to 18 months. They can take the form of simple, repeated patterns or complex images of people, objects or landscapes.