I'm hearing voices....am I crazy?

Question

I prop am, but just wanted to get this verfied. I hear voices in my head, all generally myself, but I'll argue with the voices, debate for hours etc. I think this is more then just one's sub-voice.

Anyway, my life kinda sucks rght now, I'm under a lot of stress, I have a minor history of panic attacks.

Who is the right people to talk to about this? I'm honestly afraid.

Answer 1

Without further information, a diagnosis is impossible to make here, and I strongly suggest that you see an experienced therapist for an accurate diagnosis as the description you gave is suggestive of Dissociative Identity Disorder as opposed to Schizophrenia as you describe the voices as inside your head rather than from without. This is NOT a hard and fast rule however, just suggestive of a possibility aside from the general conditions which encompass psychotic symptoms. Another key feature of DID is time loss or amnesia-if you experience this it makes the case stronger for DID versus other psychotic disorders.
The following is meant for your information only and is not to be taken as suggesting you have DID as the diagnosis requires extensive diagnostic evaluation. But here is a description:

DID is the existence of two or more separate personalities or personality states within one person, with each alter having distinctly different ways of thinking, feeling, behaving and relating to the world and distinctly different memories, each part having amnesia for the other parts' memories. It is born from repeated and severe abuse and involves the defense mechanism of dissociation and generally develops before the age of 10 as children are far more likely to dissociate.
DID is often misdiagnosed and it is very common for a person to have had multiple different psychiatric diagnoses before it is definitively identified as DID. The symptoms frequently overlap with symptoms of schizophrenia, Bipolar Disorder, Depression, Anxiety Disorders (all), PTSD, other Dissociative Disorders and Somatoform Disorders as well as Borderline Personality. It requires extremely careful assessment and a high level of trust by the patient before alters reveal themselves. The diagnosis cannot be finalized before a therapist has actually made contact with another alter and observed the switch between alters.
The hallmark symptom is amnesia, which can be partial or complete depending on the level co-consciousness that exists between alters. Folks with the disorder describe the amnesia as "missing time" or blank periods, often daily or weekly, where they cannot account for their whereabouts or behavior. It is this amnesic barrier between parts that often leads to the most bizarre and distinctive signs and symptoms: not recognizing familiar people; not remembering highly significant events in their lives (like the birth of their first child, for example); finding purchases or articles of clothing/possessions, writings or drawings that they have no recollection of having bought or created. They are frequently accused of lying because they disavow their own behavior which is remembered by one part, while the amnestic part is completely unaware of it. Other unusual symptoms include: an exceptionally high tolerance for physical pain (they split off physical sensation which becomes encapsulated in one or several alters without others feeling it); not recognizing themselves in a mirror; using different names; having dramatically different skills and abilities that seem to be alternately present and then vanish (one alter may be able to drive a car while the sudden emergence of a child alter results in complete loss of this ability until the adult alter re-emerges); completely different opinions and behaviors (leading to the mislabeling of Bipolar or Borderline Personality.
Often communication across between separate alters takes place in the form of hearing voices, hence these folks frequently get misdiagnosed as schizophrenic. The key distinction here is whether the voices are experienced as coming from inside the person's head (DID) or outside one's head (Schizophrenia/Bipolar Disorder).
The separate identities develop in response to traumatic experiences which the child is unable to integrate and so they become "split off" from awareness and begin to take on a life of their own.
Folks with DID often self-injure, frequently a result of internal battles between persecutor alters and weaker alters and there are continual battles for control of the body and "time out" in the body between competing alters.
Symptoms of depression and anxiety are frequent and common and the picture is further complicated by the fact that one alter can meet all clinical criteria for Depression, while another part experiences no symptoms whatsoever. One part can be psychotic and experience no side effects from meds while another non-psychotic part has all the side effects and will stop taking meds. You can imagine that attempting to medicate such a disorder becomes an absolute nightmare.
Other symptoms include flashbacks and nightmares, hence the confusion with PTSD. Sometimes there are fugue states and clients will switch and "come to" in the body and have no idea how they arrived in the situation they are in, not know the people they are with and be completely disoriented. I had one client call me from another state after being away for a few days and having no idea how she got there or how to get home. Depersonalization and trance states are common and hence the overlap with other Dissociative disorders.
Folks with DID frequently experience multiple somatic symptoms for which there is no organic basis. They experience partial body memories of abuse without the actual memory of the event and thus exhibit strange physiological symptoms and are often labeled as Somatoform disorders or hypochondriacs.
I could go on and on, but suffice it to say that virtually any symptom of any disorder can be found at some point in a person with DID. Treatment is almost exclusively through psychotherapy as medication is merely palliative and an adjunct during periods of acute anxiety or depression. Treatment aims at initially contracting against suicidal and self-destructive behavior and attempts to establish safety first. Many DID folks enter treatment in horrendous circumstances where they are frequently in highly abusive relationships or are themselves abusive. Given the multiple alters, they may be both victim and perpetrator both within themselves alone and in the context of their relationships. The second primary goal is establishing communication and negotiation among alters to decrease amnesia and contradictory, self-defeating behavior. Ultimately the goal becomes integration of alters into one cohesive whole which involves sharing of memories and feelings across alters and a merging, where all parts continue to be present, but constant.

If any of the above does sound familiar, I strongly recommend that you seek a therapist with experience in trauma related disorders in order to avoid misdiagnosis.

Answer 2

I am a schizophrenia paranoid. I have "heard voices". To me they were never my own little thought voice but seemed external, unwelcome, violent and commanding. Self diagnosis is very dangerous. One, having reviewed the symptoms, can easily succumb to the erroneous idea that he/she also has the symptoms. Over 10% of the human population reports having had hallucinations but only a few (1 or 2%) are diagnosed as having a mental disorder. If you want more information on the mental disorders giving rise to hallucinations try the following:

Type "hallucinations", "schizophrenia" and "Bi-polar disorder" into Yahoo! search, one at a time and for each a number of informative links comes up. Wikipedia in each case is a good summary.

If the talking mentally to yourself persists and is interfering with your life, tell your family GP about this and he may be able to give info on whether you need help and/or reccomend a specialist.

As a schizophrenic (we aren't "crazy") I can tell you that you don't want to be diagnosed as such if you can help it. If it becomes necessary the treatment available (meds and therapy) are able able to reduce or stop the hallucinations. It requires participation of ones active self. A fairly normal life can be lived with the disorder.

Good luck, good health, peace and love!

Answer 3

Sweetie, hi! I'm so so sorry your suffering through this. Someone close to me suffered from this too and she was diagnosed with a mental illness called psychosis. Psychosis is when you hear things and see things that are no there (i.e. auditory and/or visual hallucinations.) I suggest that you seek a counselor or a psychiatrist immediately because this can be very very serious if you do not treat it immediately. Please seek a psychiatrist and a counselor so they can get you on medication to make the voices occur less and disappear. One other thing that is very important is please do not listen to the voices. When my friend had psychosis, it kind of clouded her sense reality. Just keep telling yourself that there not there. Another advice is to be around people. Usually, if you are alone, you are more likely to experience the auditory and/or visual hallucinations. Please talk to someone like your mom and dad or a really close family member or a really close friend that you can trust. Psychosis can be treated with the proper medication. I hope everything is alright and you are within my prayers! If you need anything, please do not hesitate to ask another question! Good luck!

Answer 4

Everyone carries on an internal dialogue. You can worry if the voices are intrusive (you can't shut them up or get them to change the subject), commanding (ordering you to do things, like hurt yourself or others), or paranoid or delusional (people on TV are sending me secret messages). Multiple voices are not good either. If they disturb your sleep, I'd definitely recommend seeing a psychiatrist (you can go to the ER for this).

Answer 5

You should calm down and stop imagining things. Find something useful to do to keep your mind occupied. I'm not a psychiatrist and not able to help much but hopefully this little advise can help to solve your problem.

Answer 6

A lot of people have a little narrator that help them make decisions but if you end up arguing with yourself that might be different.

Answer 7

well, youre never alone then. sounds like youre under alot of anxiety. counselors,and crisis hotlines are helpful. shrinks are ok if you just want drugs and keep living with your issues.