A first-person account from off the beaten track, as told to Anne Ford.
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“It might be a name being repeated, or a single phrase. It might be, like, ‘You’re a slut.’ Or it might be advisory, like ‘Don’t go there.’ There’s a high percentage of people who hear voices and are completely nondistressed by them. Their voices tend to say things like ‘You’re looking really good today’ or ‘Great job.’
“There’s a sizable minority of people who don’t respond to antipsychotic drugs and an equal minority who respond well, and the majority of people are somewhere in between. Some people would rather learn to deal with the symptoms on their own. In the short term, maybe they’ll try something like listening to headphones. In the longer term, they might try to figure out the message the voice is trying to convey. The rate of voice hearers who have experienced childhood abuse is very high. It may be that they’re hearing the voice of their abuser, and that engaging with that voice can help it dissipate.
