Verbal Auditory Hallucinations

Voices are verbal auditory hallucinations thought to be owned by schizophrenics only by the general public.  In fact voices are not exclusive to schizophrenics; manic and depressed persons can hear voices.  Psychological trauma, sexually abused women, combat veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder can also have auditory hallucinations.

Voices can be caused by nonpsychiatric conditions; physical illnesses including:  brain tumors, Parkinson, migraine headaches, epilepsy, Alzheimers, and other delirium are know to cause people to hear voices.  Street drugs such as LSD, psychedelic mushrooms, ecstasy and cocaine cause hallucinations.  Alcohol especially during or after a binge can make someone experience voices.  Chronic alcoholics can and do hear voices much like schizophrenic voices so that it is difficult to tell them apart.

Some people can hear voices without any distress or impairment in functioning.  Grief hallucinations can occur when a person loses a spouse; they can hear the deceased person’s voice and some actually can hold a conversation with them.  The hallucination eases the mourning process.

Auditory hallucinations are not limited to the mentally ill.  Surveys done have shown that many people who do not suffer from mental or physical disorders can and do hear voices.  Voices are in history, in Greek literature and philosophy, Socrates heard voices of a Divine being giving guidance with everyday tasks.

Voices have been heard throughout history as muses, madmen and prophets.  It is time to rethink the experience of hearing auditory hallucinations.  The mentally ill are not the only ones to be condemned to the sounds of their minds but should be heard despite the hallucinations which need to be seen as an unusual and personal experience of life that has meaning and is not just a symptom of a disorder.

Experiences of Life

These pages were dedicated to people suffering from Bipolar Disorder only, at first, now we seem to be broadening out a little with this one; but still within the Bipolar Experience or Bipolar Living.

I have recently come across some information that explains a lot about someone who is Bipolar I with psychotic tendencies; the psychotic tendencies are verbal auditory hallucinations.  These always seemed to be a contradition to the diagnosis except now I have found the basis for that diagnosis and understand more about Bipolar Disorder and Mental illness in general. 

Most of all I have discovered a whole new realm of human life experiences and wish to share it here.  This is just the tip of the iceberg; there seems to be a vast amount of information on mental illnesses that has come to light within the past few decades since I started research on Bipolar Disorder and other mental illnesses.  So there will be new information as I find it.  This information may be about any type of disorder or condition that I am finding out about since I started writing these blogs.  I am thirsty for knowledge and wish to share it with everyone I can and help anyone I can with these humble blogs of mine. 

It will take time for me to gather all the information and I am striving to present it in a way that can be understood by the general public.  People have different experiences and they love to share it and I am just a receiver of the experiences not necessarily the person who experiences them.  Much of what I am presenting may be wrong or I may misunderstand but I am keeping it as factual as possible.

A lot of the information causes controversy as to whether it can be proven or not I unfortunately can not prove anything I am not a researcher. I am just someone seeking information to help, cause someone to think about, save someone needless worry or just to give someone the push they need to get help.