Originally posted by christina-66

And yet when it comes to psychiatric ailments we still live with mythology re their root cause...I'm thinking bio-chemical imbalance for a start.

I agree it is mostly mythological thinking that rules the institutions of psychology and psychiatry. Anyone who asks hard questions will quickly unravel that.

I also like science and considering things from a physical point of view.
Like "IF" something is wrong, it's a chemical poisoning or it is a deformity or injury of some sort.
I don't believe in hocus pocus.

Originally posted by muzzleflash

Originally posted by akushla99

Science can neither confirm nor deny 'voices in the head'...

Ding ding ding.

That's why I don't buy it one bit.

I have heard a thousand arguments and none have convinced me yet.

yes it can, take a patient who hears voices, hook them into a fMRI connected to a computer system equipped with artificial telepathy. Then get the patient to make the voices talk to them. Or find a way to detect signals coming from the brain, people have used RF detectors and electromagnetic detectors to prove voices use these frequencies somehow without being detected generally, although i beleive there has been detection but people dont talk about it.

Wow! The first and second posts were very helpful in putting the auditory effects that some who experience schizophrenia have to deal with into a better perspective. S and F for that.

I have always been fascinated by the different aspects of mental illness. What makes a mind turn a certain way, or people react to things the way they do. I think that just like anything in life there is not one clear simple path that gets people to whatever place they happen to be. I find it interesting that different cultures have also had different views of people with schizophrenia, from the "demon possessed" or how about the "saints" like Joan of Arc who also heard voices in her head. Native Americans would take care of their mentally ill, believing that they were touched by the gods.

I have dealt with mental illness on different levels, both personally and professionally. I have a B.S.W. and due to my earlier stated fascination on the brain/mind and how it works my focus while in college was with people who were severely mentally ill. After I graduated I worked in a residential facility. My older half brother that lived with us for a few years when I was a child became schizophrenic in his young adult years. I myself have suffered from Major Depression.

So yes this is a personal issue for me and I often pull out the Soap Box when the subject comes up.

I believe that the aspect that angers me the most when it I hear ignorant or uneducated people talk about it, although I have not really seen it yet on this thread is the mistaken belief that people who have schizophrenia are somehow stupid or not as smart as "normal" people. When a better argument could be made that they are quite often on the higher side of the scale.

Genetics are believed to play a role, but as in many disorders that have a genetic aspect, it is most often triggered by something, a reaction to stress or drug use. I believe in my brothers case it was a reaction to the "Make em or Break them" policy of the U.S. Army boot camp brainwashing, he went in. It is heartbreaking in that it hits young people most often between the ages of 18 to 25, Young adults who more often than not of above average intelligence with the whole world ahead of them.

From what I understand from my studies and research on the subject, the brain often misinterprets the messages the signals that come in, and it can also affect sight, taste and smell which can be where the fear of being poisoned can come from. If you gave me some food that did not smell or taste right to me, I might wonder if you were trying to poison me.

If all your senses are telling you one thing and the people around you are telling you something else, trust is a hard thing to come by.

A lot of the people who lived in the facility where I worked were always walking around with headphones on and music playing, I kinda knew why but after listening to the first two posts, I understand. Thank you for that .

"Sigh" sorry for such a long post. I told you it was one of my soapbox issues.

Originally posted by Thecakeisalie
When i was seeing a psychologist years ago, i became friends with a salvation army officer who worked with people with mental illnesses. She became like an guardian angel for me.

She warned me on a number of occasions never to get hooked on drugs. She went on to say that she's seen a lot of people turned into schizophrenics by excessive drug use, and she didn't want me ending up like that.

By pure coincidence i was in seeing the shrink one day and when i came out of his office, my new next door neighbour was talking to my Salvo friend. The guy seemed alright, i had talked to him on a few occasions. Anyway I asked him what he was doing here, and he said jokingly "I'm a schizo" .

He told me his story. In his younger days he smoked weed all day, everyday. After a while eventually the hallucinations wouldn't stop, and he ended up being diagnosed as being in a permanent state of psychosis. Curiously i asked him what it was like. He said voices would tell him to blow stuff up, and how he could 'see the music' coming from his stereo. He was sure someone was rearranging his coffee table when his back was turned (he lived alone), and he couldn't talk to certain people because he was convinced they were evil and plotting against him.

Ten years later and we're still good friends, although he has to take drugs for the rest of life to stop the symptoms. I know not all Schizophrenics are that way due to drugs ( trauma and genetics can cause it too) but it is a cautionary tale of what happens when you don't take things in moderation.

Ummmm.......... I'm going to take a leap here and say that your friends hallucinations had nothing to do with the grass he was partaking in, and more to do with internal problems.

You say he smoked every day, all day. Then after a while the hallucinations wouldn't stop, by your statement this means that he would smoke to stop the hallucinations (which this eventually stopped working for him).

To correlate the herb with causing hallucinations and schizos is a reach beyond reaches.

Is there something wrong with me if I found that to be relaxing?

Originally posted by trollz
Is there something wrong with me if I found that to be relaxing?

No. Id say you were clever for Choosing to enjoy your life even when people fabricate silly audio files in attempts to spook you.

Originally posted by HomerinNC
i dont hear them like that, just whispering, nothing that can be picked out or distinctive voices, and ill hear muisic

Hearing music is very common. The brain tries to make sense and find a pattern for all data, when it encounters data that it can't immediatley identify or quantify it will fill in the blanks. If you are near running water, or something with an electrical motor (ceiling fan, AC unit) in an otherwise quiet setting, your brain may decide it is hearing music and fill in music even where it does not exist. I would suspect that in the absence of a musical solution the brain might decide it is hearing a conversation instead and react the same. (Although, I have never read any documentation of that.) As I said, this is very common and has nothing whatsoever to do with mental illness.

I hear bluegrass music usually, some I recognize, some not. I wish I had the ability to write it down. I have tried to memorize some of the tunes. My son hears classical/orchestral music when he is in the shower or by flowing water. It is an amazing little trick of the brain/mind, enjoy.

That video and the second one are pretty creepy, I wonder is it always negative things the voices say? And why if they do hear voices all day are they negative? Maybe from childhood trama, hearing adults say these things to a toddler and then the brain decides to play it back over and over when the person gets older? I don't I know very little about this, but I would like to know if the voices are always negative?

Originally posted by jaguarsky

Originally posted by HomerinNC
i dont hear them like that, just whispering, nothing that can be picked out or distinctive voices, and ill hear muisic

Hearing music is very common. The brain tries to make sense and find a pattern for all data, when it encounters data that it can't immediatley identify or quantify it will fill in the blanks. If you are near running water, or something with an electrical motor (ceiling fan, AC unit) in an otherwise quiet setting, your brain may decide it is hearing music and fill in music even where it does not exist. I would suspect that in the absence of a musical solution the brain might decide it is hearing a conversation instead and react the same. (Although, I have never read any documentation of that.) As I said, this is very common and has nothing whatsoever to do with mental illness.

I hear bluegrass music usually, some I recognize, some not. I wish I had the ability to write it down. I have tried to memorize some of the tunes. My son hears classical/orchestral music when he is in the shower or by flowing water. It is an amazing little trick of the brain/mind, enjoy.

Thats what you think happens, but i knw otherwise. Your brain doesnt produce real sound for the ears. at least ive never had that before starting to hear voices, music, drums, nukes and seeing mystical things. My belief is that its induced technologicaly.

Originally posted by Aquarius2150
That video and the second one are pretty creepy, I wonder is it always negative things the voices say? And why if they do hear voices all day are they negative? Maybe from childhood trama, hearing adults say these things to a toddler and then the brain decides to play it back over and over when the person gets older? I don't I know very little about this, but I would like to know if the voices are always negative?

No. they aren't always negative!!

I think it also depends on ones mood although alot of the time it can be negative when out and about.... I just try my best to ignore it and succeed to the point where I won't hurt anyone.... I will just brush it off and get on with what I was out there to do.... however, when I get home I may say under my breath.... you MUFCKN BSTRDS!

Originally posted by Aquarius2150
I don't I know very little about this, but I would like to know if the voices are always negative?

The voices are not always negative, and i can relate to the whole "soft whisper thing" I've noticed when I am down and out, the negative voices are more prominent. When my overall well being is positive and happy, they are positive voices ,.. the "good voices" Someone mentioned energy vibrations before, so I would think that if you are on a higher vibration,,.. you would only be picking up on the the higher vibrations,... of loving,.. caring voices. When in a dark depression, your vibration would be lower, thus picking up on the lower , negative ones. I have actually had one of the voices tell me something about a person who I just met. I do play guitar,.. I met this guy , and right away I "clicked" with him. If you are a musician, you tend to be able to read and tell if someone "plays something" or that is my case anyways. So anyhow, I was going to meet up with him and on the way I heard " he plays bass"... and there is no possible way that I could have known that beforehand. I outright asked him, do you play anything? He says,. yeah I play bass guitar. I was pretty much blown away, the rest of the day , trying to figure out what had just happened. I am still trying to understand it all, I cannot actively get the "voices" to talk to me. They just randomly do. No rhyme nor reason.. Also they are not constant for me. Depending on where I am,.. I may hear more, or none. I have also noticed, in older buildings and houses, it is more prevalent.