Voices can be heard inside the head, from the ears or from objects like the television. They can be male or female, young or old, nice or nasty. At times people may hear the voices of people they know or indeed famous people. It can be a scary thing to come to terms with.
Voice hearers can also experience visual hallucinations, strange smells and tactile sensations and it can have a profound effect on the person. Medication doesn’t always help to reduce the voices, leaving the sufferer isolated and often afraid with no idea how to manage.
We aim to work alongside existing medical interventions to provide a safe place where people who are troubled by voices can come and explore their experience and share coping mechanisms and strategies, allowing them to find their own solutions and gain control over the voices and their lives.
People who hear voices really do hear voices and these can be experienced in different ways. It is a very individual experience which needs understanding but is often met with fear.
People are often told to ignore their voices, which is unhelpful as they can be difficult to ignore and the person is left feeling as if they are in some way at fault.
Anyone can hear voices although they are most often attributed to a schizophrenia diagnosis. Voice hearing can be experienced by those suffering from complex mental health problems such as schizophrenia, bi polar disorder, schizo-affective disorder, borderline personality disorder and psychosis as well as those who have never been diagnosed with any mental illness
It is estimated that between 4% and 8% of us will be troubled by voices at some point in our lives.