Worried about hearing voices

Hey, so like 99.99% of the time when we hear from other parts, its entirely through inserted thoughts. Like their thoughts just come into our head, as thought-words, thought-images, that sort of thing. There's only two times I can think of that we've heard actual voices and known it was one of our parts.

But now, lately, we've had times where we've heard a voice or voices, and it sounds like it's come from outside, but there's no explaination for it, like nobody else around to have spoken. And now I'm worried because I don't like not being able to tell if something is real or not...

So the first time was last week, at the grocery store. There were other people around, and it wasn't exactly a quiet moment, but we distinctly heard a little voice call "Violet!". It sounded 100% like it came from a real outside girl. We looked all around and there were no kids anywhere nearby.

Nobody called out again, and we ended up deciding it was either imagination, or maybe some real kid was calling someone else named Violet, somewhere out of sight.(Though that seemed really improbable as we could see all around.) Anyways it was just a bit unsettling not being able to tell if it was real or not.

Now, I've just woken up at 4:30am and as I was getting up out of bed, I could faintly hear children singing. Like too faint enough to make out what they were singing. Just a second or two, then it faded, then it came back and faded again. And... it's like, 4:30am and it just seems massively improbable that there's kids singing somewhere outside so their voices would drift in through my window.

On the other hand, Melissa got some music the other day, (soundtracks from My Little Pony Equestria Girls movies) and everyone's been listening to that a lot for a few days. And I'm definitely hearing that in my head even when it's not playing lol. But I know that's in my head. This was, like it sounded outside, sounded like just on the edge of audible, somewhere outside, but it seems way too unlikely to be real.

So I'm worried, that I can't tell real from not-real, for these voices.

Anyone have suggestions on how to figure this out, or how to stop worrying about it?

Violet 1

Hi V1,

Just the other day, I was wondering about 'voices'. Like you, I only 'think thoughts' and it happened just two or three times that I heared actual clear voices inside my head (which was very impressive). I was wondering if it's still part of denial to not hear them clearly, if I'm maybe going to hear them more if the walls are going to break down.

I could imagine the brain trying to find 'other explanations' for them if they scare parts, such as; maybe I'm psychotic because it feels like coming from outside (so they can't be from our own parts), and I can imagine the brain going a bit psychotic when under a lot of stress. And I think this is something to discuss with your T, if you feel comfortable with that? I hope you're not scared, you will be fine either way!

Thanks Bejer,

I think the only aspect that is worrying me, is the not knowing if its real or not? Like, I don't want to start reacting to 'imaginary voices' so people start thinking I'm crazy, but I also don't want to be ignoring real people because I assume the voices are 'not real'.

If it turns out that I am starting to hear parts now as external voices... I'll deal with it, and maybe it'll help us communicate better / easier.

So yeah, it's mainly the not-knowing part that is worrying me. I think.

Violet 1

VioletFlux wrote:Thanks Bejer,

I think the only aspect that is worrying me, is the not knowing if its real or not? Like, I don't want to start reacting to 'imaginary voices' so people start thinking I'm crazy, but I also don't want to be ignoring real people because I assume the voices are 'not real'.

If it turns out that I am starting to hear parts now as external voices... I'll deal with it, and maybe it'll help us communicate better / easier.

So yeah, it's mainly the not-knowing part that is worrying me. I think.

Violet 1

So maybe the next time you hear one of the voices, answer it, and see what happens? Or if it's singing, say, "I like that song too. Do you like {name of another song}?"

Just a thought.
K

There is not a clean line between internal and external voices. External voices do not equal psychosis. And all the voices are equally real. External voices are a little confusing though: is there another person speaking who is out of sight, or is it "hearing a voice"?

To answer that question you could try saying "Hello?" inside, or outside, as you like. Or you can ask someone else, if there is someone nearby: "Did you hear a voice calling "Violet"?" Many otherwise normal people hear voices and other auditory hallucinations now and then, so they are not likely to think you are strange for asking.

One day in a public place I heard an unfamiliar voice calling my name loudly, again and again. I thought maybe I was hearing a new voice, until I realized it was a father calling to a small child.