Voice...*may trig*

[pockleberry]

yeah I tried that to...well I told my social worker who told my psychiatrist cause she rarely bothers to actually see me and they came back saying...don't worry about it we don't think it is a mental illness so pretty much the same as my counsellor...I don't understand how people can say that i mean I don't want to have that sort of thing but like how can you tell the difference between a real voice and someone's thoughts without actually hearing it yourself? How can you actually know, i'm not saying they are wrong I'm just confused and I don't understand how they got to that conclusion :s

 

[chloeobrien]

I dont have a mental illness cuz of my hearing voices but he was still able to give me meds that help a lot with it. My psch told me it wasn't anything to worry about but if it really bothered me we could try some meds for a while and see if it goes away or if I'm able to ignore it better and its a lot better now. Just know you're not crazy and that I do feel your pain!

 

[rocklife]

I don't think I posted this here before but a while ago I had some problems with a voice that was basically telling me alot of negative things and encouraging me to self harm and just generally to hurt myself...It kinda went away on it's own but now it's back. It's kinda different this time but I know it's still the same problem if that makes sense...recently it's been saying all sorts of stuff that are really hard to ignore and i'm really struggling with it.
Like the other day I had to speak to my counsellor on the phone which I've never really done before cause I hate phone calls and so I sounded a bit stupid and was desperatly trying to end the conversation as soon as possible. As is usual for me I felt complety stupid and then the voice kicked in and started telling me that my counsellor doesn't actually like me and that she only ever acts like she cares out of sympathy cause I'm so pathetic and that if she didn't care then no one did so i was on my own. I know it's not true but it'd really convincing when you hear something inside your head like that and I don't really know what to do...I guess If you guys could pray that it wont go to far and convince me to self harm or do anything like that I would really really apreciate it.

am praying for you.

one thing you can do is replace the bad thoughts with good thoughts. The best way I have found to do that is by listening to positive tapes on walkmen, positive music, but also most important is listening to bible on walkmen tapes. The NIV has a dramatized version that is really helpful. Listening to good things, especially christian things, will get your brain to most often be positive. And the negative thoughts are much easier to fight off after your brain is used to knowing what is good and right.

 

[cinnabunch]

I just want to encourage you by saying..just because you hear those things...it doesn't mean you are crazy, sick, mentally ill, and it may not even mean you are hearing demons and all that.

If you continue to hear bad things...it may just be old tapes, as I suggested before. There might be a part of your brain that holds some memories and issues connected with certain beliefs...and it is coming out in the way of you hearing the voice expressing it.

Do you journal at all?

cindy

 

[pockleberry]

I do journal a bit, I have an online journal which is good but I'm often not motivated enough to write in it...I guess you could be right about the tape thing but I just don't know, I had a really bad episode with it the other day because it felt like it was shouting at me and I was on my own not knowing what to do, I was just lucky my friend was online to pray with me but it was still worse than it ever has been before...

 

[chloeobrien]

*huge hugs pockleberry* its ok, we're all here to help you through this... it will get better just give it time. Try to ignore it... the more you try to fight it the better. They will go away in time but you need to try to fight back. I know its hard but it helps a ton.

 

[HolyOne87]

hey pockelberry, just wanted to see how you were doing.
I hope your okay.Your still in my prayers!

*many hugs*

 

[HolyOne87]

aww pockleberry.. *many hugs*
I know how that is. I am struggling myself. I know you have the strength in you to overcome these thoughts.
I had a thought. Maybe ask that one friend to pray with you each night. Maybe that will help you a little. Just set a time each day to pray together and where (whether it be on the phone, online, etc).
Just a thought I had.

Hope you will be okay

my prayers are with you

 

[cinnabunch]

just ignoring it doesn't always make it go away, some times it makes it louder. I really think that journeling is a good start...

Maybe write down what you hear, and write your response to it. Then, ask God what Truth He has to say to both of those things, and write that down. You may learn that God has some things He really wants to speak to you about.

Remember to always test what you hear from God, to the scriptures.

Keep us all posted on how you are doing.

blessings
cindy

 

[chloeobrien]

HEY hope you're doing well!

 

[LazeyWinde]

*Hugs Pockleberry* I have a close friend who hears not one voice but several voices and they used to make her self harm and all sorts of stuff. Because they were worse at night I'd stay up with her until dawn (her timezone, which was fortunately a few hours ahead of mine) Talking to her and talking her out of what they wanted her to do. They always wanted to hurt her and telling her to listen to someone who loved her instead helped sometimes. She's still unsure of what the voices are but they have less control over her now, thank God.

I don't know what your voice is, Pockleberry, but if it's telling you to hurt yourself it's not a good voice. Your counselor should be taking this more seriously than she is. My advice is when you see your counselor/psychiatrist/Dr/whatever tell her clearly that this voice doesn't sound like you, if the voice sounds male or female, when the voice is worse (What days of the week, times, day/night) If it becomes worse if you're under a lot of stress, if the voice is more bearable/worse when the TV/radio/music is on. What the voice says. Stuff like that.
Distractions like reading and playing games like solitaire and other computer/video games might help, also prayer of course.
Wow, that was longer than I meant it to be. *Hugs again* My thoughts and prayers are with you.

 

[pockleberry]

Thanks guys...I'm doing ok at the moment, it sort of comes and goes so sometimes it's not so bad. I'm seeing my counsellor on tuesday I don't know if I should bring it up or not or what I should say if i do...any advice?

 

[chloeobrien]

I suggest you bring it up... she may be able to help... my therapist knows... and its good she does, because she can help with it...

 

[LazeyWinde]

Tell your counselor all you can Pockleberry. Sometimes writing it down first helps, even if you don't bring what you wrote.
I hope it goes well.

 

[MissJames]

Hey there, I understand your frustration and worry as my partner suffers from the same type of voices. I constantly tell her that what they are saying is so untrue and a load of rubbish. I suggest she tries to turn the negatives into positives. My partner struggles with good things said to her and seeking help because the voice uses it against her, similar to your phone counselling experience. But I suppose from what I've learnt from my partner, is not to give in or avoid doing things just because the voices will get angry, this will only keep you under it's control. And the root of all this negative abuse stems from how you are truely feeling about yourself, so working on your self esteem would be a great advantage. If you feel good about who you are you are going to pay less attention to any negative voices within you or from others around you. Focusing on something in your life you have great passion for should take your mind away from the voices. I know my partner has said it is better to not talk about the voices too much or pay much attention to them because it only eggs them on, so I only pay attention when she is having great difficulty by reassuring her that what they are saying is not true.
And don't forget how special we all are, we are all in the same boat in this life, we are all amazing creatures with heaps to offer each other and ourselves, and nothing should ever stop us from being happy.