{"id":465,"date":"2020-04-18T09:39:53","date_gmt":"2020-04-18T15:39:53","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/katiesanford.net\/wp\/?p=465"},"modified":"2020-10-24T20:14:59","modified_gmt":"2020-10-25T02:14:59","slug":"auditory-hallucinations-a-closer-look","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/katiesanford.net\/wp\/2020\/04\/18\/auditory-hallucinations-a-closer-look\/","title":{"rendered":"Auditory Hallucinations – A Closer Look"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"Man<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

We talked about visual hallucinations in Visual Hallucinations – A Closer Look<\/a>, so now it\u2019s time to dig into auditory hallucinations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One summer day in 2008, I was getting ready for the day. I was home alone with no music or TV. From the back corner of my bedroom behind me, I heard a snicker. It was short, but crystal clear. A man\u2019s voice. Laughing at me. Days passed, and then I heard the sound of a guitar being strummed just once. I began to hear all sorts of other strange sounds, like the creaking of floorboards under carpet at night. I could hear each slow but purposeful footfall, as if someone was walking up and down the hall that led to my bedroom.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Music became one of my most common auditory hallucinations. I’ve heard all types \u2013 classical, pop, African drums at one point. It was often just quiet enough that I couldn\u2019t figure out what song was playing. It often happened when I was listening to other music or over people talking.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When hallucinations meet paranoia<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

During the period in college where I was seeing the shadow people, I would sometimes hear someone walking directly behind me while I was walking on campus. I could hear their footsteps out of sync with mine and the rustle of their clothes. I would look back over my shoulder, but there was never anybody there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Just last year, I was out with my dog and my boyfriend one night. All of a sudden I could hear that distinct noise that the fabric on winter coats make when it rubs together. What I thought I was hearing was someone taking two quick steps towards my back and reaching out to grab my hood or the back of my coat. To my boyfriend\u2019s surprise, for no apparent reason, I launched myself forward and whipped around to see who was behind me. Once again – nobody.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Not all voices fit the stereotype<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

You know how you have a voice that you think in inside your head? Imagine that, but other people\u2019s voices. Sometimes it\u2019s one person, sometimes it\u2019s more. I\u2019ve heard all genders and all different tones and accents. Sometimes they talk to me, sometimes it seems like they\u2019re talking to no one, and other times they talk to each other. In each case, it\u2019s brief \u2013 only a few sentences. It felt like I was eavesdropping on conversations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I started writing them down in a notebook because they were so strange. Sometimes the sentences didn\u2019t even make sense. Like when a young man said, \u201che cannot these cortexes find.\u201d I would often hear these voices while I was trying to fall asleep or study. They were more annoying than frightening though. It was like someone was turning a knob to change the station on a radio \u2013 I would just hear bits and pieces as they faded in and out and into one another.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Then there are the external voices<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

At one very stressful point in my life, I felt like everybody needed something from me and I couldn\u2019t keep up. I was serving and bartending at the time, and I began hearing people call for me while I was working. I would be entering an order for a table at the computer and hear \u201cKatie!\u201d pause. \u201cKatie!\u201d crystal clear. \u201cMiss!\u201d from another side of the room. Then, \u201cExcuse me!\u201d Each time, I would look up to see what table needed assistance, but no one was actually trying to get my attention. I began hearing it outside of work as well, but more subtle. While infrequent, there are still times where I hear it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I don\u2019t have much experience with the typical kind of voices, but I do know people who experience them. For some people, it’s just one voice, but for many it’s multiple voices who may or may not talk to each other. Some voices, referred to as command voices, tell you to do things. Some voices narrate what you\u2019re doing. Some tell you you\u2019re worthless and people don\u2019t love you. Some do all of that. And still others are non-threatening. In each case, the volume and malice can be cranked up by stress, including stress from your disorder. Voices can go from speaking to screaming, and commands can go from benign to dangerous.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The reality of auditory hallucinations<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

In some cases, particularly when the voices start at a young age, people may not realize that it\u2019s abnormal to hear voices. In other cases, people just don\u2019t talk about it because they don\u2019t want to sound crazy. For most, it\u2019s easy to figure out that a voice is not coming from another person, and many people recognize that that is strange. But for many of us these auditory hallucinations become a part of our reality, especially in cases where medication doesn\u2019t stop the voices and sounds entirely. They may not have a real external cause, but they are very real experiences.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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