I am back to seeing my son. I am over the top beside myself with emotion but trying very hard to keep my s*!% together. Parts of him are better but I am suspecting auditory hallucinations. Any examples you can give of what that might ‘look’ like as he would never tell me.
How might you know when they are experiencing them?
Thank you
Hang in there, you have taken the first extremely important step. Being involved and supportive. I found that always appearing calm and not questioning when the “little hints” are expressed actually led to more disclosure of symptoms. As long as I never questioned directly in the beginning and only showed calm support did my family member begin to open up about the auditory hallucinations. Look for any out of the ordinary behaviour. Example: if the person normally avoids the mirror but suddenly can’t stop appreciating themselves. Chances are the voices have decided to be positive with compliments on that day. I had to constantly reiterate that we were in this together and she was not alone. I wish you strength and positive progression
Wow. Just wow.
He avoided mirrors in the beginning and today when we were on the porch, I saw a mirror. It made no sense. I will stay calm and I did tell him we are in this together and that everything I have accomplished (3 degrees) in the past four years has been to get to where we are now. I want my future to be with my son in whatever capacity that may be.
I’m not going to lose him again.
Thank you @Beach3
Glad the first example that popped into my head was relatable. It is a journey through a very colourful life we now have that sometimes is very dark. We are now in a very open and honest place where together we discuss all days. Most time the thoughts or voices are very mean. Sometimes they are horrific. On rare occasions “when they are trying to trick us into trusting them” they compliment or promise fame and fortune. But together we discuss, build trust, and invalidate those voices and thoughts. The more I tell her I am her biggest advocate, here to protect her, and provide any support she needs we continue to make forward progress. I am hoping you get to experience the same. It is hard not to have anyone around who can relate to our situation and challenges we face. Always here. Good luck
For my son, auditory hallucinations looks like laughing to himself. This is also commonly referred to as “responding to internal stimuli”.
Can you share more on this
Thank you so much. This makes so much sense.
Is there something particular you were wondering about o in out situation?
My son’s speech will be interrupted a lot when he is experiencing internal stimuli. He will also grimace. On the days it is bad, it is obvious - he spends his time pacing and repeating, "Shut up! “F%%% off!” “Bastard!” “Asshat!”
My son laughs out as well and I never heard it expressed as responding to internal stimuli. Iam learning soooo much on this web site. I did read more on auditory hallucinations as well. Your words just stimulated something in me, perhaps more awareness. Thank you
My son laughs out as well and I never heard it expressed as responding to internal stimuli. Iam learning soooo much on this web site. I did read more on auditory hallucinations as well. Your words just stimulated something in me, perhaps more awareness. Thank you
When my son’s voices were active he was very nervous and edgy and always accused me of talking to him or saying derogatory things to him, when I had said nothing at all.
My son smiles and laughs out of the blue when there is nothing funny. Glad you are able to see your son again. This is a hard journey. Hugs.
I saw the grimace, with eyes closed.
When he laughs, does that mean (most likely) that he is experiencing positive voices? My son was always naturally a happy person. Our sense of humors were so in tune sometime, I saw that yesterday - and then he would sink into something deep and I would be stuck wondering what to say. Just watching him suffer silently.
I really felt like we were turning a corner, but knowing of the auditory now tells me absolutely otherwise.
I believe it’s happy thoughts but yes I feel I need to wake up more my self. I wish my son would go to our Family doctor to start getting help but he won’t go and he has not worked in 2 years which is fine but any job is healthy. After reading so much here I feel terrible as a mother that I have not been successful to get him help
When I was in my early twenties, I was diagnosed with sz. One reason was because I was “responding to internal stimulii.” But this was not debilitating for me and I lived just fine with hallucinations for many years. Only sometimes did they become overwhelming. About six percent (if I am remembering this number correctly) of people hear voices. Only in certain illnesses and at the worst times do the voices become debilitating symptoms. Some people who are managing sz quite well hear voices often. It’s not necessarily the end of the world if a person is hearing voices as long as they are doing well in other ways. The problems come when people are unable to access shared reality and start living in the alternate realities of psychosis. If someone is connecting and connected to reality, they might be able to manage hearing voices without stress or debility. In sz it’s hardest because of all the other symptoms and difficulties that occur.
My advice is to look for ordinary behavior. Interact and relate as ordinarily as possible and don’t worry about this unless there are signs of debilitating illness. If you think your son is doing better, he probably is.
It sounds as though others have more positive auditory. Unfortunately my daughters is not. When she has the voices they are rarely positive. She gets so over come with fear she can’t sleep. Forgets to eat, shower and take care of her basic needs. It would becomes two or three days before we would get to sleep. I am so glad that other people do not experience that because it is the hardest thing to watch your child be emotionally and mentally tortured to such an extent,absolutely heartbreaking. We have the absolute best psychiatrist now who respects her, actually listens to her and keep her involved in all decisions and making sure she gets to where she wants to be to live a happy and healthy life. I really think between the family support and the right doctor all of us can accomplish anything we want to. Patience and baby steps and calming deep breaths
We never had any success with a gp doctor. Conditions only continued to deteriorate. I had to call a few times a week to our doctor and the psychologist office begging for an appt in psych. After about 6 weeks I got her in. Finally. On the complete wrong family of meds. That was the biggest hurdle to over come for us. Only the psych dr would prescribe the meds sz need to get better in my opinion. 1 st appt given anti psychotic meds. It took 4 months of slowly changing her dose but things are continuing to improve. Mannerism, memory, interaction with others, becoming social again. And the voices are real, they are real when you hear them, they’re real when they torment you, they are real when they interrupt your life and keep you from focusing and keep you from being happy. The voices are real but they can be quieted. And that is what I had to tell her in order to get her to go to the appointment. Best of luck to you and yours. I hope my experiences can help you on your journey .