Thank you❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️
1 Like
One way to tell that isnt so obvious as laughing to self or grimacing is by watching the eyes. When people concentrate they tend to look up or to the side, so if it appears your son is distracted, he might be trying to concentrate on a voice. If his eyes are darting around, he may be “looking” to see what direction the voice is coming from. If someone is listening to internal stim, they may need quesstions repeated or seem distracted when speaking with them
4 Likes
Our son’s psychiatrist said that the voices sound like an alien voice. I was mistaken in thinking that some of them were driven by the ‘inner voice’ that we all have. Inner Voice is created in a different part of the brain, so is not the voices heard in Paranoid Schizophrenia. It is very difficult for the person with schiz to follow verbal directions from another, or hear what’s going on in a meeting, etc, if the Voices are going on. That just makes sense as how well can we engage in multiple conversations at the same time.
The Dr. ran the Free Clinic downtown in a large metro for 20 years and has much experience with the schiz spectrum.
2 Likes
Yes my daughter has been laughing out loud for years and I’ve never heard it as responding to internal stimuli. I’d usually say what’s so funny and then she’d say she was in a different world. Most of the time now she says horrible things about me that just aren’t true. She later says the voices tell her these things. She used to say she had intrusive thoughts, but now recognizes them as voices. And now she says she has different personalities. When she’s mean to me she is Amanda. When she loves me like a little child she’s Amy. Her other personalities are “You” , “Why”, and “Gary”. She says there are others. I don’t know if they are delusions or from her DXM usage which is a dis-associative drug. She is in detox now and “planning” to go to treatment for her abuse. We’ve had a hard time because the mental health centers say they can’t help her because of her addictions and the addiction centers can’t help her because of her mental health. I guess this is too much for the post topic. Sorry.
1 Like
I think other typical auditory hallucinations come from radio, tv, social media. When my son was in acute psychosis - he didn’t like having any of these on (would turn the music and tv off). He also felt like people were talking about him when they weren’t (they may have been talking but not about him). I don’t know if this was an auditory hallucination or paranoia - maybe a bit a of both.
1 Like
It can be confusing. I can’t watch TV in my daughter’s presence. She wants it off because the people are saying bad things about her. She thinks she’s famous and she’s the center of everything. When she’s alone she watches tv and listens to the radio and hear her voices.
1 Like
My daughter hears mostly negative, too. What she might call positive is when the voices tell that the devil loves her and that Marilyn Mason knows who she is. It’s hard to talk to her when she’s like that. I can’t live with her anymore because of the sleeping situation. She stays up for days too, but she will wake me in the middle of the night to tell me something off the wall or that she misses me or to belittle me with things I never did. How long has your daughter been sick? My daughter is now 30 and became worse after my husband died two years ago. I’m glad your daughter has a great psychiatrist. They are the ones who should know how to deal with mental illness. My daughter gets to see hers once a month for about 5 mins to monitor her meds. It’s a hard life for us all. I am so thankful for this forum. Thank you for sharing your experiences. It really helps to know we’re not alone.
5 Likes
Yes, no TV for him anymore. But YouTube videos are okay.
I am told that i should watch if positive voices is followed by the manic. My daughter also talks about she is destined to become famous when hearing positive voices when in this state. When she is manic she believes she has special powers that others can’t see. These periods scare me more than the psychosis. I am scared of what she might do. Perhaps try to fly.
Things have been deteriorating for about a year. Her initial onset of first full psychosis happened in Jan sometime. So sad that I don’t even know the date just one night in the middle of the night she woke me up bawling pacing saying extreme and intense things took about two days to get her to sleep. And once that roller coaster started it seems like all I was doing was trying to keep her calm and feeling safe and trying to alieviate her fears enough so that she could at least try to get some sleep this went on for a few months. Didn’t really pay attention to time trying to get through the day where everybody safe. Trying to grab a few hours sleep before it started again and the cycle just continue to repeat itself.
1 Like
People yelling at him on the street, and from passing cars. Hearing tones and frequencies from imagined threats who are conspiring to drive him crazy. Responding to you in conversation when you haven’t said anything.
My daughter hears voices most of the time. The voices started out being people she knew. They were very negative and often told her to hurt herself. She is convinced that they (the people behind the voices) implanted bugs in her ears so they can talk to her. Over the years the voices have expanded and she reacts more to them. She now talks back to them but it is never positive. They were quieter for a time while she was on Clozaril but they are bad again. She was just hospitalized as the number of voices expanded and she was convinced that people were going to take her places. She would get dressed up and then cry when no one came. She suddenly developed 6 personalities that reflected new voices. Luckily the personalities are gone but she is still hearing and talking to the original voices.
Our appts usually last 30 to 45 minutes a five minute appointment seems awful short to really find out how someone is doing especially someone with schizophrenia who is emotionally shut down and not interactive maybe it’s because we’re new to this and he takes more time but I think I would be upset with knowing that someone Who should know the limitations of somebody with schizophrenia thinks they can take five minutes once a month with someone and know what’s going on getting answers and information. Right now both of us have a good relationship with each other and there’s a lot of trust the doctor still requiring me or asking of me to join every session to help in communications and revealing symptoms and what is going on because she does tend to hide a lot and I do think it is helpful in her treatment but it sounds as though overtime I can expect her to become more withdrawn or angry with me and that part scares me. Best of luck to you and yours in finding a good balance
My daughter has medicaid and now medicare. I guess 5 mins. is all they have time for since she’s getting it free. My daughter sometimes gets more time because she sometimes is manic and rages about something. She no longer wants me in the sessions unless she wants me to help her change drugs (something she can abuse). She is in detox now and Monday goes to a treatment facility for dual diagnosis. I’ll find out if she’s accepted. Most places won’t accept her because of her serious mental status. We’ll see. All I can do is pray.
My son does the darting eyes thing, and gets distracted too, as well as actually answering the invisible people verbally. He will be in the middle of talking to one of us, and will suddenly turn around and yell something filthy to one of the invisible people. The invisible people are different from the voices in his head. The voices in his head tell him about bad things that people are doing (such as “when we hide his girlfriend” in our house. Apparently, we kidnap her a lot.), and punish him with stomach aches and other problems. Then there are the angels who talk to him too, but that’s another topic . . .
1 Like
My son also hears voices. Mostly the voice of God. He is catatonic. The voices tell him when he can speak, move or eat. He is a young man of 24 he was diagnosed schizophrenic in 2015. I know when he hears voices because he calls it pausing when he freezes. That God is telling him when to move on occasion he will let out a terrorizing scream but most of the time he’s just in his own world.
1 Like
When my 20 yr old adopted son is not having his schizophrenia episodes he will tell me about the voices-it sounds like u,mom, telling me evil things to do…I reasure him that it is not me. That I am his friend,that I love him…He tells me that the voices (yes, there r more than one) tell him different ways to kill me. I tell him that this makes me sad bec I know he would never intenally hurt me. He is back on his meds. learning to cook and doing a great job-doing his own grocery shopping. I have him doing chores or jobs around the house an paying him like I would if I was hiring an outside worker an he does an excellent job an I brag an tell him how great he is…We have good days an they r wonderful.
3 Likes
I think he may be doing better @Hereandhere. I’m not doing so hot
1 Like
I’m sorry you’re not doing so well. Sometimes when my family member feels better, I drop down for awhile, like I can take a breath and feel some of what has been built up.
2 Likes
Most places that I’m familiar with treat for both things simultaneously (i.e., dual diagnosis): mental health issues combined with substance abuse. They very frequently go hand in hand, particularly since substance use/abuse (including marijuana) very often triggers schizophrenia if one has the gene mutation. My child (23) is currently in his third dual diagnosis program. The first two programs were very good but did not keep him long enough. Tragically, it can be a long and expensive process for treatment and recovery with schizophrenia. Also, recovery is relative to each victim of this disease. We have been dealing with this for three plus years and I still continue to learn so much. Despite very good treatment with medication and therapy, we still occasionally observe my child’s response to internal stimuli also known as perceptual disturbance, indicating that he continues to experience psychosis (delusions) to some degree. Fortunately, he no longer experiences paranoid, scary or threatening thoughts and has not had those for a long time. For us, we accept that this is ok if he can learn to manage it well enough so that it no longer prevents his ability to be able to take care of himself and live independently if possible. He is not at a point where he can currently do that. However, he has recovered enough to recognize that he wants to achieve certain things in his life re: school, work, and relationships. That is progress and for now, he is sober, safe and medically compliant… and relative to three years ago, that is a significant improvement.
1 Like