Hello Everyone-
My boyfriend was hospitalized from 6/25 to 7/3 and again from 7/10 to 7/20 due to a terrible psychosis.
Last night he was telling me in detail how many voices he hears regularly and what they say…I was shocked and asked him if he would mind me speaking to them. He agreed and I pressed my forehead against his and held both sides of his face, I then started speaking to them. I told them to get the FU@K OUT, THEY ARE NOT WELCOME IN OUR HOME AND TO FLEE! He had silence in his head as he was falling asleep. When he awoke, the voices were still very quiet and then on a scale of 1 to 10 with 10 being the worst, he just told me that he is at a 1. He’s usually at an 8 although sometimes gets a level 4-5. Has anyone ever experienced this with their loved one or heard of anything like this?
I felt so incredibly sad because he has been through hell and I spoke to those voices as enemies of ours because they are torturing my loved one and it’s heartbreaking to see him struggling like he did this summer.
I’d be interested to know if anyone else has heard of this or experienced something similar.
Thanks for taking the time to read this and I look forward to reading your replies.
My experience is, to a degree, “voices” can be influenced or reasoned with temporarily, but it isn’t a complete or good long-term strategy. For example my perception for a time was I was under surveillance by the FBI and I would “talk” to them when others weren’t present. I made a “deal” with them that they couldn’t follow me to work, and that held for many months. But then as I was under stress and decompensating, they appeared to be following me to work and everywhere else and went from from barely perceptible whispers to near shouting. Not long after that I was hospitalized.
Caregivers are often perplexed that people under their care can seem “normal” to authorities when they are called, and it’s very true that symptoms can be suppressed when sufficiently motivated and well-focused. The problem is it’s exhausting to sustain that sort of mental effort for long periods of time unless you have something sufficiently stimulating to distract you. “Voices” tend to creep in when you inevitably have to relax and take your guard down. Not to say you can’t learn strategies to decrease their intrusion, but a single “exorcism” isn’t likely to do the trick.
Thanks for your insight, Maggotbrane. I appreciate your reply. I’m not suggesting that he had been exorcised, merely that the “voices” have been at a tolerable level and after the “hell” he has been through all summer, I am grateful.
While my son was stabilizing on his medicine, he asked me to talk to him while he layed in bed to go to sleep bc the voices tormented him. I did and it helped. Lately, I ask him what the voices are saying and how is he being treated. I found that he hears fewer voices when he plays video games or listens to music loudly. So I bought more video games for him and some earbuds.
I have also noticed that the voices are worse a few hours before he takes his evening medicine so it may be that the meds are wearing off a little. He can also hear more critical voices in rooms filled with a lot of people (i.e., packed restaurants, grocery stores, etc.) so we avoid those places or go when it’s not crowded. My son seems to really appreciate it when I talk to his voices and when we talk about what they’re saying. Maybe your boyfriend is the same way in that it’s validating to him to feel heard by you.
I’m not a specialist. If it helps your boyfriend, keep doing what you’re doing. Just being there for him is huge.
Your actions were motivated by love and love is very powerful. I strongly support what you did and am glad for your outcome. Many of the voices my son hears are perverse—not at all like his personality. Whether they are demonic or the result of brain chemistry, keep doing what you are doing. It’s such a gift to him.
