Husband and I have observed son talking to himself three different times the past two days. This is something new - we have never observed that before. He talks quietly and does not seem angry or distressed.
Since his diagnosis 4-1/2 yrs ago I don’t believe he has heard voices. I have asked him on several occasions and my gut is he has been telling the truth when he says no. Plus there has never been any other indicators that he has heard them.
He came off his ap’s last January and spiraled into psychosis. He was hospitalized last month and is now on Invega-Sustenna monthly injection.
Just wondering if anyone has any insight as to why he would be talking to himself all of a sudden. Is it common to develop voices this far into ones illness? I’m really worried.
Sometimes things just sound better when you talk out loud, and after I got my SZ label, it was kind of like a freedom label to do things and not worry so much about what others thought.
I have always talked to myself, but usually tried to not do it in the presence of others, because it bothers them a lot more than me.
You know, that reminds me of a trip back home I took with my son after a visit to my moms. My son was reading a book for something to do on the long drive and I noticed that he would read out loud! I figured maybe it was easier for him to concentrate on the book when he could kind of hear his voice reading it.
i know i am not allowed to post on this page, so apologies to sz admin…
but i talk to mysef all the time, it helps me.
i think what he is doing is normal, he is being his own sounding board for his thoughts…
even ’ muggles ’ do this.
know some one cares
take care
Dear lovemyson…My son (8-9 years with SZ) has long periods of not replying but the voices are always there. Sometimes he feels compelled to talk back. So yes, it is sporadic. What sounds unusual is that your boy didn’t have any voices for 4 and a half years.
It isn’t scary once you understand that living with the voices and going through phases and stages and steps of learning what works best to keep the voices friendly and quiet is all good. It’s very good he is not angry at the voices- it shows he is coping okay. Hang in. It sounds like you are doing great with him.
Hi @lovemyson people have different reactions to antipsychotics. Sometimes an antipsychotic is better at controlling delusions, others voices, some help better with cognition and social functioning etc… Being that your son is on a new antipsychotic it might be helping him in certain areas, but it might not be helping with lets say auditory hallucinations. When I was on Abilify I heard voices - noises quite frequently now that I am on Risperdal no voices or auditory, its all a crapshoot. It also could mean that he always heard voices in the past but he might be more aware of them now as being voices. I dont know your son but you can monitor him closely and if this becomes a concern mention everything to the pdoc - it might be a matter of adjusting his dose or adding another med or changing altogether at some point.
Monitoring and communicating with the professionals is vital. All the best to you and your son or it could be what @Hatty wrote, rehearsing or replaying conversations
Thank you @BarbieBF@igor@forevercarer @darksith you can post here any time:) @Wave - I will be keeping a close eye on this – thanks! @Hatty - good point - as I was approaching the kitchen I did hear him say “that’s not cool”, so you could very well be right.
My son has been hearing voices with ambilify that I have never notice in the past and it also interferes with our conversation on the phone and he has actually let me know and explain what he was hearing . This is all new also but I believe and agree with you Wave that sometimes an antipsychotic is better at controlling delusions. other voices and some help with functioning…
Yes it does happen that one starts hearing voices well into the illness. For me, I started hearing voices 2 and a half years into my illness. They went away for a couple of years then but are now back constantly. The trick is to make friends with your voices.
Voices are trapped spirits from the spirit world. Try to get along with the good voices and ignore the bad voices. Allow your voices to guide you on your spiritual path to God. That is the truth. By the way, don’t worry about schizophrenia, its not that bad an illness, just the media make us all out to be deranged criminals. That aint true. The schizophrenics I know are true saints.
Karl - my son says that he is a shaman and a channel for spirits. I don’t know what is going on in his head, so I can’t disagree with that. I just worry when he seems to be hearing things that make him angry and shout at others.
I figured maybe it was easier for him to concentrate on the book when he could kind of hear his voice reading it. 
