Benefits of Open Discussions on Hearing Voices

Talking about hearing voices can help to a great extent. It is but the norms of the society to shun people who seem to suffer from mental disorders like schizophrenia, yet talking about it enhances acceptance of the condition, frees them from isolation and reaffirms their sense of belonging in the society. Even mental health practitioners are of the view that talking about it is the most powerful form of mental counseling and boosts the efficacy of drugs taken to mitigate the disorder.

The following points elaborate the benefits of open discussions on hearing voices and recommends the same.

• Uncovering plausible interpretations: Voices often express deep-seated emotions of the hearer, such as fear regarding a relationship or an event, or a back-off signal. When voices provide this sort of information, the trouble posed by their occurrence becomes less significant the nature of the messages they carry. When hearers express themselves to others regarding this experience, they find it valuable to interpret the nature of these messages and the reason behind their presence.

• Structuring firm contact: Many voice hearers feel threatened by the voices they hear and fear being controlled or overpowered by them. Open discussion about this condition with others enables voice hearers to establish a relationship with those voices and thus minimize feelings of victimization. It can also be valuable in helping them to set safe limits and prevent voices from excess intrusion.

• Realizing positive aspects: Voice hearers when faced with prejudice and lack of sympathy tend to become malicious with time and even driven to hurt themselves at times. This is often because they fear the negative vibes underlying the voices and have no idea that positive voices exist too. Contact with other people can lead to surprising revelations of positive voices and that they can arise once the hearers accept their negative side wholly.

• Effective form of medication: By sharing experiences on voice hearing with similar sufferers or licensed practitioners, people gain better knowledge of the various medicines, their efficacy, availability and side effects, if any. It is essential to understand whether a certain drug reduces the tendency of hearing voices or simply eases associated emotions of anxiety and palpitation.

• Personal Growth: Several voice hearers when interviewed admitted that by talking about this condition, they adjusted to this phenomenon with more ease and that this process itself has contributed to improving their self-confidence and personal growth. Personal growth may be described as understanding one's personal requirements and working gradually to achieve those ends. Indeed, by indulging in open discussions about their experiences, they felt a sense of emancipation.

•  Family support: Sharing incidents and experiences of hearing voices with families and trusted friends can go a long way in hurling the afflicted person to the path of irreversible healing. Family can support them and make life easier for the hearer, by backing them up and improving their self-esteem in social events.

Mutual communication between the voice hearers not only enables sharing of experiences, but also allows them to learn from each other and heal faster. Even when healing is far from possible, communication does help to accept this condition and lead a productive life nonetheless. If you are thinking to yourself, "how do I cope up with lots of voices my head", then don't worry because communication is the key.