A quarter of the world's population regularly hear someone's voices in their head, and more than 40 percent have encountered this phenomenon at least once … Members of the international group Intervoice believe that this is not always a sign of mental disorder. It's all about how a person himself relates to "invisible interlocutors."
Mysterious voices as a result of stress or trauma
Scientists and physicians argue that a precondition for the appearance of a “voice” in the head is a strong shock or trauma experienced by a person. After that, people begin to hear voices in 70 percent of cases, and often the voice "belongs" to the one who inflicted this injury on them or was in some way connected with it … Some people think that they are talking with their "second self". This usually happens at a time of stress or when a person does something for which they feel guilty.
Last October, Thessaloniki hosted the sixth annual festival for those who hear voices. More than 200 people from all over the world took part in it, who told about how they manage to coexist with their “interlocutors”.
So, a certain Rachel Wadingham first heard voices when she was a student. It seemed to her that in the next room three men were talking about how ugly she was and that she should kill herself. When the girl entered the room, of course, there was no one there.
After that, she began to hear voices constantly Rachel stopped communicating with friends, began to abuse alcohol and eventually ended up in a psychiatric hospital. For eight months, she was on medication and was not bothered by voices. But as soon as I stopped taking them, they returned again.
And over time, the number of "interlocutors" became more. There are thirteen of them now, says Rachel. Among them are a woman, a teenager and a three-year-old child who treat the “mistress” aggressively and say evil things to her, often with sexual connotations, reminding her of the greatest fears of her childhood.
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Sometimes you can calm them down by reading them bedtime stories. Sometimes the voices suggest that Rachel hurt someone because he is a danger to her, but she replies that she will take care of herself …
Rachel manages to cope with the situation, but many people completely subordinate themselves to the "interlocutors" who have captured the brain, perform actions that they "dictate" to them, may even kill someone or themselves on their orders. They are convinced that they are ruled by a god, a devil or some otherworldly entity.
Joan of Arc heard voices
One of the most famous carriers of the "voices" is Joan of Arc, nicknamed the Maid of Orleans. When Jeanne was 13 years old, a squad of Burgundians attacked her native village Domremi. Obviously, the girl went through a lot of stress, after which she began to talk about the fact that the Archangel Michael and Saints Margaret and Catherine are talking to her.
It was they who allegedly told Joan to go to the Dauphin and demand that he put her at the head of the army, leading the battle with the British. We know the result: the army led by Jeanne managed to win many victories, including the liberation of the besieged Orleans, she helped the Dauphin to ascend the throne of France under the name of King Charles VII and was martyred at the stake … In 1920, Joan of Arc was canonized as a saint …
The well-known Russian psychiatrist, journalist and researcher Arkady Vyatkin in his book “50 great books on the path to truth” writes: “According to the conclusions of modern psychiatrists, Zhanna suffered from an acute form of schizophrenia …
Nowadays, such patients are placed in a closed and well-guarded department of a psychiatric hospital, where for many months they are treated with large doses of antipsychotics, achieving the so-called remission, that is, the disappearance of “voices” and the patient's critical attitude towards them.
“If people believe that their voices are omnipotent, can harm and manipulate them, then they are less likely to cope with it and are more likely to end up as patients with mental disorders,” commented Eugene Georgatza, organizer of the Hearing Voices Congress, Senior Lecturer at the University Aristotle in Thessaloniki. "If they have explanations for the voices that help them cope with them, this is the first step to learning how to live with them."
You should not take auditory hallucinations as a death sentence for your psyche, members of Intervoice are convinced. In most cases, you will be able to control the "entities" invading your brain and prevent them from gaining the upper hand over you. One has only to take control of the situation.
TRINITY MARGARITA