Hearing voices in your head not always seen as problem

By MARTIN JOHNSTON, health reporter

Hearing voices can be a frightening symptom of mental illness, but some people learn to cope with the voices that no one else can hear.

They devise strategies to control the voices, like making appointments to listen to them later. And not all the voices say nasty things.

Researchers are about to start the first New Zealand study of how common these hearing hallucinations are, people's experience of them, and how they cope.

An Auckland University psychology PhD student, Vanessa Beavan, said American and British studies had found that around one in 10 people heard voices.

Some cultures considered it a normal or a mystical experience, she said. In New Zealand the dominant view was that it marked someone as psychotic and in need of treatment to suppress the voices. "What we now know through other studies is that there are people who don't have mental illness or any other distress who hear voices.

"In those cultures that have it as a normal process, there's a distinction between pathological symptoms and the hearing of voices that's normal. Pakeha culture doesn't have that distinction. It's [almost] always considered pathological."

Vanessa Beavan said some researchers argued that the "psychiatric reductionist" view of voices was unjustified, since many people who heard them thought the experience enriching.

Former College of Psychiatrists president Dr Wayne Miles said the new study sounded interesting, but psychiatrists knew that not everyone who heard voices had schizophrenia.

"We all know it's not unusual for someone recently bereaved to hear the voice of the person who has died."

Psychiatrists treated psychosis with anti-psychotic drugs, but considered other treatments too.

Dutch research found that two-thirds of people who heard voices were unable to cope with them.

For the new, three-year study, Vanessa Beavan is seeking up to 500 people aged over 17 who hear voices that others cannot hear. They will be asked to fill out a questionnaire about their experiences of hearing voices and some will also be interviewed.

* People interested in taking part in the study can email or call (09) 373-7599, extension 82266.