What is happening to me?

[SkylarB]

I am very hesitant to tell people this, but at the same time, I am dying to hear other people's take on it. .. and no. I really don't think I'm schizophrenic! LOL!

I hear voices. It is when its quiet, like sitting outside, laying down to sleep, reading alone in a room. And it sounds like someone left a radio or tv on in another room, but it's not that. I can hear talking, but I can't make out what is being said. There is usually just one or two voices that I can tell, by the different pitch, and they are talking constantly. Like one talks more, sounds like a man, and then every once in a while a woman talks. I have gone so far as to be in my bedroom and come out into the living room because I could swear I left the tv on. Another time I've been outside and I come in the house to check the tv or radio to make sure it's turned off, because I hear it. And I hear it day and night, whenever it is quiet enough.

It has been going on for a couple years, but seems to be getting more and more frequent as time goes by. And the voices are a little louder, but still not enough so I can tell what they are saying. It's actually kind of frustrating because it's like if I could just turn the volume up 3 degrees, I'd be able hear what they are saying. It's sooo close to the volume that I need to be able to hear exact words and not just murmuring and mumbling.

After really thinking about it, I wonder if I'm hearing people that have died, or maybe my spirit guides, or some other type of psychic ability? Or is it really a trick of my ears?

Please, I'm open to anyone's thoughts. I'd love to hear what other people think about this.

[~Runa~]

I'm not an expert and I don't claim to know too much about this but it's probably not likely spirits. If it were spirits then why are they talking so low that you can't hear what they're saying? The voices might be coming from another house near where you live. Sometimes voices of people travel.

[aynfean]

Do you only ever hear it at your house?

My first suggestion would be to get your hearing checked. Sounds funny but it'd be what I would do.

[SkylarB]

Thanks for your comments! Just to provide more information. It sounds like I'm hearing someone else's conversation.. not someone specifically talking to me. And actually, I'm not sure if it's happening anywhere else! Usually I notice when I'm in my own yard, inside my house. I'm going to pay attention and see if I hear it anywhere else.

[Heliotrope]

Well...I don't mean to be rain on anyone's parade, but what you've described sounds to me like audio hallucinations. You described exactly what happens to me! I have audio hallucinations myself, and it does indeed sound like a radio station that is a bit too low--if only you could turn up the volume, eh? I hear conversations, pick up voices...it's maddening.

I don't know what your mental history is, and I don't want to make any assumptions, because that would be rude. I have bipolar disorder and some of the symptoms of the disorder include hallucinations--audio, visual, tactile, olfactory, taste--any part of the senses can hallucinate. I have to go through what I know about my body as compared to what I know about my brain when I have a hallucination in order to determine if it was real, or if it indeed was a psychic phenomenon--BUT I try not to go to the psychic phenomenon arena too often because that is twisting facts to suit theories, instead of theories to suit facts. I know that I have hallucinations when I am low on medication, or I have missed a dose; I know also that my body is trying to tell me something when that happens.

I would very, very much suggest that you see a professional about this; your body does different things to let you know that something can be off-balance or out of kilter. It really does not do to assume psychic phenomenon before knowing the whole truth. Please, I urge you, if you are recognizing these signs in your life, you need to find out what the real cause is!

When it comes down to it, place the physical before the metaphysical. This is your brain, and it is a very complex chemical machine. Something may be missing in your chemical make-up. You never know until you find out.

[aynfean]

I can't believe hallucinations didn't occur to me heh. I find that as pagans we often tend to jump the spiritual to explain mundane things. That's why I suggested a trip to the hearing doctor. When you can cut out all reasonable explanations, THEN it might be spiritual.

[Heliotrope]

It's like what Sherlock Holmes said, "...it's a very bad idea to theorize before one has data. Inevitably, one begins to twist facts to suit theories, instead of theories to suit facts."

I do want to add, though, that as a pagan, I do not "tend to jump to the spiritual". I jump to the scientific, which in itself is spiritual. It is so important to look beyond what we would LIKE to believe for that ugly truth which in turn shows us so much more about ourselves than we could have initially imagined. The ugliest truths can be in their turn the most spiritual ones.

[aynfean]

Oh I didn't mean that everyone did. Just that it does tend to be common in the pagan communities. I tend to view things through the lens of science myself and sometimes feel the odd duck when I read someone's experience and I'm like "hmmmmmmmm."

[SkylarB]

Thanks for pointing out audio hallucinations. I've never heard of such a thing, but I'm going to look into it more. And, now that I think about it, it more often happens at night or on days that I didnt take my medication. And, I'm becoming more and more sure that I have inattentive ADD. I"m actually trying to find a doctor for that, and to look at my prescriptions and find out if what I'm taking can be improved upon. I have anxiety and depression. Just got over a major depression, actually. humm.. this is definitely food for thought!

This is what I needed, to be able to talk about it and hear other people's opinions to get new perspectives! Thank you! :)

I've always wished I had some great psychic powers, though I've had my share of experiences ;), but I guess deep down I WANTED it to be something paranormal.. but kinda new might not be. Which is why I came here to ask! :)

[TarotCanada]

Thanks for pointing out audio hallucinations. I've never heard of such a thing, but I'm going to look into it more. And, now that I think about it, it more often happens at night or on days that I didnt take my medication. And, I'm becoming more and more sure that I have inattentive ADD. I"m actually trying to find a doctor for that, and to look at my prescriptions and find out if what I'm taking can be improved upon. I have anxiety and depression. Just got over a major depression, actually. humm.. this is definitely food for thought!

This is what I needed, to be able to talk about it and hear other people's opinions to get new perspectives! Thank you! :)

I've always wished I had some great psychic powers, though I've had my share of experiences ;), but I guess deep down I WANTED it to be something paranormal.. but kinda new might not be. Which is why I came here to ask! :)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Auditory_hallucination

These can even be caused by too much coffee.....and I wonder if it isn't a form of synesthesia as well. http://tarotcanada.org/Synesthesia.html

[Nola]

and you know what. if it turns out you are schizophrenic, it doesn't mean there's anything wrong with you as a person. you can still be amazing, wonderful, loving, clever, funny, affectionate, caring.

I should know, I married one. and I wouldn't swap a mentally ill Mr Nola for anyone else in the entire world, no matter how sane they are

[SkylarB]

and you know what. if it turns out you are schizophrenic, it doesn't mean there's anything wrong with you as a person. you can still be amazing, wonderful, loving, clever, funny, affectionate, caring.

I should know, I married one. and I wouldn't swap a mentally ill Mr Nola for anyone else in the entire world, no matter how sane they are

Thank you Nola, I don't know anyone with that illness, I always thought if you had schizophrenia, you couldn't really function normally. You only hear about the horror stories, you never hear about the good stories of people living successfully with that disease.

And thanks TarotCanada for those links! I'm going to check them out right now!

[Heliotrope]

Thank you Nola, I don't know anyone with that illness, I always thought if you had schizophrenia, you couldn't really function normally. You only hear about the horror stories, you never hear about the good stories of people living successfully with that disease.

And thanks TarotCanada for those links! I'm going to check them out right now!

My grandmother is schizophrenic! She functions normally, has a great sense of humor, and loves spontaneous road trips where she gets to be the passenger and books end up as the destination. It's not a bad thing to have a chemical imbalance--sometimes these things just happen. It's all a matter of finding out what is it in your brain that can be modified, helped, or boosted back up to normal levels. You're still you, you're still the person you always were. <3

[aynfean]

As someone who works with Austistic, ADHD and other neuro a-typical kids on a daily basis I have to say I hate the word "normal". No one's normal. We're all totally weird and more than a little effed up inside. Some people manage to put all this a-typical stuff in a corner so they can fit the world's mold... the rest of us... we embrace it!

I've met plenty to "chemically normal, neuro-typical" people that were all kinds of weird in not good ways. And then I've met plenty of chemically different, neuro a-typical people that cope famously and you'd never know unless you reallllllllly got to know them.

[Heliotrope]

As someone who works with Austistic, ADHD and other neuro a-typical kids on a daily basis I have to say I hate the word "normal". No one's normal. We're all totally weird and more than a little effed up inside. Some people manage to put all this a-typical stuff in a corner so they can fit the world's mold... the rest of us... we embrace it!

I've met plenty to "chemically normal, neuro-typical" people that were all kinds of weird in not good ways. And then I've met plenty of chemically different, neuro a-typical people that cope famously and you'd never know unless you reallllllllly got to know them.

No, no one is "normal", but for someone who has never been right at the same level as the average human being, it is a comfort to know that the availability of proper functioning is completely possible to achieve. The idea of "normal" is "hey, I can understand things! Maybe not like you, but I get them!"

I was told all my life that I was abnormal, stupid, hateful, horrible--all I wanted was for someone to look at me and say, you're a normal human being. It may not be a comforting word to you, but...if you only knew what it was like to come out of a place knowing you were broken, and to have someone hold your hand and say, it's alright. You're normal, you're not what they said you were.

The idea of "normal" is completely subjective, and I don't want to get into that discussion at the moment because that will lead us off-topic; my point is, don't hate that word so much. For some of us, it's all we have to cling to. Being weird is great and all, etc. But there doesn't pass a day when I don't wish I wasn't born like this. You have to monitor and deal with it on such an obsessive level it is all you can do not to watch other people longingly and wish you weren't so weird so you can make friends, go to the mall, do all the fun things that people who have no problems socializing or speaking or what-have-you get to do. When you live like this--when you are like this--sometimes, "normal" is a picture that you hang up on your wall to look at every day and think, "Pretty."

[aynfean]

I just think that none of us can read another's mind. And we don't know what kind of weird thoughts pass through the brain of someone that appears normal on the outside. We never know how much work, self-editing, and training were required for them to pass for society's idea of "normal". That's all I was trying to say.

[wolfspirit]

I've experienced this myself, and seem to be very healthy mentally and physically. It's very strange, but I've also picked it up and located it to my computer speakers (they were turned off BTW) as the sound became slightly more audible. Sound is a strange phenomena, it continuously bounces off the environment, losing decibals eventually but never stopping. I think our ears can pick up a lot more than we think but whether or not our brains can discern what the sound is, is a different story. Think of all the radio waves that are transmitted from everyday objects or radio stations themselves. Back in highschool, I was sitting in art class, and our teacher had a radio which was not off but turned all the way down. All the way meaning didn't matter that it wasnt off it was at zero volume. And I swore to the group at the table I was sitting that I could hear a certain song playing (Eminem mind you, his songs are not quiet! lol). They looked at me like I was crazy until one of them finally stood up, went over to the radio which was about 15 feet away, turned it up, and the song was indeed playing. Not one other person could hear it. I've also experienced the audio "hallucinations" so to speak, not very often but do. So for me, every time it happens to me I search for a source before deciding that my brain is just tired and playing with me (the audio hallucinations, happen before bed for me haha).

Edit: I'd also like to note that the door was closed and the walls are very thick in the high school that I was going to.

[SkylarB]

Sorry about that "normal" comment. I really didnt put that much thought into that word when I used it. I just meant the "average person". And I do believe that every single person has their own ways of thinking, reacting, different points of view, different views, etc... some people are neurologically imbalanced and others are not. Just like some people are born red hair and others aren't. Or some people are born short. It's just that human DNA can create some very interesting combinations that result in innumerable variations in a person's make-up. I think that is why the world is so interesting and filled with interesting people!

It is nice to know that other people have experienced audio hallucinations, or something like it.

[TarotCanada]

I just think that none of us can read another's mind. And we don't know what kind of weird thoughts pass through the brain of someone that appears normal on the outside. We never know how much work, self-editing, and training were required for them to pass for society's idea of "normal". That's all I was trying to say.

Another very astute observation...

[TarotCanada]

No, no one is "normal", but for someone who has never been right at the same level as the average human being, it is a comfort to know that the availability of proper functioning is completely possible to achieve. The idea of "normal" is "hey, I can understand things! Maybe not like you, but I get them!"

I was told all my life that I was abnormal, stupid, hateful, horrible--all I wanted was for someone to look at me and say, you're a normal human being. It may not be a comforting word to you, but...if you only knew what it was like to come out of a place knowing you were broken, and to have someone hold your hand and say, it's alright. You're normal, you're not what they said you were.

The idea of "normal" is completely subjective, and I don't want to get into that discussion at the moment because that will lead us off-topic; my point is, don't hate that word so much. For some of us, it's all we have to cling to. Being weird is great and all, etc. But there doesn't pass a day when I don't wish I wasn't born like this. You have to monitor and deal with it on such an obsessive level it is all you can do not to watch other people longingly and wish you weren't so weird so you can make friends, go to the mall, do all the fun things that people who have no problems socializing or speaking or what-have-you get to do. When you live like this--when you are like this--sometimes, "normal" is a picture that you hang up on your wall to look at every day and think, "Pretty."

There are many words we need to reclaim the definition of, normal is one of them. We live in a world where they are trying to denormalize us and make us cookie cutter people too concerned with "bread and circuses" and falling under the illusion of salvation in material things, to pay attention to what the powers that be are doing to our world. The only normal people you know are people you don't know very well yet.

[erosryder]

Maybe spirits in the home or maybe you're being haunted. Not always a bad thing but it could be possible.