In today’s Guardian there is a lovely short article by ‘Anonymous’ about what it is like to hear voices. Well worth a read for those struggling with the same issues, or those trying to understand the experience of voice hearing.
The author’s story is very familiar to me, the stress of going university seemingly bringing on a severe depression while later, with the added stress of exams, the voices appear. I’ve been told this story many times, often by people who I interviewed for the Maudsley Bipolar Twin Study, and then more recently by my clients. My recollection is that the majority of those who’ve related this particular sequence of events were women, but perhaps this was random or recall bias.
The author, via some combination of medication and therapy reports that she no longer hears voices, and that she has found a way to cultivate a supportive inner voice in their place. No point in me saying more, read what she has to say!
(I assumed the author was a woman from the photo, but it’s just a stock image, so who knows).