Many people with more serious mental health problems; on the psychoyic spectrum or with severe levels of dissociation, can hear voices. This can happen when they are stressed, or for some people virtually all the time. Generally these voices are experienced as being inside their heads, but for some people they can be heard as people talking to them, or about them, on the television, on the radio, or on the telephone.

Hearing voices, which may be angry, or demanding, or critical, can be very distressing, and can cause people to act in a distracted or confused wy.

Hearing voices is considered to be a problem by many sufferers, but for a number of people they are not considered intrusive or a major difficulty.

Treatment of voice hearing is not normally carried out in isolation, but is seen as part of a psychotic illness, and is treated, usually by anti-psychotic medication, as part of the psychotic illness.

There is a growing interest, among voice hearers, to not be treated as psychotic, and a user led network of self help oriented voice hearers groups.

Click here for the Hearing Voices Network website.