hearing/seeing people that arent there...

[BigHat]

i began hearing voices a while ago and seeing black visages of people. i know i just joined the forum and all but this "issue" of mine is what broke me away from main stream organized religion and brought me to embrace new concepts. i was wondering if anyone might have some advice or an opinion on the matter.

When it started the voices were loud, like someone was talking right next to me. they would keep me up at night so i couldnt sleep more then a few hours a night unless i drank.
they talk to or about me every day. i sometimes see images of a man standing roughly 6 feet tall. i've seen him in my closet, at the top of my friends stairs in his house, i saw him the other night while i was jogging. i woke up once to someone tappnig me on the shoulders saying "hey" but there was no one there. i woke up before to see a outline of a heavy set person standing near my tv. i hear 2 voices, and their tones don't change. it sounds like the same 2 people every time.

i've honored the possibility of schizophrenia from the start of it all, dismissing it from the beginning as some sort of dementia. but an associate told me he could hear and see ghosts and all that jibba jabba when he was a kid, which I guess has peaked my curiosity.
i'm not looking for a psychiatric health evaluation from a doctor lol. just opinions, or advice as to whether there's anything to the whole "ghost" idea.

i hope i don't seem like a crazy clown for this because i still maintain my grasp on reality having no trouble getting by in the real world.

[nbdy]

Re: hearing/seeing people that arent there...

There are many possibilities other than ghosts or schizophrenia, though I suppose those are just words applied to experiences. Pay attention to your ability to function in society and integrate these experiences into a successful living strategy. If you feel like you are "losing it," or others tell you that you are acting odd or "off," then you probably should seek professional help. On the other hand, there are many people who see, hear, smell, feel, etc., things that most would say are not "there." I have my own ideas about why this is so, but there are many ideas and explanations, including ghosts and schizophrenia. For what it is worth., and sorry for all the bunny ears, but words can be vexing.

[BigHat]

Re: hearing/seeing people that arent there...

i do well enough in interacting with others in society despite the little problem and for a living strategy i just try to use the voices as motivation to work out and stuff.
i'm never going to allow some stupid voices to cause me to pose a threat to others around me so as far as acting "odd" goes i havent had any issues lol
i'm not quite sure what you mean by "bunny ears" and thank you for your input.

[Aeran]

Re: hearing/seeing people that arent there...

have you seen a doctor and/or mental health professional? That should be your first step.

[BigHat]

Re: hearing/seeing people that arent there...

nah... i don't trust psychiatrists.

[nbdy]

Re: hearing/seeing people that arent there...

hehe -- bunny ears are quotation marks implying more to a word than might typically be expected. It's pretty colloquial, so sorry about that.

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Then don't see a psychiatrist -- I certainly wouldn't. Psychiatric evaluation is too arbitrary, having no biological testing to refute or affirm it, and is a life sentence. I laughed out loud at the criticism of the Rosenhan experiment where it was asserted (I forget by whom) that if a person drank blood and then showed up in an emergency room spitting up blood it would be expected that a bleeding ulcer would be diagnosed. Maybe so, but subsequent biological tests would show the truth of the matter -- not so with a psychiatric diagnosis. I would avoid any diagnoses that is a matter of your self-reported behaviors and his/her opinion (with prescription pad at the ready). However, there are biological tests that might be useful and would be done by your GP.

[Tylluan Penry]

Re: hearing/seeing people that arent there...

The thing that suggests to me that this isn't a psychic episode is that you can banish your voices with drink. Believe me, this isn't a good idea - even if it seems to work. (And I say this as someone whose family were far too fond of drink and whose magic suffered greatly as a result.) The reason it shouldn't be used is that it is addictive (and yes, so are prescription drugs, I know) and that has it's own problems.

I also agree with what nbdy has said about psychiatrists and with the recommendation that you should see your doctor for biological tests.

Yes, people do see and hear ghosts. I have myself. Yes, they hear voices and it isn't necessarily schizophrenia - but you shouldn't (yet) dismiss it out of hand, either. You are at the start of a long and difficult path to getting to the bottom of this.

Do you ever feel the tall man is following you? Does anyone with you ever see or sense him? Can you ask him to physically move something in the room with you?

[BigHat]

Re: hearing/seeing people that arent there...

drinking doesnt banish the voices. others don't sense the presence, though i sometimes feel i'm being followed, particularly when i'm jogging at night. i don't ask them of anything because i've found it's healthier not to talk to them. as far as going to a general practitioner...meh....i doubt it(at least for a while anyway).
also...i havent dismissed the possibility of schizophrenia; I prefer to assume that it is schizophrenia. I only brought it up on here because someone i knew was really pressing the idea of "spooky ghost!" at me despite my argument to him that it's just neurosis or schizophrenia.
The only way of finding out for sure would be to visit a hospital i suppose so I'll make an appointment for that sometime on my own time(maybe).
with all that said, maybe it's time for this thread to die...i'll still answer if someone feels like replying to this but in hind sight i feel stupid for creating this thread since this is something for me to figure out on my own, in an introspective sense.

i hope this doesnt seem dismissive of me, or rude; because i do appreciate the input and the time you 3 have taken to respond.

[SPhoenix]

Re: hearing/seeing people that arent there...

Could you possibly see a naturopath? Here's a case of a woman who did homeopathic treatment for schizo, and it was of tremendous assistance to her: http://www.healthy.net/Health/Articl...izophrenia/648

Also, naturopath could be more likely to help you without putting it on your permanent record.

I can't recommend that you attempt homeopathy on yourself, as dosages can be different from one person to another. What I am mostly pointing out is that there are alternative ways to get treatment to test whether this is schizophrenia.


I suggest that it's not the spirits of the deceased, because if you talked back to them, their responses would cause you to prefer to talk with them, not to say 'it was a bad idea'. Their messages are loving, and any being whose messages are not loving, is not a person who has passed. Such a being is an imposter of some sort.

That being said, if you know any christians who are praying for your soul, please PM me... but still see if you can find any naturopaths in your area, or even one you can chat with online. As I said, they are less likely to report you and give you a permanent record, and you may find relief through homeopathy versus allopathy. Since you are not experiencing increasing paranoia, I don't think you're in any immediate danger, nor is anyone around you.

If you begin to feel like you MUST get rid of this voice or this presence, then please, please, please go to hospital. That's an indication of paranoid schizophrenia, which can cause you to make mistakes you'd have to live with for the rest of your life... or cause you to kill yourself (as happened to my fiance who developed paranoid schizophrenia and then shot himself).

If you start feeling compelled to do things, or start wanting to harm or injure the voices/ apparitions, please seek help at that point immediately. Don't wait, because then it will be too late--you'll rapidly become too paranoid to trust the doctors who would be just trying to help you. Once that route begins, it's an extremely fast deterioration if you do have schizophrenia (god forbid, paranoid schizophrenia).

Also, you should know that schizophrenia has a lot of other symptoms, as well. Including speech pattern interrupts, strange behavior, and other things. Here's a mayo clinic listing that is pretty comprehensive and may assist you in whether or not you feel greater or lesser urgency in getting assistance: http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/sch...CTION=symptoms



If it is schizophrenia, please get help for it. I am one of those people who would rather gouge my own eye out than go to the hospital almost, lol. Yet I will still say to you that sometimes, in some cases, medication is necessary and cannot or should not be avoided. My daughter has diabetes. Without insulin, she would die. Without medication, my fiance with paranoid schizophrenia shot himself because his father wouldn't listen to me and have him hospitalized... he didn't want his son to have a record of being Baker Acted.... now he has no son at all.

Some things really require medication. Please do SOMETHING, whether it's homeopathy or allopathy, if you have schizophrenia. Once the strange thinking begins, even with regular schizo, you may not have the presence of mind to seek it anymore.



Seeing ghosts is absolutely real. But they should be responsive to you in positive ways, and they should be visible in your mind, as if superimposed over the closet--you should not see them with your eyes, at the closet. Or at least, only extremely rarely so. Ghosts haven't the power to manifest physically more often than once in a while, and usually that's only in people's peripheral vision.

[BigHat]

Re: hearing/seeing people that arent there...

i read the link/story of the naturopath example from the link. it seemed to flip flop on that woman a lot. as it stands i am sane enough to know what's real and what's not. i'm just insulted and judged on a daily basis which gets annoying haha. but the naturopath system seems a bit experimental doesnt it...i'd rather maintain where i'm at, as opposed to potentially making it degenerate into something worse. also i don't think i'll be committing suicide any time soon. you mentioned a concern about that. I'm very sorry to hear about your fiance.

[SPhoenix]

Re: hearing/seeing people that arent there...

I understand. I just want you to take the issue seriously if it does happen to be schizophrenia. The issue that I have is that if it's schizophrenia, it almost certainly will degenerate; it's the nature of the illness without treatment.

That being said, just keep your eyes open for the other symptoms as noted on the Mayo site. If they begin, then you want to get help right away, because soon you may become either unwilling to, or not aware enough to. At that time is when fears of suicide (or spacing out while driving, resulting in the same thing) become real concerns. I'm not saying you're suicidal now, I'm pointing out a direction that schizo is known to sometimes go; and telling you that, though we don't know each other, I do care about that not happening to you. <3


PS: Naturopathy predates Allopathy. Just sayin'.

[BigHat]

Re: hearing/seeing people that arent there...

i'll consider the naturopathy over the next few days. thank you. your advice, and concern, is nice.

[SPhoenix]

Re: hearing/seeing people that arent there...

Well, please know that I'm not pushing it. I was just responding to your question of whether it's experimental.

And, if it's really schizo setting in, I just fear for your continued health. But that doesn't mean I'm pushing. I am autistic, so sometimes I don't know when to quit answering questions and/or conversing on a subject (when it crosses the line on the receiving end from being a conversation to being pushy). Please forgive me if I crossed that line, and rest assured that I didn't intend to, I was simply still conversing on the matter.

Also be aware that there are other spiritual phenomenon that can create constructs that may plague you. If you're not having other things going on, it might be worthwhile to consider researching spiritual protection.

[BigHat]

Re: hearing/seeing people that arent there...

you're not pressing the subject lol it's fine. thank you.
as for other constructs......well i did make a number of enemies shortly before this all started, along with messing around with demonology very briefly so who knows. i'll try to find a .pdf or something on spiritual protection and give it a shot. if it does nothing, then i'll probably head to a free health clinic or try out the naturopathy suggestion.
thank you, again.