Posted by Mitchell on November 12, 2001, at 17:29:30
In reply to hearing voices is not schizophreniac?, posted by ttt on November 11, 2001, at 11:44:38
In that last post I discussed primarily external stimulus and suggested that clinical relationships can effect a person's report that they are "hearing voices." It is also important to consider the matter of internal dialogue. Some of our internal dialogue seems to involve sub-vocalizations. In some cases, an individual's reports of voices can relate to internal dialogue. As we think about a situation, we tend to recruit the service of the same neural networks used in language, speech and hearing.
Experts occupy widely divergent positions regarding this matter, but it is safe to say that in some cases, an individual might refuse to claim parts of an internal dialogue. A person might say "voices" told them to act maliciously, when in reality, the voice was the person's own sub-vocalized dialogue. We expect people to listen to their own conscience, but we seldom call people schizophrenic when they say the voice of their own conscience guided their actions. In popular symbolism, these internal voices are occasionally depicted as the devil or an angel sitting on a shoulder or hovering about a person's head. Whether a symptom of hearing voices is a matter of misinterpreting external signals, confabulation based on internal signals, or a refusal, failure or inability to claim internal dialogue could potentially inform choices of appopriate medication, or selection of other therapuetic approaches.
poster:Mitchell
thread:83893
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20011104/msgs/83992.html