Voices in My Head
First shown on Channel 4 in June 2006
Throughout recorded history people have claimed that they heard voices in their head. Are the voices a sign of madness or did the prophets of ancient times really hear God speak – and is there a scientific explanation? This Channel 4 documentary explores the issues.
In the modern world, the experience of 'hearing voices' is usually diagnosed as madness – a meaningless manifestation of a disordered mind. Historically, though, it was understood as spiritual or inspirational.
No one sought to suppress the voices that inspired William Blake's artistic genius or the words that Moses believed came from God, giving the world the Ten Commandments. But today, that is precisely what much psychiatry attempts to do.
In recent years, some people have started to think differently about these experiences. Dutch psychologists Marius Romme and Sandra Escher believe that if people accept that their voices are real and meaningful rather than trying to suppress them, they can find ways of coping and living with them. Indeed, according to their research, between 2% and 4% of the population hears voices, but only around one-third of them become mental patients. This means that a significant number of people are living with their voices and functioning normally.
So if the voices are not a sign of madness, what are they? Some scientists believe that they may be the product of how the mind builds mental models to simulate people, places and things. For example, empathy – the ability to put ourselves in someone else's place, to imagine and predict how they will feel and behave in particular circumstances – depends on us having a model of that person in our mind. For most people, these models operate silently, deep in our minds, but for some people at some times, they may speak. This is more likely to happen under conditions of stress.
The most significant claim that voice hearers make is that they do not control their voices. Many writers, for example, talk about how their characters behave in ways that surprise them. In Voices in My Head, novelist Hilary Mantel describes creating a character 'from such a deep place … so what you have then is a working model – perfect in all its parts – and you can take it out of the situation you first put it in and put it into any situation.'
Some scientists draw a parallel with forecasting the weather by creating a virtual weather system. The system is designed to have autonomy, so running the model produces results that the meteorologist wouldn't and couldn't have predicted on their own.
According to this analysis, the prophets and saints, who spent their lives contemplating God, would have had a model of God in their minds that in turn would have spoken to them. In the same way, mathematician Françoise Chatelin heard a voice which 'revealed' a new way of understanding numbers. Pianist John Lill hears a voice which illuminates his playing.
Many people, it is true, hear the voices of demons and madness rather than benign spirits and muses, but many of them have found that trying to live with their voices is easier than trying to silence them.
Find out more
Websites
Channel 4 Television is not responsible for the content of third-party sites.
Hearing Voices Network
www.hearing-voices.org
Offers information, support and understanding to people who hear voices and those who support them. HVN aims to raise awareness of voice hearing, visions, tactile sensations and other sensory experiences, to give people who have these experiences an opportunity to talk freely about this together, and to help them understand, learn and grow from them in their own way.
79 Lever Street
Manchester M1 1FL
info@hearing-voices.org
Confidential helpline: 0845 122 8642, 10am - 4pm Mon to Fri
Mental Health Foundation
www.mentalhealth.org.uk
Exists to help people survive, recover from and prevent mental health problems. The organisation undertakes research, develops services, designs training, influences policy and raises public awareness. Very useful factsheets on Hearing Voices, Psychosis and Schizophrenia are available via the Publications section of the website along with books, booklets and other resources.
9th Floor, Sea Containers House
20 Upper Ground
London SE1 9QB
Tel: 020 7803 1100
E-mail: mhf@mhf.org.uk
Mind
www.mind.org.uk
Works to advance the views, needs and ambitions of people with mental health problems by challenging discrimination and promoting inclusion and equal rights; influencing policy through campaigning and education; and inspiring the development of quality services. The website includes excellent factsheets, such as Understanding psychotic experiences and an online bookshop where you can buy Hearing voices – working out a positive approach by Sharon File (Mind, 2005) £4.95
15-19 Broadway
London E15 4BQ
E-mail: contact@mind.org.uk
Mind Infoline: 0845 766 0163, 9.15am - 5.15pm Mon to Fri
Samaritans
www.samaritans.org
Samaritans is available 24 hours a day to provide confidential emotional support for people who are experiencing feelings of distress or despair, including those which may lead to suicide. If you are in crisis and need someone to talk to, you can contact Samaritans in the following ways.
Tel: 08457 90 90 90 (UK) or 1850 60 90 90 (Republic of Ireland)
Text: 07725 90 90 90 (UK) or 0872 609 90 90 (Republic of Ireland)
Email: jo@samaritans.org
Write to: Chris, PO Box 90 90, Stirling FK8 2SA.
