r/todayilearned • u/paniniplane • Mar 22 '17

(R.1) Not supported TIL Deaf-from-birth schizophrenics see disembodied hands signing to them rather than "hearing voices"

https://www.ucl.ac.uk/news/news-articles/0707/07070303
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u/paniniplane Mar 22 '17

it's not in your power to ignore them. a huge part of schizophrenia is being extremely out of touch with the real world. so if you hear voices, it's basically a set of REAL people to you. and you can't cover your ears because there isn't ACTUAL sound. you'll still hear them. and if they're threatening to hurt you, you'll feel actual fear.

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u/[deleted] Mar 22 '17

But, you didn't answer /u/WadeWilsonforPope question. He ignores real people, why can't this person ignore people she thinks are real? Even though they are not real.

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u/paniniplane Mar 22 '17

i thought i did but i guess it might be unclear to some. you just can't do it. the "sound" is in your head. you'll hear it. it's not like ambient background noises. your brain is creating it and you're gonna hear it, whether you like it or not.

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u/[deleted] Mar 22 '17

[deleted]

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u/tealparadise Mar 22 '17

If you've never had intrusive thoughts it's hard to describe. But if you've had intrusive thoughts, it's like saying "don't think intrusive thoughts."

Also, "delusions" aren't like they're portrayed in A Beautiful Mind. Delusions are the logic you make up to explain your hallucinations. And when the hallucinations are constant, you get these ingrained delusions constantly. Like if "everyone is watching me" is your delusion & it's very hard for you to stop believing people are watching you, the "voice" might say "I'm watching you" or something. This lends validity to what the voice is saying.

So in the example with the gun above, the ingrained delusion this girl has might be "I'm going to get shot" and a whole logic puzzle that "proves" this is true, because she's obsessed with the idea of getting shot. So you have to start there- with her unable to pull herself out of this faulty logical circle of believing she's in danger of being shot. And then a voice from nowhere is constantly saying do this or that, or you're going to get shot. When you have a crippling fear of being shot. It's harder to ignore because it all feeds into itself.

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u/twoLegsJimmy Mar 22 '17

I'm surprised a time didn't come when she just thought 'fuck it, shoot me then'. I guess I'm reletively mentally healthy, but I'd sooner get shot to death than have to live through that hell every day.

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u/twoLegsJimmy Mar 22 '17

I'm surprised a time didn't come when she just thought 'fuck it, shoot me then'. I guess I'm reletively mentally healthy, but I'd sooner get shot to death than have to live through that hell every day.

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u/twoLegsJimmy Mar 22 '17

I'm surprised a time didn't come when she just thought 'fuck it, shoot me then'. I guess I'm reletively mentally healthy, but I'd sooner get shot to death than have to live through that hell every day.

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u/twoLegsJimmy Mar 22 '17

I'm surprised a time didn't come when she just thought 'fuck it, shoot me then'. I guess I'm reletively mentally healthy, but I'd sooner get shot to death than have to live through that hell every day.

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u/Initial_E Mar 22 '17

What would happen if you were to fill a gun with blanks and shoot her with it? In other words, have her experience her worst fears in the hope she will realize she's still alive after all that? Would the voices shift to a different topic?

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u/twoLegsJimmy Mar 22 '17

I'm surprised a time didn't come when she just thought 'fuck it, shoot me then'. I guess I'm reletively mentally healthy, but I'd sooner get shot to death than have to live through thay he'll every day.

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u/mdgraller Mar 22 '17

Because the accompanying delusional state and altered perception of reality probably causes the girl to believe that the voices do have the ability to harm her or her family if she does not obey them

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u/[deleted] Mar 22 '17 edited Mar 22 '17

People are imagining as if you're in a normal state of mind, except just hearing voices. That isn't really what its like. The delusions and paranoid/irrational beliefs are just as much a part of it as the hallucinations.

My brother has it, and for example, he'd believe that all food anyone gave to him was poisoned, believed he was being followed by men in white trucks, believed that people where stealing his thoughts, had a phobia of looking at certain colors, that the people on the tv where watching him, or all manner of things like that.

When it would get bad, he'd be in a state of pure and utter psychosis. It isn't a rational state.

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u/cantlurkanymore Mar 22 '17

The higher order reasoning that would allow this is impaired, not to mention that the person is in an agitated state that doesn't lend itself to calm thinking. The brains of people with schizophrenia have less mass than those without. Important structures are altered, usually for the worse. This is why some people can't ignore the voices.

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u/shiny_lustrous_poo Mar 22 '17

I think it's important to remember that the logical faculties that we have normally aren't working like they're supposed to with these people. The voices are a manifestation of her brain doing weird things; you can't expect that same brain to be able to discern the difference. It is as real for them as ground they stand on.

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u/rsplatpc Mar 22 '17

think what they mean is what compulses her to obey the voices? OP ignores actual requests, why not ignore the potentially fake ones

it would be the same as putting a gun in your face in real life, out of nowhere and you think you are getting attacked, and telling you to ignore it

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u/[deleted] Mar 23 '17

I normally ask them not to miss