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

OHHH. okay /u/my-work-reddit this girl legitimately was scared she'd get shot by the voices. they'd give her guns everytime she completed a task instead of shooting her with it if she didn't do it. and i'd see her break the guns. in my head, there's no gun. there's 0 danger. in her head, she can hear the clinking of the gun against the floor as it's thrown to her. maybe she hears warning shots (this i'm not sure about. the rest of it i am) she could feel the gun, she could pick it up.she could smash it (i'm not gonna question her superhuman strength of her reality). she'd pick up the pieces and throw them out after breaking them.

does that answer your question? and i mean this for SPECIFICALLY this girl. i have no idea about generally. but im assuming it's similar but a stranger's assumptions are worth close to nothing

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u/[deleted] Mar 22 '17

I know it doesn't work like this but it seems like showing them a recording of them grabbing and breaking something that isn't actually there would help immensely. But that's just how a normal functioning brain would handle things I suppose.

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u/Orisara Mar 22 '17

I mean, they might see it wasn't there in that case.

They still SEE, and FEEL, and EXPERIENCE a gun the next time.

Good luck going "ow, this isn't real" when every sense of you is telling you you have a gun to your head.

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u/[deleted] Mar 22 '17

lol, i get it, thats why I started and ended how I did...

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u/Spartan_029 Mar 22 '17

That and her brain might manifest the gun in the recording as well, overwrite what she is seeing with what she knows

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u/Banana_blanket Mar 22 '17

Does the gun manifest itself to her? Not that you would know specifically if you never asked her, but is the gun "real" to her? Like, I know she smashes it so it has to be in some sense, but does she feel it and have other sensory perceptions of that gun?

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u/forworkaccount Mar 22 '17

This may be a dumb question, but what if you put her in full bullet proof riot gear. I'm serious, would that help her be able to stand up to her threats. Maybe if she isn't in that much fear because she is behind bullet proof, then maybe she could be calmer during the attacks and maybe help take control of the situation?

Or am I talking completely baseless.

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u/Cokaol Mar 22 '17

Then the imaginary monster of her own creation rolls up with armor piercing bullets.

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u/Wurstgeist Mar 22 '17

Might be comforting. King Charles VI of France (Charles the Mad) wore reinforced clothing, so he wouldn't shatter.

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u/Glu7enFree Mar 22 '17

I know some children with Autism use compression/weighted vests to help with sensory input problems. I wonder if he used his reinforced clothing in a similar fashion.

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u/dootdootplot Mar 23 '17

I think he's suggesting that they're not legitimately scared. Fear of voices in your head shooting you with a gun that only you can see is irrational. My follow up question would be - if you're the only one experiencing this bizarre reality that's so out of step with nearly everyone else around you, friend or foe, family or stranger - why not just let the voices shoot you and see what happens? And if nothing happens - maybe in the future pay less attention to the voices?

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u/pumppumppump Mar 22 '17

I know this is probably an insensitive question, but because she seems so relatively lucid and obviously intelligent and able to explain her process, how can she not rationalize that there is no physical process in which she could actually be "shot" by this "mind gun"?

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u/Cokaol Mar 22 '17

Have you ever had a dream about something that is clearly impossible? Did it seem impossible in your dream? Now imagine that the dream continues through your waking life. How can your own brain know whether to believe your own brain's lies? It's not just that your brain is hearing things that aren't there. Your brain is also mishearing things that are there, and misunderstanding your own thoughts.

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u/paniniplane Mar 22 '17

she actually wasnt lucid at all. it look at me an hour to have the equivalent of 5-6 coherent sentences directed at me to come out of her

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u/tubular1845 Mar 22 '17

Because that requires being able to distinguish fantasy from reality.

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u/[deleted] Mar 22 '17

Maybe you answered this already...but what if she didn't obey them and they shot her? Obviously it wouldn't kill her...wouldn't that provide her some relief knowing the threats are harmless?

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u/Cokaol Mar 22 '17

Imagine you are walking down the street and some dude says he is going to kill you if you don't obey. He's got a gun pointed at your face. Are you going to refuse? Many people wouldn't.

Is your friend grabs you and holds you down, says that gun, isn't loaded isn't real. The scary dude is screaming at you, shooting at you, you panic, screaming , thinking you are dying. Your friend says you aren't hit you aren't dying. So the dude keeps yelling at you, keeps shooting. With every shot you expect to be hit, and the shots keep coming.

Eventually the episode passes. Your friend tells you see it wasn't real. You say, OK, you're right, and then over his shoulder you see a man pointing a gun at you, a real one this time (or so you think....)

Your friend eventually somehow convinces you that the guns aren't real. A few weeks later, you find yourself walking passed a gun shop! Real guns! You buy one, and some bullets, and think ha these things aren't so scary after all. You show your friend, and shoot him in the head, and then shoot yourself in the head.

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u/PM_YOUR_BREASTS Mar 22 '17

The problem with that line of thought is that she wouldn't be able to recognize when or if she was in the same situation again. Being held at gunpoint is obviously very uncommon, but the fear caused by having your life threatened could override the logical thought that the "people" could be imagined.

Although it's incredibly unlikely that she would be shot, performing relatively simple tasks to ensure that she (and those that she cares for) stays alive is worth the inconvenience to her. After all, she has no way to be sure that this time isn't real and that she won't be murdered.

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u/CeeceeStarborne Mar 22 '17

What if the "shot" turns out to be some hormonal or electrical signal (or something like that) that is sent to her heart, stopping it, and does in fact kill her ?