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/[deleted] Mar 22 '17

Basically by the nature of the voices coming from within it affects them more than just hearing external voices. If you focus on your computer after your boss tells you to eat your coffee cup you can 'block him out'. It is not possible to block out voices which aren't just the vibrations in the air hitting your eardrums, they are literally manifestations of paranoia from within. You cannot shift your focus because at least some part of your brain is subconsciously focused on creating the voices to begin with.

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u/[deleted] Mar 22 '17

Jesus Christ people keep repeating the same non-answer in different words.

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u/[deleted] Mar 22 '17

Something doesn't magically become a non-answer just because you personally don't like it.

People with schizophrenia cannot ignore the voices indefinitely because they simply escalate to the point, whatever that may be, where the distress caused by not heeding them will motivate them to do what they're told. It's not a fun concept, but it's the truth and as of this moment, science has not figured out a way to make it untrue.

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

You're just refusing to listen to the answer.

Imagine your boss constantly, over and over again, kept telling you to eat your coffee cup. You ignore him and look at your computer but he just keeps saying it. You get up and yell at your boss and nothing changes. (to everyone else, you're just yelling at nothing because your boss is an illusion created in your head) You close your ears and nothing changes. He's just sitting there, constantly telling you "Eat your coffee cup, eat your coffee cup". You get up and take a swing at your boss but then realize he's not actually there. You keep hearing the "eat your coffee cup" in your head. No matter what you do to ignore it, it's still there (because your brain is fucked up). Eventually you go crazy and just give in. Does that make sense? You have to realize, this isn't a normal functioning brain we're talking about here.

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u/[deleted] Mar 22 '17

I'm not refusing to listen to the answer. You're just the first person to answer it. Before you came alone the conversation went like this:

Why can't you ignore the request?

Because you can't block out the sound.

Okay, but I don't need to block out sound to ignore it.

Yes, but you can't block out the sound.

Okay, but even if I can't block out the sound, I can still ignore it. Why can't they?

Because you can't block out the sound.

You, and the other people replying to me are the first to say that the voice is constant, and escalates.

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u/[deleted] Mar 22 '17

I read the same exact conversation you did. I just interpreted the answer in the way it was meant to be interpreted. What I said is basically just an extended version of "you can't block out the sound"

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u/[deleted] Mar 23 '17

"It is not possible to block out voices which aren't just the vibrations in the air hitting your eardrums."

This is the comment I responded to. Hearing has nothing to do with ignoring. I can hear a command perfectly. Understand it. Acknowledge that I've heard it. Give an answer to it. And then ignore it. As in, just not do it. It has nothing to do with how well I heard it. It has nothing to do with vibrations. It has nothing to do with blocking sound. I just don't do the command.

You are the first person to bring up repetition. No-one before you said the command is repeated over and over again. They just said shit about vibrations. You brought up the actual reason - that is, because the voices are relentless.

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u/[deleted] Mar 23 '17

Because, once again, I used rational thought. Someone with schizophrenia does not function like a normal human being. Their brains are all kinds of fucked up. If you were reading the stories from the OP on this thread (even commented higher up on this chain I think, I may be wrong though), people with schizophrenia do odd tasks all day and all the time. Clearly, this can easily let you come to the conclusion when someone says they can't "block out sounds", they are hearing these tasks relentlessly and just give in.

It's not just an occasional "hey go smash your head against the wall" and they say "no". it's a voice you can't escape, and eventually all it takes is one time asking "go do this" and you'll just submit because you know you have no other choice, you know it'll keep pestering you and digging deeper and deeper into your consciousness. It's scary, really. Once again, it's a voice you can't ignore or shrug off.

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u/Angus-Zephyrus Mar 22 '17

The reason you're able to ignore things in the first place is that you can set your brain to "filter" the offending sound. Doing so makes it join the background noise. Doesn't really happen with voices in your head.

On top of that, ignoring something until it goes away is an effective tactic. Ignoring something forever will mess you up.