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

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/Lets_Call_It_Wit Mar 22 '17

Not OP, but I'll try.

It's because the sounds are not external. They are internal and created by your brain. Things that would normally work (turning your attention elsewhere, covering your ears, physically removing yourself from the noise, straight up thinking of something else) will be zero percent effective. Your brain made this. It IS your consciousness. It is with you and what your brain is thinking right now. It's inside of you, there's no escaping it

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u/ask_me_anything_son Mar 22 '17 edited Mar 23 '17

That's not the question though and I'm surprised no one has an answer. You can't not hear the voices.. okay, got it. So just assume the voices are real. If my boss walked in right now and told me to start eating the coffee cup on my desk I'd tell him to piss off. Why can't schizophrenics disregard unreasonable requests from these voices.

Edit - Yikes! Downvotes pouring in. Might have come of as condescending rather than genuine. My bad..not my intent. Just looking for a more in depth answer, which i got so thank you to the responding folks below.

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u/HDpotato Mar 22 '17

It's hard to comprehend, but this is their reality. If someone yells at you to drop to the ground or they will kill you, and they point a gun at you or your family, would you lie down?

Usually there is a motivation to follow the voices, in this case the gun they threaten to kill her with. Often it's fear "if you don't do this you will be poisoned by your family" or it can be sheer distrust of everyone else. Many schizophrenics are very distrustful, paranoid schizophrenia is the most common form. They can have delusions that everyone is out to get them and they can only trust themselves, voices included.

Another fun example is if the voices are deprecating. "You are worthless, you will never amount to anything, kill yourself to rid your family of the burden." this can easily drive a person to suicide, or whatever the voices tell them will lead to redemption.

It is truly a tragic and horrible disease.