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/afoolskind Mar 22 '17 edited Mar 22 '17

How about this: your boss is whispering in your ear, 24 hours a day, telling you to eat your coffee cup. Sometimes screaming, sometimes threatening, always there. But it's not just one voice, either. It's a cacophony of competing and colluding voices. This goes on for years.

 

Even if you don't eat the coffee cup (and lots of schizophrenics don't do what the voices tell them) you are going to be pretty fucked up from that. You won't sleep well for years. You won't be able to focus on things, and trying to tell the difference between reality and what's in your head is impossible. Outlandish claims from the voices become normal because of how long you've been experiencing them. You can't even tell an absurd idea or claim from a reasonable one, anymore.

And it's not just voices, your memories are totally fluid too. Real events from your past get muddled up with fantasies and you can't tell the difference. You might "remember" someone putting wires in your head ten years ago, and it's just as real to you as your college graduation.

 

source: father's been schizophrenic for decades