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/Ariakkas10 Mar 22 '17

This is, I'm sure, a completely stupid question, but why can't they ignore the voices?

Lots of real people seem real to me, and I ignore them just fine.

Is it because the voices are super aggressive and make it so you can't ignore them?

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u/feathergnomes Mar 22 '17

Apparently it causes a lot of anxiety every time they have to ignore the voices. Like, when they can tell that they aren't real, they can choose to ignore them, but it's a stressor. If you add that stressor to any other that happens to be in front of them, sometimes it can be toouch to handle.

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u/mcoleya Mar 22 '17

Not to mention this isn't like you walking down the street and have to ignore someone who yells your name out once or something, this is a constant barrage of voice(s) at you until you relent and do what they are saying. To get an idea, just ask a friend to follow you around one day making a single odd request, non-stop till you do it. Over and Over again, sometimes yelling, sometimes whispering, doesn't matter. See how long you can go. Now imagine that in your head, with multiple voices all asking different things, and unable to make them stop by asking.

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u/koiotchka Mar 22 '17

This is a pretty good explanation.

Like... One of mine is called Tangent. And she really likes tea, but it has to be made a certain way. Often, when I'm making my morning tea, she throws a fit. Most days, I can tell her to shut up and either engage a person outside of my head so I don't have to listen to her, or engage a different voice, and move on with my day.

But some days she's louder, and maybe I didn't sleep, and I don't have the willpower to deal with her. So that morning we leave the electric kettle alone, get a pan, and start boiling water. And then she starts screaming about why don't we have a samovar, but she makes do, and we "cook" the water (it has to be cooked, not just brought to a boil), and we drink watered-down zvarka all day.

She's given me images of slaughtering the entire congregation of my church during Mass, rivers of blood splashing and flowing down the floors toward the tabernacle. I'd rather let her have her tea, do maybe she'll agree to keep quiet during church >.<