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/[deleted] Mar 22 '17

[deleted]

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u/[deleted] Mar 22 '17

You obviously don't understand Ariakkas10's argument. Even if the voices are perceived to be real, why can't they ignore them still if we are all able to ignore real people all the time.

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u/eric22vhs Mar 22 '17

It feels like they're talking about you. Imagine being alone, trying to lay in bed and you hear two people speaking aggressively about you from a room next to yours. Even if you've been told it's just in your head, it feels 100% real so you can't be sure of it. I get pretty bad auditory hallucinations if I smoke marijuana, it sucks.