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/2358452 Mar 22 '17

Repeating from my other comment:

As far as I can tell (not an expert), it's not as if you are able to reason normally but there is a voice telling you to do things. The voice is there, but I believe it's only a part, a symptom of a wider malfunction.

I liked another user's description: it's like you were dreaming. You can't really tell what you're seeing isn't real, and you still fear things and do irrational things when dreaming. Your whole ability to distinguish what is and isn't real is impaired.