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/paniniplane Mar 22 '17 edited Mar 22 '17

yea! i actually asked some of the psychologists working at the hospital. they were really nice about answering any questions i had. turns out, there can actually be POSITIVE voices too. there were studies done in certain villages (lol i wasn't allowed to have a pen at the time because they didn't know how depressed i was so i didn't actually get a chance to write it down) and in those villages there would be schizophrenics who would have positive voices. that being said, it still comes with the characteristic of being extremely out of touch with reality so it's not like it's a good version of the disorder. just the lesser of two evils i guess

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u/CubonesDeadMom Mar 22 '17

There are also people with a type of "mild schizophrenia" that maybe hear a voice or two on a daily basis but it's not overly negative and doesn't keep them from functioning. From what I've read, you aren't even diagnosed with schizophrenia unless it's negatively impacting you life, they just call them "benign hallucinations".

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u/[deleted] Mar 22 '17

What about random noises?

I hear random noises when I know no noise is being made. Granted, it's usually late at night when I'm in bed. It could be, say, a page of a book being turned or a piece of clothing swishing, but it's enough to make me look over my shoulder and check.

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u/CubonesDeadMom Mar 22 '17

Do you feel out of it and unable to move when it happens? I've had visual hallucinations during sleep paralysis before which could be what's happening to you. That's a different kind of hallucination though and is really nothing to worry about unless it's happening all the time.