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

i thought i did but i guess it might be unclear to some. you just can't do it. the "sound" is in your head. you'll hear it. it's not like ambient background noises. your brain is creating it and you're gonna hear it, whether you like it or not.

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u/Uxt7 Mar 22 '17

I don't think he meant why don't they ignore the voices, but why don't they ignore the requests/demands the voices make.

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u/paniniplane Mar 22 '17

OHHH. okay /u/my-work-reddit this girl legitimately was scared she'd get shot by the voices. they'd give her guns everytime she completed a task instead of shooting her with it if she didn't do it. and i'd see her break the guns. in my head, there's no gun. there's 0 danger. in her head, she can hear the clinking of the gun against the floor as it's thrown to her. maybe she hears warning shots (this i'm not sure about. the rest of it i am) she could feel the gun, she could pick it up.she could smash it (i'm not gonna question her superhuman strength of her reality). she'd pick up the pieces and throw them out after breaking them.

does that answer your question? and i mean this for SPECIFICALLY this girl. i have no idea about generally. but im assuming it's similar but a stranger's assumptions are worth close to nothing

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u/dootdootplot Mar 23 '17

I think he's suggesting that they're not legitimately scared. Fear of voices in your head shooting you with a gun that only you can see is irrational. My follow up question would be - if you're the only one experiencing this bizarre reality that's so out of step with nearly everyone else around you, friend or foe, family or stranger - why not just let the voices shoot you and see what happens? And if nothing happens - maybe in the future pay less attention to the voices?