Am i hearing things? HELP!!!

[eurotrashcub]

Hello again!

I have been stressing about going schizophrenic for about 5 weeks now. It all started with googling abouit hearing voices etc...

I have been really obsessed about this and getting really anxious and depressed about teh whole thing.

I went to my doctor and I have a referral to see a psychiatrist but he said I am just obsessive and that he does not think I am going psychotic (I am 30 soon and I have panic disorder, gad,health phobias and ocd traits) I have taken citalopram 40mg for 6 years and about 6 years ago something similar happened and I also started to obsess about the possibility of hearing voices/going mad.

I find myself double checking things i hear, this morning I woke up and I heard somebody coughing. I thought it was my flatmate downstairs but he was not there. My partner was still in bed and said that he doesnt think he coughed but he was half asleep so he doesnt know. Also the window was open so it could have been someone in the street. Who knows? But it just totally freaked out and now I am convinced it was a hallucination.

I think I have heard my name being called before (at work when there are lots of people around), when I have been really tired (early hours of the morning) and when drifting into sleep.

Am I losing it or just obsessing?

Anyone can relate? Please help!

Does anyone hear properly hallucinate? What is it like?

[marius]

Hi,
To put it straightforward: you are just obsessing.
I hear voices from time to time. I also hear music, noises...
Hearing voices is something that many people have. But:
You are aware that everything is in your mind; you don`t think the voices you hear are real, you don`t think they`ve been somehow "implanted" in your brain so, you are not mad, and you are NOT on the verge to lose your mind. :)
marius

[finny12000]

anxiety and a lack of sleep are to blame euro
ive been there years ago and see next time you think you hear something
ignore it ,totally distract yourself with something else and for instance you hear a cough again, think someones coughed and thats it, dont worry who did...why they did...and if it was real or not, as if you heard it you heard it
your definately not schizophrenic and if you were you probably would not know so even by posting here about what you think you heard shows its anxiety and tiredness.
Next time you hear something you think to yourself so what and distract your thoughts with something else and in time you will notice there gone

[CJH86]

Hi......i frequently hear and even see things very vividly at night especially, or if im really tired and the likes, im not schizophrenic and am aware its not real.

I've had the name thing before too, thought somebodies said my name in the street or whatever.....when they most likely haven't as i have an unusual first name, maybe its just simple language misinterpretation am not really sure. I suffer from similar disorders to you (panic disorder, HA with a little bit of OCD thrown in for good measure!!)...i think it is in the nature, especially with the obsessive thoughts (with me anyway) to fixate on anything that doesnt seem quite right....especially things that most people wouldnt even blink an eyelid at.

If you think of it in this way...people who have taken hallucinogenic drugs see and hear things that are very real and can believe they are so at the time...people who are awake for several days can start to hallucinate....the brain can play some very interesting tricks!

[NoPoet]

It all started with googling abouit hearing voices etc...
You solved your own problem. Mental illness doesn't start with a google search. It starts with inherent flaws in the way your brain works. If you had schizophrenia, you certainly wouldn't be wondering if what you are seeing or hearing is real. You would be hiding under the covers scared to death, because you would automatically accept it as real -- it wouldn't occur to you that it was an illusion.

A tired mind can play weird tricks particularly when you're lulling between sleep and consciousness. In extreme cases people have reported... well I'm not going into it cos I don't want to give anyones' imaginations a chance to run riot, but if you've seen the ending of Close Encounters of the Third Kind, you have an idea of how elaborate mind-tricks can be.

[lenore]

I had this problem too, but I got some good advice on here and now believe that it was anxiety as I learned that it's not unusual for people suffering form anxiety to hear things. As everyone has said, tiredness plays a big part. I noticed that these things mostly happened when I was getting ready for/getting out of bed. So now I have a good excuse to sleep longer ;) You're not alone in hearing things, it can be distressing and disconcerting but, for me, learning that it is a symptom of stress, anxiety and tiredness went a long way to almost totally stopping it:)

[Erinath]

It doesn't sound like schizophrenia Euro, my brother is schizophrenic & he describes the voices as being akin to people broadcasting their thoughts into his mind. When he's bad he's convinced he's telepathic, apparently it 'sounds' completely different to normal external voices/sounds.

[eurotrashcub]

Hello again and thank you for your messages

On the day I started this thread, I ended up reallu upset and anxious so I went to A and E in Kings College in London.

I saw a very nice Psychiatric Nurse and she told me that she is 100% sure that my symptoms do not indicate schizophrenia. She did not want to talk about schizophrenia or psychosis because she believes it does not help my problem which she thinks is obsessional symptoms and health anxiety.

She did tell me, however, that hearing your name being called now and then, as longa s you do not believe it means somebody is out to get you or have any bizarre delusions is a normal part of human experience.

She also thinks that I just check continuously and scrutinise all teh sounds around me trying to find something wrong...

I am saying a psychiatrist in 8 days and she said that they might change my meds and give me some CBT

I must admit I have been feeling a bit better because my GP said next to nothing.

She said that it is natural that any reassurance she gives me will go away and that I will end up worrying again unless I get treated though.

Since then, I have obviously rumiated thinking maybe i duid not explain my symptoms properly, maybe they have changed, maybe she was not good enough and missed something crucial and I have still pondered that I am going nuts, but not so much as before.

This sucks. Health anxiety and obsessions suck. Anxiety sucks.

Thank God I am handsome at least! (That was a joke, not a delusion!)

Have a nice relax day everybody and as my friends always say to me: CHILL THE HELL OUT!

[goingmadder]

Hey Euro,

I'm glad you went and sought some help and that you've got your appointment coming up soon.

I'm going to make an appointment for next week myslef. Gotta wait til payday though.

My cousin suffered helath anxiety in a major major way for 17 years, until one day last october she decided enough was enough... she made an appoinment with the pychotherapist im going to see next week and after a couple months actually found the courage to go and get certain tests done something she had been dreading and had been controling her life ... they all came back negative... she knows the anxiety could crop up again in the future but she knows she can face it now and how to deal with it if it ever does come back

You're right Anxiety does indeed SUCK!
But on the upside atleast we still have a sense of humor! Keep your chin up!

X

[mabelina]

I was sitting on my settee yesterday and heard a female church choir singing for about 10 seconds. It totally freaked me out and i then began worrying it was angels and that im going to die! lol. I found a site on the net called musical ear syndrome and it says that people who are hard of hearing often hear things from voices to music etc. Im not hard of hearing but have got bad tinnitus. Maybe you could take a look at it:)