Letter from my shrink, obsessions and hearing my own name...

[eurotrashcub]

Hello everybody, God I cannot wait to finish work at 5!

So some of you might have been reading my posts, I was referred to a psychiatrist because I kept on obsessing I would hear voices and I would obsess about noises (if they were real or not blah blah) basically I was convinced I would go schizophrenic.

Anyway, I went to see the psychiatrist but he was off sick that day, so I saw two medical students who took my history and they said they were 100% sure I was not schizophrenic and they basically said to majke another appointment to see the psychiatrist with a follow up if i wanted.

I received a letter from the mental health centre telling me that after discussing the case with the students, the psychiatrist believes that a further appointment is no needed and that I should arrtange couNselling or CBT through my GP.

Now on a way I am pleased because oblviously this means I am not going psychotic as the drs believes it is all anxiety related. HOWEVER, I so wanted to see a psychiatrist to discuss the matter with her. She said if I really feel I need to see her, I can call and make an appointment.

The fact is that although I acknowledge this is anxiety related, I would like to discuss the fact that I think I heard my name called once when I was tired. And also just have a general review about meds etc.

On the other hand, maybe I should just accept that I am feeling better, that hearing someone's name being called as long as you dont think you are Jesus or something crazy like that is just normal if you are tired or sometimes even if you are not and that I should just put it behind me and move on.

I am still petrified I am going schizo, though I have been worried about it for 2 months and I am still not locked up, so I guess for anyone 'normal' thats hould be more than proof enough.

What do you think? Anyone with similar experiences? Have yuou ever heard anything while very tired or falling asleep? Have you ever heard your name being called? I am not even sure I did anymore but I spoke to a psychiatric nurse and she seems to think it is unimportant.

Anyway, I am rumbling...

Ricard

[worriedGrace]

Just last week I was awakened from a deep sleep at about 3 in the morning by someone calling my name very loudly. In fact it was so loud that I sat bolt upright in bed and woke my husband up in the process. The voice was a woman's and what I would describe as cultured thus ruling out anyone I know alive or dead.

[agent orange]

The mind is very powerful and if you think you hear voices, it does not mean you are a schizoprenic, trust me it is not a funny thing to have. I have a good friend who is one. Sometimes because we are anxious our minds do and tell us all kinds of irrational things. I went to a psychiatrist who diagnosed me with Undifferentiated Somatoform Disorder and Hypochondriasis the first diagnosis is somewhat a long term and the prognosis not always welcoming, because there is no cure, only counselling through C.B.T.
Hope you get sorted and feel better soon...

[eurotrashcub]

Hey thanks for your comments

I dont think i have actually ever heard voices, apart from hearing my name being called once when I was really tired and once when I was really stressed. I hear things sometimes while I am falling asleep but that is normal apparently most people do.

I think at some point in our lives we all have heard our name being called in the office or at work and turned around and nobody had called us, and people ignore it and never remember it again.

The problem with me is that I cant stop thinking.. what if this means I am going mad...?

I am happy that after a psych assessment, the doctor thinks that I am not psychotic at all, but at the same time, I am still obsessing about it and thinking... what if he/she missed something? what if i did not explain myself right? I guess the need for constant reassuring is what I want but it is not what i need.

Health obsessions and obsessions in general are the most annoying symtom I have. I can spend hours online reading about schizophrenia, liver disease or god know what...

It's a pain!

About the hearing screaming at night, that was a dream or a hallucination that happened while half asleep and it is perfectly harmless and apparently it happens to up to 40% of people. So i would not worry about it Grace.

And ghosts do not exist! Well i dont believe in them...

[PUGLETMUM]

:) after i had my daughter i used to hear random conversations in my mind - i was freaked! and i also began to obsess about schizophrenia (not the first time tho - i had also worried about it when i was younger and going through a terrible patch of anxiety/depression) - then more recently i have experienced seeing random faces when i am going to sleep or even just resting on the sofa with my eyes closed - i have discussed this with various ppl and none of it adds up to mental illness - it is just the way the mind works and to worry about it makes it worse - now i am no longer worried about worrying symptoms or experiences i dont get them - its paradoxical:wacko:

[LisaLisa]

Hi

Just to say that when my anxiety first ever started I felt like you do. I was sure that the symptoms were so bad that I must have a serious mental illness. But I dont. Schitzophrenia and bipolar disorder were my fears and I asked to see a psychiatrist to make sure. She told me that I was depressed and suffering from anxiety but I didnt beleive her at the time. I thought that she has missed something. But she hadnt as far as serious mental disorders.

Obviously I suffer from HA and beleive that there is a physical cause for my anxiety - not helpfull here lol!
But I had such strange symptoms like feeling that there was an argument in my head and weird stuff like that. The point is that whatever is causing the weird stuff was not and isnt shcitzophrenia even tho I was convinced it was

Lisa
xxx

[Wee-Mee]

When I am severley upset I think I hear things and was referred to a psychiartrist at the hospital as an outpatient for a year or two but I wasn't schizophrenic.

I would think I heard people moaning in the house,like at night I would always think I heard a woman moan and I was so convinced I would go downstairs with a pair ofscissors and snoop about!!

I have thought that people have screamed at me when I have been lying down but when I have drifting to sleep.

I once was in college and tought I seen my friend in the lift opposite on his own and he was in my class but he wasn't in that day and I text him and said "why are you in college but not in class?"
And he text saying"Amy,I'm not in,I'm sick!"
So I was seeing things aswell!

I really think it's all stress and tiredness related. But at the time the hospital kept a watch on me with appointemnts and things cos I was putting it all down to thinking that my house was haunted.

I'm alright now but still hear thngs now and again when I am really upset. But I think it's just mind tricks.

xxxxx

[NoPoet]

Hi Eurotrashclub, you sound completely and totally normal to me. No mental illness :)

When I was at my worst back in 2003 I thought I could "feel" what people were thinking and feeling about me. I used to feel like I had five different radios playing in my head. There was noise chatter and music. It was really bad. I was convinced that I was bipolar and psychotic.

It really stemmed from low confidence, poor self esteem and moderate depression. I was not and am not mentally ill.

I have not had those feelings for years. There came a point when I realised I was ruining my own life. I tried to ignore the "feelings" I got from other people, I began to socialise, I started to enjoy hobbies and I threw myself into work. I got a girlfriend and realised that women were not out to get me. My paranoia about certain aspects of life, like I might be attacked on a night out, vanished over time. Nothing that I feared ever happened.

As I became more a part of the world my symptoms started to recede. Worrying about what other people are thinking seems unimportant. On the occasions where I do think about it, like when I'm on a night out, I just don't let it get to me. I'm so used to not giving a damn what others think. All that matters is what I think. I'm not judgemental of others so I don't expect (or care about) judgement from them.

During times when it's noisy in my head, I just have to accept that I have a very active mind which needs to be kept occupied. I do have difficulty concentrating sometimes. I'm just a dreamer. There is no harm in it. It is impossible to believe that such things are caused by mental illness; it's just the way I am.

I imagine you are the same type of person as me. Relax, you are who you are, you are not mentally ill and you never will be. You will learn over time that what is happening is not scary or wrong and you will be able to live with it in complete normality.