Hearing voices
As many as 1 in 10 'normal' people hear voices. This may surprise you! It often happens when people are under stress. For example, it happens a lot to people who have lost a loved one. Over half of us who lose a loved one will hear their voice after they have died. This can be very comforting. It can also be a bit scary if you don't know it's normal.
What does this mean though? Well, it means that hearing voices isn't always a sign of mental illness. Hearing voices is not that unusual. Some people even enjoy hearing voices. Hearing voices means lots of different things to lots of different people. There is not a single 'true' reason for hearing voices. What is much more important is what it means to you. You should make up your own mind.
If you are hearing very upsetting voices then there are people who can help you. You can get help from your GP. He might refer you to a community mental health team. These teams have people who can help you deal with all sorts of problems. These include social workers, occupational therapists and nurses.
There are also people in these teams who can give you talking treatments. There are also doctors who can give you medication.
It really is best to talk to your GP first. But if you will not speak to him or her, then there are still other people who can help. These might include people who have had these problems in the past themselves.
There are things you can do just now to cope.
