Hearing Voices support in North Carolina?

[ssueb1]

Hello,

I have a mother that has been hearing voices for more than 9 years. When she finally confided in me about the issue she was convinced someone was trying to drive her crazy. After many long talks and proof that the voices could only be heard by her and not by me or anyone else she has finally gotten to the point where she understands that they are voices in her head. We of course looked for a doctor to assist us with this and after a evaluation they ended up putting her on antidepressants and other medication that made her into a zombie.

My mother is 72 years old but bubbly and full of life and the medication has made her so down and unhappy that she asked me if she could stop taking it. I suggested that we lower the dose of the medication over a 1 year period and she is now off of all medication. She says that she can live better without the medication and I agree. The only problem that I see is that she will listen to these voices if they tell her to do something confused only if they say it is a life or death situation then she will do what they say. As an example this morning she was directed to bring two spoons out to a car across the street because they told her that someone was dying and needed these spoons to save them. There of course was no car out there and she would not listen to me when I told here this was just voices in her head and there was nothing going on. She ran across the street and then realized that I was right.

My purpose for this post is to get her into a support group where they do not believe in full medication for this and they try and help her cope with the voices during these emergency demands. She lives in willmington, North Carolina. Is there a support group there?

[Mischief]

Welcome Ssueb1

My purpose for this post is to get her into a support group where they do not believe in full medication for this and they try and help her cope with the voices during these emergency demands. She lives in willmington, North Carolina. Is there a support group there?

A good place to start would be the website of Intervoice http://www.intervoiceonline.org/

The following two websites may be useful. I'm not sure of the approach they take but they may be worth investigating if you haven't already.

The The Mental Health Association in North Carolina http://www.mha-nc.org/ may be able to help with specific local information. They have an information line which you can call or email: http://www.mha-nc.org/information.htm

For Wilmington itself the following website might be useful: http://www.capefearhealthyminds.org/

Hope the information helps!

[Rorschach]

Hi Ssueb1, how daunting it must be for your mom. I've heard voices to varying degrees for years. First time I recall clearly having a third person auditory hallucination was when I was around 8, so at 38 they have become an integral part of my existence. Does your mother hear them as external voices? I only ask as mine have always appeared as worded thought as opposed to actual external (i.e. air on the eardrum) voices. If they appear as actual voices it must be very disorientating...

Oh and by the way....

[ssueb1]

Welcome Ssueb1



A good place to start would be the website of Intervoice http://www.intervoiceonline.org/

The following two websites may be useful. I'm not sure of the approach they take but they may be worth investigating if you haven't already.

The The Mental Health Association in North Carolina http://www.mha-nc.org/ may be able to help with specific local information. They have an information line which you can call or email: http://www.mha-nc.org/information.htm

For Wilmington itself the following website might be useful: http://www.capefearhealthyminds.org/

Hope the information helps!

nk

Thank you very much for your response. I must say I do not know how to use this forum very good so pardon me if I responded incorrectly with the quotes

I will be investigating the options you provided and I hope that they will help me find help for my mother. Thank you very much!!

[ssueb1]

Hi Ssueb1, how daunting it must be for your mom. I've heard voices to varying degrees for years. First time I recall clearly having a third person auditory hallucination was when I was around 8, so at 38 they have become an integral part of my existence. Does your mother hear them as external voices? I only ask as mine have always appeared as worded thought as opposed to actual external (i.e. air on the eardrum) voices. If they appear as actual voices it must be very disorientating...

Oh and by the way....

Roschach,

thanks for tellng me about your experince with this. My mother hears these as external conversations. She says that they are very mean and they say very bad things. My mother does not have internet connectivity but I am working on that so she can join these forums and speak to others that have this type of situation. Thanks so much for your reply and kind thoughts and the welcome wagon

[Rorschach]

Roschach,

thanks for tellng me about your experince with this. My mother hears these as external conversations. She says that they are very mean and they say very bad things. My mother does not have internet connectivity but I am working on that so she can join these forums and speak to others that have this type of situation. Thanks so much for your reply and kind thoughts and the welcome wagon

That must be very hard for her. When I have heard negative voices I have actively combatted them i.e. argued with them until they shut up. That said I'm always up for an argument . I have just had an idea, we can't have your mom arguing out loud, that would not help at all. I wonder if she can get the voices to answer her in her head? Can she try and see if she can get them to respond to her? If so, even if they become more angry and mean, she will be able to engage them on her own territory, her own mind. She may seem lady like and demure in the shared world, but if she can get them inside her own head, or at least hearing her, she can give them as good as she gets?

[ssueb1]

That must be very hard for her. When I have heard negative voices I have actively combatted them i.e. argued with them until they shut up. That said I'm always up for an argument . I have just had an idea, we can't have your mom arguing out loud, that would not help at all. I wonder if she can get the voices to answer her in her head? Can she try and see if she can get them to respond to her? If so, even if they become more angry and mean, she will be able to engage them on her own territory, her own mind. She may seem lady like and demure in the shared world, but if she can get them inside her own head, or at least hearing her, she can give them as good as she gets?

This is a wonderful idea. I will talk with her tomorrow and see if she would like to try this. She is one very sweet lady but as most mothers are ... she can argue with the best of them. Great Idea.

[Rorschach]

This is a wonderful idea. I will talk with her tomorrow and see if she would like to try this. She is one very sweet lady but as most mothers are ... she can argue with the best of them. Great Idea.

Well no reason why they should do all the cussing. Let us know how she's keeping, and hopefully we might see her here soon

[v01ce5]

Hi

I´m writing on behalf of INTERVOICE. As far as we are aware there are no support groups in your area, but there is a newly formed "Hearing Voices Network USA" and you can visit their website at http://www.hvn-usa.org/. It´s taken awhile for the work on hearing voices to become more accepted in the States.

They say: The Hearing Voices Network is an international network of enlightened peer run consciousness raising groups. We are peer support groups and more. We are communities of friends. HVN-USA wants to help facilitate the creation of 1000’s of communities of friends across the USA.
A Voices Group is a place to define yourself, for yourself. People do this through self education and self exploration. A Voices Group provides a compassionate, respectful, non judging environment for this deeply personal work. To meet regularly with allies who share your experience and are working on many of the same goals, is immeasurably encouraging.

They maybe able to help you contact other interested people in your area.

Secondly, another suggestion for your mother about talking back to her voices without attracting unwelcome attention - use a cell phone, by now we are all used to people talking to themselves in animated ways in the street and as long as they have a cell phone we think nothing of it.

On the INTERVOICE site there is a useful downloadable poster called Strategies for Coping with Distressing Voices produced by HVN Australia which your mother may also find useful, perhaps you could read and discuss it together?


Best wishes

[ssueb1]

Hello again,

I have another question for anyone on this forum. As you can see from the information in my thread "Hearing Voices in North Carolina?", my mother has the hearing voices condition. Over the past few months she has also been overly concerned about medical issues...such as she gets obsessed with a concern with head lice, hook worm, fleas and now today she is convinced she has HIV. Each of these concerns have been checked out and of course she has had none of these issues.

I asked her today how she got the idea that she now has HIV and she said she saw a report on the TV about the spread of it and it seems to have consumed her thoughts. I asked her if the voices are harping on this and she says no. As I stated before we took my mother off her medication and it seems like now we have new issues to deal with. Has anyone seen or experineced this and what is the best method to deal with this. Help