I do hear voices, have done for just over 10 years now. When in the house I can sometimes make out the next door neighbours saying things about me. I can be on the bus and think I can hear other passengers saying things although it's not as severe as those voices I hear in the house. No matter where I go, I can hear voices but depending on the environment they very from very mild to very severe. They feel real but I have learned to rationalize it with logic and carefully thinking the contents, of what is being said, through. Some things worry me as they are accurate in terms of my present lifestyle, situation and what I've said to others that live in the neighbourhood - they can cause a lot of stress over the course of an evening ( for some reason they are worse on an evening ). Other things that are said are simply not true or they repeat too much. I know that if I hear the same thing several times in an evening or a few days then I know for sure that it's all imaginary because they would have to be very obsessed to speak the same stuff over and over again.
Have I always heard them ?
When I first became unwell, I did. but they were mild and went away after several weeks. I had no problems for about a year until a very stressful period in my life triggered them off so they seem to be related to high levels of stress.
I have a friend who also hears voices and her treatment works to the point that they aren't much of a problem any more, although they are still there a little in the background.
Are you stuck ?
It's hard to say. Some people have them for years ( like me ), others seem to get them intermittently and some people recover from them. I am currently on Seroquel which is a medication from the same company that makes Olanzapine ( which I have also been on ) and is a medication that is also noted for treating voices. Maybe you could discuss switching to Seroquel with your doctor at some stage if things don't improve ? I find that it's a better medication in terms of side effects.
. Luckily though I haven't seen anything like that for several years although I do see the white shapes sometimes. I never heard any voices along with them so my experience has been the opposite of yours.
