Basic Information About Voices & Visions

This page contains some basic information about voices, visions and other unusual sensory perceptions. If you feel you know little about the experience of hearing voices or seeing visions, it’s a good place to start. However if you already know the basics and would like some more detailed information, check out the other pages in this section.

What Are Voices & Visions?

When we talk about voices and visions, we simply mean someone is hearing, seeing or sensing something that others around them aren’t. These experiences can include all five senses, hearing, sight, smell, taste and touch. These experiences can occur in one sense at a time (hearing a voice, for example, or smelling something), but they can also happen in combination.

For some, these experiences can be comforting. For example, someone who is lonely may really value a voice that becomes a trusted confidant. A person who has recently lost someone they care about may benefit from talking to them at the end of the day, or smelling their perfume/aftershave. Others find these experiences to be a source of inspiration. Authors, for example, sometimes talk about how the characters can come to life and write the story for them. However, for some people these voices and visions can be extremely distressing – criticising, threatening or causing confusion.

How Common Is It?

Statistics vary, but it’s generally accepted that between 3 and 10% of the population hear voices that other people don’t. If you include one off experiences (like hearing someone call your name when you’re out shopping, or feeling your phone vibrate in your pocket) this figure goes up to 75%. So, having at least one experience of hearing or seeing something that others around you don’t is incredibly common. Those that have never had this experience are in the minority.

A number of famous and important people (past and present) have experience of hearing or seeing things that other people don’t. Without these people, the world would be a very different place. This list of famous people who have talked or written about hearing voices includes: Gandhi, Socrates, Joan of Arc, Freud, Anthony Hopkins, Philip K Dick, John Frusciante, Carlos Santana, Robert Schumann, John Forbes Nash, Zoe Wannamaker and Charles Dickens.

What’s It Like?

We’re all unique, so it’s unsurprising that voices and visions can be equally individual in terms of their identity, content, interpretation and impact. The following gives a brief overview. If you don’t recognise your experience here, that doesn’t mean you’re ‘weird’ or ‘unusual’.

Voices

Some people hear voices talking when no-one is around. These could be like the voices of people they know, or complete strangers. They might hear many voices, or just one. Voices can shout, whisper, be clear or muffled. They can speak in sentences or say single words. These voices can be male, female, genderless, old or young. Sometimes they have names, but not always. Voices can speak constantly (24/7), but they can also utter occasional words or phrases. People can hear other types of sounds too, including knocking, rustling, crying, screaming or music.

Some voices can be positive – providing the support and encouragement someone needs to get through the day. Other voices can be confusing, perhaps echoing thoughts or repeating strange phrases. Some voices can be very frightening, saying things that are critical, threatening or commanding. Voices can claim to have great power and knowledge, which can sometimes leave the voice-hearer feeling scared and powerless. Some voices can leave a person feeling very vulnerable and exposed (e.g. hearing a crowd of people jeering at you, or discussing intimate details of your life).

Visions

Some people see things that others don’t. These visions can be very clear and realistic, but they can also include fuzzy shapes, shadows and beams of light. Some people see the voices that they hear, others see insects or spiders. For some, the visions are very complex (like entering into another world). For others, the visions sit alongside their everyday world (an added box, person or animal for example). Sometimes, it can seem as if people or objects are changing shape. Their faces may turn to stone, they may be surrounded by a coloured aura or, for example, their eyes may change colour. As with voices, these visions can be reassuring, funny, frightening or distracting.

Smells

Some people smell things that remind them of their past. This could be something nice, like a loved one’s perfume/aftershave or a favourite food.

Sometimes people smell things that remind them of a particularly traumatic experience. For example, someone who survived a house fire may smell smoke when they feel anxious. Someone who was hurt by someone wearing a particular scent may, sometimes, smell this when there is no-one there to account for it. This can be extremely frightening, especially if they don’t recognise that this sensory experience comes from the past.

For others, the smell isn’t linked to a particular memory or traumatic event. For example, some people smell gas, burning or rotting food. These smells can feel very real and leave them fearing for their safety.

Taste

It can be difficult for someone to know that they’re tasting something that others can’t – unless they get someone else to try it too. This can make taste experiences particularly difficult to deal with. Some people get a strong bitter taste in their food or drink and, understandably, start to worry that there is something wrong with it. This can lead people to worry that they are being poisoned, or that someone is tampering with their food. Others have taste sensations when they are not eating. This might be when they are hearing a voice, watching a TV programme or thinking about something. These taste sensations can be pleasant (e.g. chocolate or a favourite food), but they can also be unnerving or unpleasant (e.g. something bitter or metallic).

Feeling (touch)

Some people can feel things on their skin when there doesn’t seem to be anything there. They might feel something crawling over their skin, tickling them or pushing them. Sometimes people feel something underneath their skin, and this can lead them to feel really worried about what is happening to their body.

Understandably these experiences can be very confusing and frightening. It’s not as simple as this, though. For others, these experiences can be reassuring. Someone who feels lonely and hears a reassuring voice may feel comforted if they feel a hand on their shoulder. They might interpret it as a sign that the voice is trying to support them.

Why Do People Hear Voices

There are lots of different theories and ideas to explain why people hear voices or see visions. These include:

  • A special gift or sensitivity
  • Trauma or adverse life experiences
  • Dissociation
  • Spiritual experiences
  • Biochemical (e.g. excess dopamine)
  • Paranormal experiences
  • Emotional distress
  • Physical health problems
  • Cognitive error (misattribution of ‘internal speech’)
  • Individual difference

The truth is that we do not know why people hear voices or see visions. As the experience is so diverse, it’s likely that there are a number of different explanations. Whilst this can be frustrating for those who feel confused and would like a simple answer or some certainty, it means that the most important explanation is the one that the voice-hearer themselves finds useful. It is important not to impose your own belief on someone else’s experience – this is fundamental to the Hearing Voices Network approach. Rather than providing a dogmatic view of voice-hearing, we recognise and celebrate a festival of explanations.

Whatever someone believes about their experiences, the most important thing is to find ways of dealing with that belief and finding some sense of power, control and hope within it.

Does Everyone who Hears Voices Get a Diagnosis of Schizophrenia or Psychosis?

Whilst many people associate voice-hearing with diagnoses of schizophrenia and psychosis, research suggests that the majority of people who hear voices have no mental health issue at all. Those who become overwhelmed, distressed or struggle to cope

Those who become overwhelmed, distressed or struggle to cope in some aspect of their life may receive a range of diagnoses including: anxiety, depression, post-traumatic stress disorder, borderline personality disorder (also known as ’emotionally unstable personality disorder’), obsessive-compulsive disorder, bipolar disorder, psychosis, dissociative identity disorder, eating disorder, schizophrenia and schizoaffective disorder.

When someone receives a diagnosis, this diagnosis is not necessarily for life. Many people who are part of our network have met the criteria for a diagnosis at some point in their lives – but no longer do.

Diagnoses like these are a hotly contested area – with some finding that they are useful and others finding them a barrier to healing. For more information on a critical perspective on diagnoses, see:  Position Statement on DSM 5 & Psychiatric Diagnosis. You might also find Lucy Johnstone’s book ‘A Straight Talking Introduction to Psychiatric Diagnosis‘ an interesting introduction to the debate.

If you’re struggling with voices or visions, please speak to someone. See our page on getting help for more information.

Is Recovery Possible?

At the Hearing Voices Network, we use the word recovery to mean ‘living the life you choose, not the life others choose for you’ (whether those others are family, friends, workers or voices). Many people who hear voices simply don’t need to recover – they are already living lives that they love. The voices might enhance their wellbeing, or their experiences may simply not detract from it.

For those who have particularly overwhelming experiences that lead them into the mental health services, recovery can feel like a distant dream. The good news is that people can, and do, find ways to deal with (and recover from) distressing voices. Perhaps more importantly, people can also recover from the situations that can make voices and visions so hard to deal with. Many people who recover continue to hear voices. Sometimes these voices change during the recovery process (being an ally, rather than an attacker). Other times these voices become quieter, less intrusive or even disappear altogether. Others find that the voices stay the same, but that they are no longer ruled by them. They feel stronger and more able to choose whether to listen to the voices or not.

We have witnessed many amazing journeys of recovery in the Hearing Voices Network. These journeys are, by their very nature, very individual. However, these journeys have led us to believe that no matter how overwhelmed or distressed the person is by their experiences (or whatever labels they have collected throughout their time in the mental health system) – recovery IS possible.

389 responses to “Basic Information About Voices & Visions”

  1. Helen

    Thank god for your website. I’ve been hearing muffled conversations when theres no one even in the house, feeling that some things crawling on me when there’s nothing, and I see dark shapes once in awhile. I thought I was insane or something, but this helped. My mom said I did strange, disturbing things when I was asleep, like just sit up in my bed all night. Does that have anything to do with it?

  2. tom foley

    i am 29 male and have recently heard voices mostly they are aggressive towards me an my world,they have ruined my life in ways but i am getting it back together piece by piece. firstly id like to say how many people and services have helped me a lot and family have been here so i am lucky. secondly i am mixed opinion on what causes them and wether they are spirits or paranormal, im sure science isnt advanced enough to get it yet and i know its not just an illness i am certain its a gift eg we can hear or hack into another wave length or similar, i have 1 voice who has been 3 times and told me 3 things and instantly they happened and it wasnt my imagination as i would of never thought these incidents up,so i am sure in some cases voices are something we cant explain, anyone feel free to drop me an email for a chat anytime as it is interesting to hear others beliefs and opinions etc take care everyone and keep an open mind as we could be enlightened ones and not all sick like most believe.peace and love to you all

    1. agnes

      yea i no where you are coming from i was told when i was 4/5 years old i had second sight but now in my 50,s i have been told i have border line persanalty disorder wich im being treated for and i still hear and see people its not as scary for me .

    2. nat

      I also had a very aggressive voice advising me to not date a person he I believe it was a he told me what my consequences would be if I did and I tell u not that it was a right everything that was said happened but at the time I thought I’m just worrying because I’m a very very paranoid person and so decided to go with my heart

  3. Fuzyhamster

    I’ve had a creature of sorts follow me around and talk to me since I was maybe 12? I have seen things since I was about 4 or 5 years old but quickly learned that this was not a normal behavior and kept quiet about it.

    The creature (reptilian of sorts, though can change form) isn’t really threatening, but maybe because I’ve known him for so long. I can go weeks without hearing or seeing him, and sometimes it’s constant. I rarely see him full-on in reality. It’s hard to explain, but it’s like if your thoughts are half-way brought into reality. You can see it, but you can’t. You can hear it, but you can’t. There have been times where I have seen him fully, felt him touch me, heard him clearly, but those times are rare.

    He can be really harsh but not in an unbearable way. He shows me life though a very aggressive and negative way… that has a very clear, positive, and valid point. ie asking me why I don’t just punch someone in the face and expecting me to give a good reason why I SHOULDN’T. (I get chewed out for being snarky) He never encourages me to be a terrible person, he wants me to grow. He just has a really odd way to go about it. Sometimes he can be an utter shit and makes fun of me, but it isn’t threatening. He makes sure I face problems head on, not avoid them. He can be super annoying, but not necessarily a negative thing in my life.

  4. Charley

    Glad i’m not the only one thought I was going insane, everyday i’ll hear someone call my name directly behind me when i’m out but when I look back literally no one is there, also I hear random voices or noises when i’m at home alone, can be freaky at times, or ill see things move or something just at the side of me but when I look its gone. Its the same with smells, the other day when I was home alone I went to stand up and there was a strong smell of some perfume similar to coconut and then it was gone and no one in my house has perfume. i’m 18 now and this has been happening for the past 2 years, id say it scares me but it doesn’t cause I’m into the whole paranormal stuff, just thought I share my experiences.

  5. Sherri

    All my life I have experienced odd things, the fondest memory i have is from the age 6 an apparition of a man was standing by my bed, I could hear him clearly calling out the phrase Niecie mesie, and saying I didnt do this. I was scared that I blocked him out. At the age of 24 I saw a picture of this man in my sisters photo album. I was told this was my uncle who killed him self when I was just 18 months old and that he had a nick name for me which was niecie mesie.
    When I was 28 my father past away and I was having it rough, I heard his voice tell me ” watch him closely. over and over again I was hearing it for about a good hour. I tried to ignore it but I couldnt. That night my boyfriend of three years left me.
    I hear random things, colors, numbers, dates, names, I have even seen things that have not happened but this is not as common.
    One example of this is back in 1996 I was with a bunch of friends walking down the road I stopped and stared at this brick wall. my friends were all there saying my name but i was in a trance so they say, but I saw a red sports car speeding down the road and slammed into this wall. Just an hour later walking back home there it was this red car mangled by the wall.
    Just last week I was working with this guy I like alot, as we stood near each other I was hearing march, march ,march 16th I couldnt ignore this it was so loud in my head that without hesitation I turned and looked at this guy and said ” is your birthday im March?” he replied yeah it is. I wanted to just keep my mouth shut but no my words just kept coming. I then wanted to ask if it was the 16th but instead I said is it in the teens, he said yes thats when I said is ti the 16th, I think I might have spooked him and a few other coworkers. Some have called me a stalker others just call me weird.
    Please if anyone can help me please please comment back.
    This guy is like my happiness when he is around he puts a smile on my face. my heart races, the butterflies swim in my stomach like the fish in the sea. How does one explain how these things happen

  6. ethan

    i keep seeing stuff in my uncles house such as figures of a man running down the hall i also keep hearing voices and footsteps if anyone funny thing is my grandpa died there years ago if anyone else is experiencing things please make me feel better by telling me so

  7. james

    i sometimes hear different voices as in if i was watching a tv show i would hear the result of the show in my head i never really cared too much but today was more extrordinary i was watching spain play tahiti and it was 4-0 to spain i had a bet on as i do and then suddenly in a very faded out foreign voice (im irish) i heard the voice saying ten nil spain as the game went on and spain kept scoring goals i start thinking please dont be ten nil please dont be ten nil cause the game is in live play so that meaning the 10 nil result hasnt happened yet freaks me out, they won 10 nil in the end . have you ever heard of anything like this before

  8. Rachel Van Den Bergen

    I often hear voices from past books I have read. At first I didn’t know what these voices were about. Some of the voices are from books I read as a child. I also hear music and singing.

  9. James Shayler

    I hear 3 voices a girl , mother and father . Mother name is nancy
    Father is name Robert . I don’t here them any more, but the girl
    Talked to me every day and night. I also here there voice strong of
    Noise of moving cars.

  10. Ryan

    My voices are of mostly family, my father, mother, and sister. I hear my mom crying, my dad rages and says NASTY things of how much of a disappointment I am , likewise with my sister. It makes it hard to be around them because no matter how much they tell me that they love me I can’t help but always think that what the voice versions in my head of them says is right.

    When my psychosis is really bad I hear the voice of someone who hates everything about me. I’ve been an alcoholic for about 10 years and unfortunately got addicted to amphetamines just over a month ago. i KNOW they both spell disaster for a severe psychosis but it bothers me most that the voices I hear are my family and they are ruthless and make it hard to be around them, thinking that maybe the voice is what they really think of me or what I think THEY think of me. , but in reality they are soft spoken kind hearted people that have only been supportive in my recovery. they are amazing people.

    Does anyone have any other ideas of why I have these specific types of voices? I was clean for 7 days (in hospital) . the voices stopped around the 5th day. but as soon as I got home and went for a walk BOOM it came back instantly.
    I am staying away from all the bad stuff in hopes that this psychosis will go away because I can’t take much more of these hateful voices , I walk with my head down and feel very awkward when socializing and think that everyone knows all the bad things I’ve done in my life and criticize me for it.
    I feel like such a piece of crap since they started. Is there any techniques I can do that will make them go away or if not at least make them be a little more positive??
    I’m going to get into a rehabilitation center to stay clean asap and talk to my doctor about getting medication today.
    Thanks to anyone who can help me!!
    -Ryan

    1. lorna

      Hi ryan, I just read your comments and because your experience is so like my own I wanted to reply to you, I cant give you any answers as to why this happens to you but maybe I can give you some hope. I got addicted to speed 2 and half years ago, for about the first 9 months I started hearing voices, I couldnt work out what was going on, it was about a year into my addiction/phycosis that the voices became clear as 2 sometimes 3 women, one was my sister, I beleived they could read my thought’s and that I could talk to them with my mind, to start with they were so horrible, and would insult me criticise me, keep me awake at night basically I felt like I was being bullied 24/7, I have named my voices aand actually believed real people were some how doing this to me, so I avoided these people in real life. Over the year of living with my voices I have kinda got usec to them they are no longer horrible but have supported me through hard times they are almost like friends although I would rather not have them sometimes othertimes I listen to what they have to say and quite often find they offer good advice.
      I am off the speed now and its been 4 months clean, I still have my phycosis/voices but im in control and strong enough to deal with them. I am starting new meds today so hopefully they might be gone totally before long.
      I hope you are in a good place today, and hope you know your not alone. X

  11. Adam

    I was wondering, I often have a feeling of a spider crawling across the back of my neck. But I know that there isn’t one. I sometimes even swat my neck and there is nothing there. Is there any explaination to that?

  12. Tony J

    I have had numerous experiences all my life. I once visited my mother in law in Canada and heard a choir singing all night. Next morning at breakfast I asked what the church across the street was called and was told there was no church in that area. I then mentioned the choir I heard through the night and she told me her house was a choir masters house abt 100 years ago.

  13. Tony J

    I was once travelling and heard a real voice tell me 3 times to come off the vehicle. After the third time hearing the voice I responded in my heart saying if you want me to come down then make the vehicle stop. The driver pulled into the next gas station. I came down and 15 minutes later the vehicle had an accident and all petished.

  14. Tony J

    I was once travelling to another country to search for a long lost uncle. The night before the trip I was sitting in my living room when suddenly I was seeing a vision of the country to I was going to. In the vision I saw that I met him. It was like watching fuzzy tv. I traveled the next day and the random hotel I ended up staying in was directly opposite his house.

  15. lauryn

    ive been hearing voices for about a year two to be exact and one is bad and one is to mental to understand very well sometimes they take me over and im a whole different person its weird my parents know now and they haven’t done anything to help so im trying on my own this site really helps thnx

  16. alicia

    I am glad I saw this website. I have been hearing voices sometimes with dreams. With me, the things turn to happen with friends and family members. Even sometimes I hear when people talk about me and when I see them the next day I find out they had said or aboutsay the same thing I have heard them say

  17. alicia

    I have been looking for answers to this for years now. I just hope I am not crazy

  18. Nettie

    I am bipolar. Since a small child I have often had odd experiences I cannot explain. The most troubling symptoms for me are smell hallucinations. Sometimes these can be pleasant, as in smelling roses or lilac, but more likely is a really disgusting smell almost like rotting flesh. When this happens I am really disturbed by it. I have had medical checks and nothing is amiss.

    Another disturbing problem is the sensation that something is crawling all over my skin (like spiders). Also the occasional feeling that there is an evil presence in my house.

    Actually I never tell anyone about these because I find they do not listen. My psychiatrist simply dismissed the smelling bad things.

    Thank you

  19. Luis

    I have started hearing tapping, drumming, or knocking. I’m not sure what it is but it just started a few weeks ago and now it’s gotten pretty loud… It’s been bothering me so much. My body is so used to the beat that it starts doing too with tapping with my finger, hands, or foot. It’s just so weird that it started a few weeks ago all of a sudden.

  20. Katie

    I’ve been hearing voices since I was 8 years old, I’m 20 now, but it only happens when it’s quiet in the room, the voice usually always shouts. Sometimes it makes sense and sometimes it doesn’t. When I first start hearing the voice I jump because the loudness of it startles me. It’s usually always a mans voice. I don’t understand why I hear this and why it only happens when it’s quiet. I haven’t told anyone because I’m afraid they’ll think I’m crazy. Sometimes I play music or something, anything to avoid the quiet because I get scared of the voices coming back.

  21. Emma

    I found this really interesting, I hear voices when it goes quiet at night and I’m lay in bed awake, I find them strangely comforting, listening to them often helps me drift off, it’s like I’m listening in to random conversations and just catching the odd sentence. I’m not scared or bothered by them in the slightest. I wouldn’t want to be without them to be honest.

  22. Tony

    Where to begin, its strange I really really need an answer. Every now and then places I pass through I have visions in my head of events some tragic some not I experience a wide range of emotions with some places and can’t explain why, I also see dark shadows in some places sometimes one but mostly they come in three’s I’m now concerned it’s something more dark and sinister. I don’t hear voices maybe once in awhile I have never taken drugs but I do work the night shift I did however have a very near death experience when I was very very young.

    Can someone please help.

    Can someone please help.

  23. clo

    hi im really scared. iv been hearing voices for around the last 10 years but in the last year they have becomve much more commanding (there was a period before when the voices would tell me to hurt myself but i was well supported byt the early intervention team) i moved away from there and did my best to get ‘out of the system’. i have no support hear and i dont know what to do. i was resisting the voices until they hurt my friend and put him into hospital and now my only option is to do what the voices say so that they dont hurt my friends. i am directly responsible for my friend being hurt and i am scared to leave the house and i dont want to see a doctor becuase if i take antipsychotics and i cant hear the voices properly then they will hurt my friends becuase im not doing what they ask. even thouhg i cant here. i am so scared of even posting this. sorry.

  24. Clear

    For those of you hearing mean voices, I have found that (when it happened to me) it was just my repressed emotions/beliefs resurfacing so that i could let them go. These voices got really loud out of nowhere and at first it hurt my feelings because I still believed what they were saying was true. Then I realized they would speak in a variety of different characters and would always speak about what I was focusing on. Observing the voices and my own thoughts and accepting that they were false has really helped me to let go of the repressed beliefs and the emotions that came along with them.

  25. Melissa

    My symptoms are quite different but please could anyone tell me what’s wrong. I have people come into my head everything couple of seconds throughout the day I don’t know who they are, what they are doing or were they are it comes and goes that quick but makes me feel like I can’t breath, going to be sick, legs go like jelly and generally feel like I’m on a different planet

  26. jennlwp

    Thank you so much the information.

    I am not a religious person. I don’t believe in a heaven, hell, ghosts, etc. I don’t have any medical/mental illness. My home life is good. I’ve always trusted my gut feelings and a lot of times they are accurate.

    I purchased my place about 13 years a go. I have been hearing movements and other sounds for years. I hear voices off and on, but lately the voices seem to be more common.

    Usually I hear one word muffled voices. Those are rare. They don’t scare me, but I do have to strain to try to understand what was said.

    A little after my six year old was born I heard the words “Shut Up!” come from his room. It was a man’s voice. That startled me because my infant son and I were the only ones home.

    A couple nights a go I kept hearing a woman saying “D G” over and over again in a soft voice.

    Today I heard a man’s voice coming from the back of my house. The voice had a strong southern accent. The voice sounded confused, but muffled.

    For years people outside my house and even my husband and daughter has mentioned hearing things from my house. (I had a pastor doing stump removals in my back yard. He told me he thought someone was in our house because the noises were so loud. He seemed very concerned and did not want to come back.) I try to write everything off as sleep depravation or I come up with another explanation depending on what took place. I don’t want people to think we are crazy, so I come up with explanations all the time.

    I don’t feel threatened, but at the same time I am concerned.

    My 17 year old daughter keeps telling me that she gets a weird feeling just about every morning about 2:00 – 4:00 a.m. She says she feels like someone is watching her. I keep telling her it’s because her body is telling her to go to the bathroom. My daughter tries really hard to stay away from the house. She says she gets more rest staying with her friends.

    I really appreciate your posting.

    Thank you,

    Jenn

  27. Savannah

    I’m 12 and I hear things a lot I don’t know what it means and it’s not voices but more like sounds? Sometimes it is just a small crack from like a glass but then it can go to a loud siren but its not there.I see things crawling across the floor like people that are dead

  28. Australian John

    I’ve been hearing voices in my head since last year (really negative and condescending voices that are not mine ) There is a woman and a man and they both sound evil and demonic. Not only that, but they know exactly how to annoy me and which buttons to press – they even say things I am about to think and can copy what my mind is saying. Is it some future demonic force watching me all the time? Reading my mind? The voices sometimes even come through other people around me. Am I going insane?

  29. Peter

    Hi, just stumbled onto your site after reading an interesting piece about auditory hallucinations in the Indy. I’ve been reading through the many different experiences on the site and find them very interesting. I just wanted to add some experiences of my own. When I was younger, up until about the age of 16, I had a number of bizarre hallucinations. The most recurring ones would be when lying in bed I would hear windows in my street being knocked on in turn approaching my bedroom window, a knock at my window then it continued down the street and back again. In my head I was convinced if the knocking stopped at my window then something was going to come in and get me! It was rather terrifying. I would also often be lying in bed and start to feel the bed shaking violently. These were quite common for me growing up. I very often sensed an extremely sinister figure standing at my bedroom door which was horrible. I also used to hear voices calling my name from time to time. The weirdest hallucinations I ever had though were one offs, the most vivid and bizarre being one time I was in the bathroom and looked downstairs, the staircase had become a spiral stone thing like something out of a castle, and I could see flickering torches coming up the stairs and hear angry voices. I locked the bathroom door and could hear and feel the door being violently banged on. For some reason I felt that pressing a towel against the door would stop whoever getting in. I was also convinced they were coming up the toilet and kept flushing the chain. It was like a waking nightmare. I shouted frantically for my dad who shouted up what’s wrong which made the hallucination stop. I was about 14/15 and it was the most pants-wettingly scary experience of my life. My dad just thought I was making it up. Sorry for the long post but haven’t thought about this stuff for years, I’m 37 now and have had nothing like since thankfully. Good luck to everyone still suffering these things and hope you find good coping mechanisms.

  30. michaellarrabee

    i want to know what it is that i feel i don’t have i mark or anything but i sometimes feel like iv been to hell and back i hear things voices that tell me to do things i do them and i feel as if something grabs me and then now at this tie a friend said i’v been to hell and back and that just brought a feeling to me picketers in my head of hell. i got these feeling and voices when i committed to being a satanist two my best friends

  31. raju

    Hi raj here in 23 year old I felt in love with a girl who is one of my friends when I proposed her she rejected me i remember her at any situation of my life I know that its all over but im hearing a voice inside me(im sure that its my voice)that always says that she is your don’t worry she will come back to you but practically no scope for that but my inner voice saying very confidently what is that im totally confused.
    Reply me

  32. Tracy O Connor

    Every evening when i watch tv i keeping hearing voices o ver at tve Windows i keep thinking It someone outside talking bit when i looking Out there is no one there

  33. Megan French

    Well I’ve been having all five senses. I hear voices sometimes a lot at a time, there mostly sad. Angry. Happy, I almost ended my life a few hours ago. I tried 5 times. The voice that was there in the begging of my depression, he was scary at first, I seen shadows sometimes full sized of a animal or a person. I’ve seen so many places he shows me, I hear screaming sometimes when he shows me places that are horrible. He forces me to watch my own death over an over in my head. I mostly hear him telling me things that I know or hardly understand. But sometimes he shows me beautiful places, that it makes my heart drop. He shows me planets, like I’m right there, when I close my eyes, I can hold things. When I smell things I can remember memories, some are bad some are good, but some just bring a scent that is blurry, or I’ll smell it later, it either stops me or makes me unconftable. When I taste something I make sure it doesn’t smell wrong, if it does I don’t taste it, but if I do, it gives off a gross taste, something that I can’t handle, most of my eating, I’ve been worring about my foods, sometimes drink, like water, soda. Just some I don’t trust cause of that one little taste. Touch, well I can sometimes feel hands on my back, or being poked. Or either like being hit but something hard for a minute.
    I want to see why I have all five senses?
    I want to know what it means? It even hurts the inside of me the voices. He sometimes just puts me down an then he forces a lot of pressure, without even talking in the inside of head. I’m in a sistuation, my life is wobbling over the edge of a building. I really need to know why.

  34. Rosie

    I keep on hearing voices in my head every year.They can be musical, sexual or else. I also heard the voice of dead people or the voice of alive people as if they are dead. When I am face to face with people, I feel like they are having sex with me. When I took medications, the symptoms stop. However,this experience kept happening to me every year.

    Moreover,I saw someone who was already dead and he waved at me. I used to see zombies.

  35. Katherine

    I’m eleven. Ok. Live with it. I hear voices about three or four times a day. I see things about five times a day. About an hour ago, whilst I was still at school, I saw something appear out of nowhere. It wasn’t there, I blinked, it appeared! I’m getting worried because I’m the only one seeing and hearing things. I don’t think I’ve got an illness or anything, but I want to know why it’s happening.

  36. kate

    Hi,
    When I have sleep paralysis I hear a deep voice of a man, it’s terrifying. I’ve been experiencing this since I was a little girl and my earliest memories are from when I was four years old. I would always hear the voice during a bad dream where I could die. Recently with sleep paralysis the voice is accompanied by a sensation that I’m being dragged off my bed or smothered. The voice is always the same, and it’s always scary. When I look at the ceiling or carpet sometimes it begins to morph as if i’m on mushrooms or something. When I smell things I get a flash of a memory in my head and I feel like I’m there. Any insight as to what on earth is wrong with me would be great thank you!!!!

  37. Lee

    Hi I’m 14 years old I’m wondering if u could answer my question it’s about visions I have had them during these past few weeks this happens mostly when I look up and see a bright light then I’m in a lab with something on my head (everything is blurry) then a someone in a lab coat takes the head gear off then I look around and see other kids with the headgear on to then I try to figure it out then it gets really blurry and after I can see again there is a guy telling me to hurry then I’m back in the real world I’m just asking if u know what’s happening or what it means thank u for reading this.

  38. Lisa lipscomb

    Hi I came a cross your website and in 2006 in had a son and I die i went to heaven but before that i could always hear voice and have and vision but after 2006 it got real bad it was like some one was always touching me in my head and under my skin and it feel like something was always crawling on me but thinking was there and a couple of nights i hear angels singling to me from heaven so can any one help me with what i am going there please

  39. James E

    I was having a problem a few years ago. I lived in an apartment across town with my girlfriend. I would sit in the living room and in the middle of the room I would see a big long smoke trail, I could see it plain as day. At the same time I would smell this horrible stench, like rotting meat. It was undeniable. Well, after a couple days of this happening I walked into the kitchen and down near the cats bowl on he floor, I could see two greenish almond shaped eyes. They weren’t moving, but I could kind of tell they were floating there. I was scared as hell. One day, I was in the living room again and my girlfriend standing in the kitchen. I looked over to her and behind her on the ceiling in the corner, I could see a the black mass of a body. It was floating there and I could actually see that it had a head, but it was much bigger than a humans. It didn’t go away and I would see it there l the time.
    One day I came home from work and I couldn’t find our cat. I asked my girlfriend where he was, she didn’t know. All of a sudden we heard a scratching noise in the bathroom and we both froze. I had a bad feeling and my girlfriend looked scared. Well, my girlfriend took two steps into the bathroom and started screaming. I walked in to see what she was screaming at, and there right in front of me was my cat, on the ceiling, being pressed or smashed really hard into it. The cat was meowing in pain and when I reached for him, he fell into the sink and ran off. Needless to say, we knew then what was going on.
    A few hours later, my girlfriend admitted to me that she has been hearing scary voices in her head for years and they were telling her that they didn’t like me and were going to hurt my cat. She would tell me what these voices would tell her and it was scary. I was going to church at the time and she told me they didn’t like me because of it. My mom is a Jehovah’s Witness so I asked her If I could have a couple of the magazines she had so I could put them in my apartment. She gave them to me and I put one in the bathroom by the mirror(the cat would sit and stare into it for some reason) and two in the kitchen, and one in each room. The day I did that, they went away. 100% they were gone. My girlfriend and I broke up shortly after that but I can tell you that to this day i believe that it worked. I pray all the time now. Believe me.

  40. Taylor

    My friend recently started hearing voices in her head. I want to try and help her she’s been asking me to help her and I want to help her. she’s been hearing things that said mom isn’t home and Crying and saying if a certain tree dies so will she. anybody help me help her?

  41. Lucy

    Hi
    I hear my a voice in my head sometimes and it’s usually when I’m thinking something and the voice mimics it in a commanding manner and it speeds up, everything I think speeds up and everything around me such as movement gets louder and speeds up, I could do something in slow motion and it will seem as if it’s happening twice as fast

    I have tried to research what it could be but haven’t found anything on it and now it’s making me think I’m crazy

  42. susan mullen

    i have saw the dead heard voices saw people all my life they talk to me and i can understand them the dead are real i feel people touch me am not scared they talk and i talk back i know what to say to help and they help me the voices are the same sometime i just here them i have always felt even when a was a child someone was with me and i could here them talk them they started to let ma see them i felt then they trusted me

  43. Tania

    Interesting.
    Iv been hearing them for a few years now mostly I can ignore and go to sleep. But I had one that was a gentleman who was very upset about a stein on his shirt.
    I said “well wash it!”
    Funny. Still on rare occasions iv heard nasty things. Somtimes I have to strain to hear them if its coming from a sorce in the room, but I stopped trying after id heard “we are going to kill you” the other one’s come to me just before sleep and dont make a great deal of sence to me, they are moor internal, although its hard I can question these one’s if im not to tired.

  44. Madison stetts

    I don’t know what to do I feel like I’m going into hearing things and seeing people and it’s scaring me to worsening my physical and mental health by the minute last night and saw a girl standing in my sisters I don’t know what to do I feel like I’m going into hearing things and seeing people and it’s scaring me to worsening my physical and mental health by the minute last night and saw a girl standing in my sisters doorway it’s killing me inside now it’s worse it’s making my physical and mental health decreasing to rapid rate am seriously sobbing because I’m scared doorway it’s killing me inside now it’s worse it’s making my physical and mental health decreasing to rapid rate am seriously sobbing because I’m scared I’m scared people that I’m seeing and hearing are going to come and hurt me what are you going to try to scare me or hurts a little to my family I don’t know what to do I’m scared I don’t know if I’m going crazy or is it just something that happens.people that I’m seeing and hearing are going to come and hurt me what are you going to try to scare me or hurts my family I don’t know what to do I’m scared I don’t know if I’m going crazy or is it just something that happens

  45. constance niederbrach

    For the last week my 9 year old son will be sitting down in the car and all of a sudden he is so scared. He cries puts hands over his eyes and is shaking uncontrollably. I ask what is wrong and he tells me a black shadow is coming after him. Then on another occasion he starts saying something about a big diamond like maybe a ball field. He says someone or something is going to get hurt. Says that something bad with a black shadow is going to happen but he is to afraid to finish watching it. I don’t understand what this means. His big sister plays softball I am almost to scared to let her play tonight. Please help me.

  46. Mckenna

    I hear voices sometimes but it really varies. It started in 5th grade (I’m in 7th). I hear voices saying my name or something that refers to me, and every time it’s a different voice. Normally these are perfectly clear. Once or twice I’ve heard a man yelling in frustration through what sounds like water. More recently I’ve heard music which really freaked me/my friends out because I kept trying to find the source and they didn’t hear it. Most of them know about my audial hallucinations and some have hallucinations themselves. My parents/family members don’t know because I’m afraid they’ll dismiss me or think I’m crazy. I kind of want to make them go away or stop but I don’t want to tell my parents and ask for help due to the previously stated reasons. It can happen at any time in any place with any amount of time between. What do I do?

  47. robert

    I have been hearing nagative voices for 24 weeks day and nigt repeating things like were leaving but they dont go, singing, repeating same words over an over and tinitus or hissing very loudly to anoy me or keep me awake they are no help and i want them to leave the tinitusis a medical condition but they increase it by hissin in my head. I know its ghosts and there are many any help would be appreciated

  48. Daniel

    Hi I’ve been on many paranormal investigations but lately I’m hearing voices like the other day I stoped someone and asked can I ask you a few questions she said yer okay I had the name of someone in her family straight away and I got that this person hadn’t passed but was very ill I said I’m say what I’m Beein told but shorten it he was doing bad things that ( I shud say this spirit or entity never reviled there identy) they want him to stop i told her he’s havein problems with his chest which he is I told her this spirit wants her to tell him to stop but I had to leave cos my chest felt like it was beeing crushed
    Is this a good thing or bad

  49. pita

    hey i am 15 and ever since i was in 6th grade i been hearing voices only once it was my deceased great grandmother. now i just hear random people talking and sometimes they ask questions should i be worried . it doesn’t bother me but it is just weird .

  50. Ezekiel

    I have expierienced and am still expieriencing the hearing of voices.. Both good and bad..I am a very intelligent person and have gone thru so much.. I believe that what we are going thru is spiritual.. I have been attacked mentally a few times by something bad..And after the first time I started hearing voices that direct and guide me.. I dont know what to think of it at first..I thought i was going crazy..But bc of these voices i have put my addiction to drugs under arrest..I have quit smoking ..Stopped cussing and i pray on my hands and knees almost every night..Bc these voices have told me i must.. These voices tell me that i will be an Angel.
    But it scares me bc i dont want to die …My faith in God and what i believe is stronger than ever..My life has turned completely around.. I hear other voices that put me down..I figured it may be Satan and his fallen angels.. Sometimes it gets to me so bad that i get frustrated.. But i draw near to God..These voices i believe are Angels..Im not sure but once i qsked them their names and my mind or something came up with Mark and Seth..That was in the begining.. Now its been 4months later when i realized something was very unusual.. I am a man who believes in logic and must see to believe..But this is real bc it has done for me what i could not do in 5 yrs.. These voices even stop me from looking at a woman in lust.. No one believes me when i tell them and these voices were right..Im not to tell anyone..They also tell me Gods name is Jehovah.. And it is..Ive looked it up..They say the end is coming soon
    .And i believe it and so should you..Matthew 24:3-16….Clairvoyance and spiritism are of the Devil.. And i know i dont serve the Devil..In fact i dislike him for what he is doing to all of us..And thats making us and everyone else suffer in all kinds of ways.. I pray that when Jehovah brings about his war callex Armegeddon that i am the one who takes Satan down.. And you dont know this but before i heard the voices..I would pray to live in heaven with God..And be the one who throws Satan in the pit of fire..If you think that what your reading is funny..Well i dont..Be in my shoes and see how great you feel.. [ email address edited out ]

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