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Voices and Trauma

The link between hearing voices and trauma

Voices and Trauma

Some people who have experienced trauma go on to hear voices or have other unusual experiences.

What does it mean that I hear voices?

  • You are not alone.
  • This is a common experience: up to 1 in 4 people hear voices in their lifetime.
  • Other sounds are also common.
  • There is no normal or abnormal way to hear voices.
  • Anthony Hopkins, Gandhi and Socrates all heard voices.
  • Often voices come on when we are stressed, emotional, lonely or after a bereavement.

What are voices?

  • Voices are used to describe the experience of hearing something that other people around you do not.
  • For some these experiences can be comforting.
  • For example, for someone that is lonely they may really value a voice that has become a trusted confidant.
  • Others find these experiences to be a source of inspiration.
  • However, for some people, these voices may be extremely distressing, criticising, threatening or causing confusion.

What is it like to hear voices?

  • Voices can be male, female or genderless, old or young.
  • Sometimes they have names, but not always.
  • Voices can speak constantly or they can utter occasional words or phrases.
  • People can hear other types of sounds too, including knocking, rustling, crying, screaming, music or mumbling.
  • Some voices can be positive providing the support and encouragement 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, commanding or threatening.
  • Voices can claim to have great power and knowledge, which can sometimes leave the person hearing them scared and powerless.
  • Some voices can leave a person feeling very vulnerable and exposed. For example, hearing a crowd of people jeering at you or discussing intimate details of your life.

Why do people hear voices when they have had trauma?

  • There are lots of ideas as to why people hear voices.
  • A lot of voice hearing in healthy adults is the result of trauma, adverse life experiences (such as bereavement) or emotional distress.
  • Voices often have meaning in the context of people’s lives.
  • Trauma and distress can lead to biological changes that can cause voice hearing.

'People who have endured three kinds of abuse (for example, sexual, physical, bullying) are at an 18-fold higher risk of psychosis, whereas those experiencing five types are 193 times more likely to become psychotic.'

Shelvin et al, 2007.

Famous voice hearers

A number of famous and important people (past and present) have experience of hearing things that other people don’t.

Some famous people who have talked or written about hearing voices include: Gandhi, Socrates, Joan of Arc, Freud, Anthony Hopkins, Charles Dickens, Zoe Wannamaker and Lady Gaga.

Important:
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Whether they threaten or soothe, auditory hallucinations normally begin after trauma: Seventy per cent of people that hear voices first detect them following physical or sexual abuse, an accident, or the loss of a loved one.

‘The emotion they feel about their trauma complicates how they interpret the voices,’ states Sara Tai, a psychologist at the University of Manchester, 'Typically, the greater the trauma, the more likely voices will sound threatening.'