Two types of psychosis:

Hallucinations -see or hear what others don’t, and Delusions – strange ideas others don’t have.

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Hallucinations are not as uncommon as you think. Hearing voices is a classic auditory hallucination and the most common type of hallucination in people with schizophrenia. Hearing voices are not that different than thoughts. We need to think of the voices as no more than thoughts. Around 20% of the population hear voices at any time. However only 1% of them have mental health issues while 80% of the population have no problems at all. Many people think of them as something nice; people with a spiritual background may hear them as voices from God or as a clear audience from the other side.  Most often the voices are thoughts that criticize yourself. From the compulsive disorders the thoughts can be intrusive. One may think God is talking to them via animals or even inanimate objects. When people are asked what the voices say, there are things like “You are too ugly” or “You will never fit in - go jump off that building and end it for yourself”. They may even say things like “Go kill all those bad people”.

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Delusions are dreams of grandeur or wishes - a belief or thought that is least likely to become reality.  Where they become a problem is when we become obsessed with an idea that can never be.  Delusional people can be over confident with anticipated high hopes thinking and believing they can do things that are impossible. Things like "I can jump out this window and fly".  We have all heard someone sing that can’t carry a tune in a bucket. To themselves they think they are going to be number one on the charts.  Another delusion of grandeur would be one who may think they are Christ.

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Allusions is believing a trick of an animist to be true in appearance of reality; a mirage. You saw a magician do something, and without proper training you believe you can do it too.

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Hallucinations are seeing things that are not there. You have wings, or you see monsters, or you see bugs crawling all over you.

We all see things out of the corner of our eye. An over active mind can play tricks on us. This too can amplify the voices, the thoughts. This can be more intense when, say, working on a secret project.

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Schizophrenia - there is someone behind me; there is someone following me; they are out to get me; they are talking about me. A fly or a speck of dust passes your peripherals; the voice tells you it’s a person sneaking around to see what you are up to, or to steal your project. In people with PTSD the voice tells them it’s a sniper or a rapist, someone that is going to do you harm.

 

When a drug like acid and other hallucinogenic are introduced into the body they change the body chemistry. A high fever can change that same chemistry.  As your bodies immune system goes into action there is a war going on in your body and mind. Everything gets elevated.  DNA can be changed in this wars, some can become so confused in there functions that they never fully recover unless they are re-programmed (so to speak) to do so.  This is where CBT comes into play: to retrain the DNA brain functions. We combat these thoughts by using the positive thoughts to counteract the negative.

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One way to handle the voices is to argue against them.

Lets use your ABC worksheets; do one for delusions:

(A) I can jump off this building and fly!

(B) Tell the why in brief of why you think you can do this.

(C) How does this thought make you feel?

Now use your stuck point worksheet to tell the full story for each thought.

Use your ELF worksheet to find what uses these have on our life.

Use your self discipline exercise, the relaxation exercise, to get into peace and balance with yourself.

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(MSRT) Mindful and Space Relaxation Therapy

(FIRe) Fast Imagery Reconditioning - Imitate the voice in your head.

Throw out the negatives:

Voice – Kill that dog!

You – Stop! I will not!

Bring in the positive:

You – The dog is good!

Voice – You are ugly, worthless, hag!

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See yourself as ugly and hear the voice telling you that - throw it out

You – Stop! I am not!

Bring back a positive picture and a pleasant voice:

You – I am beautiful and of value!

Voice – Go jump off that bridge no one wants you around!

You – Stop! I am loved and will be missed, I am going to live!

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Do this about eight times a day or as much as needed.

Whatever the negative; imitate that voice, see that image and throw it out.

Some people with depression and those with low self-esteem might be afraid of the voices.

There is no reason to be afraid of these voices, they are just very audible thoughts, thoughts that are very easy to hear.

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Intrusive thoughts

First thing to realize is that it is opposite of who you are!

If you think you want to stab someone you know you don’t really want to. Even the most moral people have thoughts like this. More than fifty percent of people will admit to having these thoughts. It is normal. The more you try to push the thought out, the more it gets stuck.  These thoughts are not dangerous, as  you know you are not going to do it.  It is indeed opposite of who you are.

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(EFT) Emotional Freedom Techniques - Although I hear this voices, I am deeply and completely satisfied with myself.

(PT) Physical or Play Therapy or Role Play - You can use the stress ball exercise if the voices are stressing you out. Use the same EFT stile of phrasing. 

(ET) Exposure therapy - in exposure therapy, you are exposed to the physical sensations in a safe and controlled environment giving you the opportunity to learn healthier ways of coping.

(PE), Prolonged Exposure - With assistance, confront those voices and images.

(EMDR) Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing that has proven to work for PTSDs will also help here as well. This may work better than the ETs and PEs by confronting the issues.