S-03. Hearing Voices

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Hello, I'm Ruby Jones.

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And I'm Marina Santee. Welcome to Spotlight. This programme uses a special English method of broadcasting. It is easier for people to understand, no matter where in the world they live.

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'Some tragic events were happening in my life. First of all, my girlfriend killed herself. It was a terrible shock to me. We had been very happy together. Then, I broke my hip bone while playing a game of rugby. I had to spend many weeks in hospital. The doctors told me I would never play rugby again. Later, I went back to work. One day, I was in my office. Suddenly, I heard a voice behind me saying, "You did that wrong." I looked, but there was no one there. The voice spoke again. And again. As time passed, I began to hear two voices - then three. Finally, there were six different voices. They spoke to me all the time. They told me how weak and useless I was. They only stopped when I drank too much alcohol. I could not think clearly. Soon, I lost my job. And I ended up in a mental hospital.'

Voice 1

This is Ron Coleman's story. Doctors decided that Ron was suffering from a mental condition called schizophrenia. His understanding of what was real had changed. The voices he heard seemed real. But they did not actually exist. Doctors advised Ron to take a series of different medicines. They said he would feel better. But Ron's mental state did not improve. The voices were still as loud as before. He found it difficult to deal with life.

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The normal treatment for this condition is tranquilisers. These drugs calm a person's mind. They help the person feel in control of themselves. But, tranquilisers do not work for everyone. Many people do not improve with this kind of treatment. They continue to hear voices in their heads. So some mental health doctors have been looking for different ways to help their patients.

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One of these mental health workers is Doctor Marius Romme. For many years, he was a psychiatrist in the Netherlands. One day, Doctor Romme was attending a patient. This patient told him that the tranquilisers did not solve her problems. She needed something more. Doctor Romme wondered what more he could do. So, he started some research. And he discovered some interesting facts. In history some cultures honoured people who could hear voices. They considered them to have a special kind of mind. Such people were fully part of the community. They lived normal and happy lives. Their lives seemed very different from mental health sufferers today.

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Doctor Romme continued his research in the Netherlands. And some of his research surprised him. He found that many people who heard voices in their head actually were living normal lives. They did not think that they had a 'proper' sickness. So what was their secret? Doctor Romme talked to many of these people. And he began to think differently about the 'hearing voices' condition. In his opinion, the voices themselves were not the problem. It was a person's fear of not being able to control the voices that made them sick.

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This discovery made Dr Romme change his method for treating people. In the past, he had advised people to take drugs to calm their brains. This helped them to suppress the voices. But now, he believes that it may be more helpful if people accept their condition. Doctor Romme suggests that his patients learn how to deal with the voices in their heads. This means accepting that the voices are there. But it does not mean accepting what the voices say. For example, a voice may tell someone to harm themselves. The person should speak back to the voices. He could ask the voice, "Why should I harm myself? Do I feel very angry about something? What has made me so angry?" In this way the person can find out more about what is happening in his mind. He can talk to mental health workers about what he discovers. And the person can learn to manage the situation. He can learn to not be afraid of it. Doctor Romme tells of how one businessman in London controlled his condition:

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'Every evening, this man would sit in a big, soft chair. Then, he let the voices in his head speak to him. And sometimes he would speak back. But after an hour, the man stopped listening. He got up and continued with his work. This system worked well for the businessman. Before this, he used traditional methods of suppressing the voices. And he had problems managing his life.'

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In fact, Doctor Romme believes that hearing voices is not always a mental sickness. It does not always require medicine to cure it. Instead, it often results from a person being unable to operate normally in society. What does the doctor mean by this? Well, we could use Ron's story as an example. His girlfriend had died. And he had suffered a bad accident. He was in a difficult mental and physical state. He had not talked about his problems to anyone. His company still expected him to perform his work duties as normal. And it was then that the voices started.

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Ron was sick for ten years. He felt hopeless. But one day, he heard about Doctor Romme's research. He attended one of Doctor Romme's 'Hearing Voices' groups. The doctor had started these groups all over Europe. People who suffered from hearing voices gathered together. They shared their experiences. They shared how they learned to accept their voices. And they also talked about the ways that they controlled their voices. Ron shared his story too. And over time, his condition began to improve.

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Since then, Ron has helped develop the 'Hearing Voices Network' in the United Kingdom. This network is now part of an international 'hearing voices' movement. Mental health workers in many different countries receive special training. They learn how to help hearing voices patients manage and recover from their condition.

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Firyal Qader Yassin is head nurse at Bethlehem Psychiatric hospital in Palestine. She says:

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"We have received very interesting training on how to deal with the patients who hear voices. For me, it was wonderful how the patients reacted to these new methods. I feel that, for the first time, we entered their world. We began to understand what was happening in their minds. We are no longer standing there watching. Now we are part of their world."

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For Ron Coleman, understanding and working together are the most important elements for recovery. He says:

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"Recovery [from hearing voices] is no longer a gift from the doctors. We are all responsible for it."

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The writer and producer of today's programme was Ruby Jones. The voices you heard were from the United Kingdom and the United States. If you would like to know more about the Hearing Voices Network, details and a link are on the script of this programme on our website at www.radio.english.net. This programme is called, 'Hearing Voices'. Thank you for joining us today, goodbye.

For more information please visit: hearing-voices.org.