Krysan Blog: Healing Words 7 - Hearing Voices

Krysan Blog: Healing Words 7 - Hearing Voices - Archives

Details: Written by Marian Moore

Marian @ KRYSAN

THE WELLBEING CONSULTANCY

_______

H E A L I N G W O R D S

(A 3-minute chat with Marian @ Krysan)

The most beautiful thing we can experience is the mysterious. It is the source of all true art and all science. He to whom this emotion is stranger, who can no longer pause to wonder and stand rapt in awe, is as good as dead: his eyes are closed. ALBERT EINSTEIN

You are invited to log on to the KRYSAN BLOG each Friday or Saturday during the months of July and August for this latest series of Krysan Master Classes. The intention is to continue to explore the use of writing as a form of therapy and hopefully the caption HEALING WORDS and the Einstein quotation will prove rich in possibilities.

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Blog No.7

Friday, 21 August 2009

Enchanted Voices

(mysterious, fascinating, intriguing)

Socrates

CAUTION. I know I'm in pretty good company as the great philosopher Socrates was, like me, a voice hearer. I also know, however, that what I am about to undertake in a few words is like trying to ladle the ocean with a net or lasso the wind with rope. To expect man (or woman) to corner the infinite with his finite mind is like asking young Matty (our dog) to understand Einstein's equation with his nose. I proceed with caution, simply asking you to bear in mind that though words and concepts can never carry the mind to its destination, they can at least point in the right direction!  For those wishing to take this discussion further, some of the most helpful books I have read on the subject are listed at the end.

SOCRATES. Our friend Socrates (the voice hearer) suggested that in order to make the most of voices it helps to be a little crazy. And, in these days of often careless and crass media coverage, many readers will appreciate that admitting to hearing voices presents certain challenges.   But, think on this, an alternative viewpoint,

"Voices have spoken to our predecessors throughout human history. They can speak to us today, if we will listen, and if we apply the discernment and understanding that is also available to us in this modern era." LIESTER, 1996

Those who know the true facts (the experts through experience) would perhaps agree with Dr. Larry Dossey's interesting comment that it is 'vital for our mental health to keep the channels open for when the voices of the Gods are shut out, the devils often take up residence.' Dossey, p. 210 This is another alternative viewpoint, an alternative to the norm and something worthy of consideration.

HEALING. The ancient Greeks were absolutely convinced that voices could assist in healing and they courted them in their healing temples or aklepions. Today, researchers Marius Romme and Sandra Escher, authors of Making Sense of Voices, believe (like the ancient Greeks) that hearing voices can be healthy and even helpful. Their book is primarily intended for people who hear voices, pointing first to the fact that voice hearing is not a subject to easily broach with those around us in everyday life. Indeed, they describe it as virtually taboo. How comforting to many has been their assertion that,

"It is clear that just because you hear voices does not necessarily mean you should be diagnosed with schizophrenia or even that you have a mental health problem."

For Romme and Escher, voices are a problem only when the person has difficulty coping with them, or when the experience impinges on the lives of others. Then, and maybe only then, is psychiatric help needed. Romme and Escher undoubtedly present 'a new [and welcome] analysis of the experience of hearing voices outside the illness model, their original research being a powerful challenge to popular stereotypes and the psychiatric orthodoxy which inhibits rather than stimulates personal growth'.

EVOLUTION. For those interested in causes, it is now thought that there may be an evolutionary reason why we hear voices. Human beings need contact with others, and research shows that those who enjoy rich social connections live longer and are healthier than those who live in isolation. This begs answer to the questions, 'Do voices appear in order to keep us company? 'Are they a device to counteract the unhealthy effects of loneliness?' If this is so, hearing voices would thereby hold survival value for the individual and would tend to be internalized as part of our genetic makeup and be passed down to succeeding generations. I ascribe to this theory as - in my case - the voices came suddenly and seemingly out of nowhere during the lowest and loneliest time of my life.  When my time of need was gone, they simply melted quietly away.

MECHANISM.  Psychologist Julian Jaynes offers a possible mechanism for voices in his book The Origin of Consciousness in the Breakdown of the Bicameral Mind. According to Dr. Dossey, Jaynes suggests that in our early evolutionary history cross-talking voices from the two sides of our brain were the norm - everybody had 'the power'. The result was a two-way conversation that today would be regarded as a 'schizophrenic dialogue'. Jaynes suggests that our right and left cerebral hemispheres became differently specialized as a way of quieting this 'inter-hemispheric babble'. And, again, I would go along with this and add that what seems to be required for mental wellbeing is a balance of activities: doing things in our daily lives that challenge both logical thought and creativity (left and right brain activity). Regular contact with friends, family, colleagues and neighbours is also desirable for good mental health.

LOCATION. To move this discussion on, 'hearing voices' implies that someone is speaking, but voices also sing and chant or what clinical psychiatrists call 'musical auditory hallucinations'.  And so we return to the crux of the matter. If you hear a voice (or voices) speaking, chanting or singing out of the clear blue sky (as I have) and tell people about it (as I have), you can be certain they will doubt your sanity and regard you as having a "condition" of some sort. I'm sure  at least some of you will have heard this comment, "When we talk to God we are praying; when God talks to us, we are schizophrenic." I agree with its author, Dr Thomas Szasz, that hearing voices has unfortunately been 'pathologized' by the men of science, the medical profession. With regard to this pathologizing our own Dr. Larry Dossey points to something rather 'interesting' - to say the least,

"[But] the voices haven't gotten the message, and they keep turning up in the experiences of normal individuals. Indeed, if you don't hear voices, you could be in the minority.  According to the latest research, there's a lot of chatter around, and a lot of people are keeping quiet about it."

CONSCIOUSNESS. I am frequently asked by the understandably curious where my voices come from.  Like Dr. Dossey, I wonder why we can't let a voice be just a voice. Why do we need to assign it to a specific person and place? For me, Dr. Dossey talks sense when he says that this reflects the way we generally think about our consciousness - 'something which most people feel is located in their head in the mid-line about an inch or so behind the eyes'. But, consciousness is not believed to have a precise anatomical or geographical location. It can indeed be anywhere.  The voices I heard when no one was there - and experienced over many years - came from outside. One possible explanation is they originated because of sleep deprivation, physical fatigue and trauma also over many years. Such extreme experiences are believed to combine in some individuals to result in the freeing up of avenues (channels) into the unconscious mind without the person being aware of this happening. Ask any junior doctor for enlightenment on this score. They, too, are subjected to sleep deprivation, physical fatigue and trauma. How many, I wonder, hear voices!

STIGMA.  I am not alone in my view that junior doctors are training for the profession that has adopted the most hostile stance of any toward voice hearing and this is since the Middle Ages.   Today these careful young people of whom I speak - our junior doctors - must toe the party line to get ahead or even survive in a highly competitive field. The pendulum would seem to have swung as far as it can possibly go. Larry Dossey, himself a medical doctor, points out that 'most physicians reject not only the accuracy of voices, but also any source of wisdom from which they could originate'.  Voice hearers (including Socrates?) are sadly on their own with few friends within or without the medical profession. But, there are thankfully some dissidents ... and now think on this truism,

"Yet, disbelief is only half of it. We [the medical profession] also become overtaken by a paranoid obsession to pathologize voices, extinguish them through every means possible, and stigmatize those who hear them." Dossey, p 227

FEAR. The most reasonable explanation for this crusade against voices is undoubtedly fear of the unknown. People seem scared out of their wits that there may be "something else" out there and that we are not in total control.  I leave the final cautionary word to Dr. Larry Dossey who concludes his discussion on hearing voices by saying this,

"We [the medical profession] have lost our way ... by denying the existence of any variety of mind other than that which exists above the clavicles and between the ears of the highest primate. May the gods forgive us - and resume the conversation we once had." Dossey, p. 228

ELEMENTAL. On a more positive note, I have colleagues working in mental health who are as passionate as I am about changing the status quo. Those at EleMental (a brand new mental health organisation) point out that, 'humanity, human rights, equality, dignity and self-worth' are all at stake. Strong stuff, courageously said - and so very, very true. Here is a little more about what EleMental stands for, 'EleMental represents an ever growing collective of visionaries from around the world who are actively working to promote wellness, recovery and thriving led by an underpinning philosophy that mental distress is a human experience which should not be used to define an individual, nor does it warrant a medical label'. Try clicking on USEFUL LINKS for more about the EleMental quest. Finally, think on this pearl of wisdom, something which I also view as offering a glimmer of light to me and many people like me around the world, 'Hearing voices is one of the most low-tech health methodologies in human history'. Dossey, p. ?

A COMMON HUMAN EXPERIENCE. So, the above is yet another great 'Dossey quote' worth remembering - from a great 'Dossey book' worth buying - for all those interested in the extra-ordinary healing power of ordinary things!  Bear in mind, too, another researcher's firm conviction that, 'Hearing voices is a common human experience'. Watkins, 2008.  This is a quotation from a recent book - also worth buying - by those who are interested in perusing an in-depth study on the somewhat controversial subject that has concerned us today. But, do remember what I said about cornering the infinite with our finite minds! And, one last and very final comment on hearing voices, "I've gotten used to ignoring them and I think, as a result, they've kind of given up on me. I think that's what it's like with all our dreams and our nightmares, Martin, we've got to keep feeding them for them to stay alive." JOHN NASH - A BEAUTIFUL MIND

John Nash won a Nobel Prize as the result of the energy of a beautiful mind! I'd like to bet that, had he still been around today, Socrates would have been similarly honoured.

Next week will be last in this series of extra-ordinary blogs and I'll be looking at mystery and miracles. Again, there will be much to think about. I end with a quotation that strikes a chord in me and maybe - as a result of your own experiences of the extraordinary - in you, too,

I am entirely on the side of the mystery. I mean, any attempts to explain away the mystery is ridiculous ... I believe in the profound and unfathomable mystery of life ... which has a ... divine quality about it ... ~ ALDOUS HUXLEY

See you next week

Marian

DOSSEY, Larry (2006), The Extra-ordinary Healing Power of Ordinary Things, New York, pub. Three Rivers Press

ROMME, Marius & ESCHER, Sandra (1994), Accepting Voices, London, pub. Mind Publications
SZASZ, Thomas (2007), Coercion as Cure: A Critical History of Psychiatry, New Brunswick, Transaction Publishers

WATKINS, John (2008), Hearing Voices: A Common Human Experience, South Yarra, pub. Michelle Anderson Publishing

Krysan-mini-blog 2

THE DAEMON

A Guide to your Extraordinary Secret Self

by Anthony Peake

Anthony Peake finishes his extraordinary book on how our Higher Self (our daemon) can predict the future with the following mantra taken from the Mundaka Upanishad. The Sanskrit term Upanishad literally means 'sitting down beside' and it must suffice to say 'how apposite that this book dealing with human duality should end with a poem dealing with man's dual nature'. Another book worth reading.

Like two golden birds perched on the selfsame tree:

Intimate friends, the ego and the Self

Dwell in the same body. The former eats

The sweet and sour fruits of the tree of life

While the latter look on in detachment.

As long as we think we are the ego,

We feel attached and fall into sorrow.

But realize that you your Self are a Lord

of life, and you will be freed from sorrow.

When you realize that you are the Self,

Supreme source of light, supreme source of love,

You can transcend the duality of life

And enter into the unitive state.

ENDS

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