Discussion questions, and a little simulation…

Of course this week spoke to me as a neuro person—but also as a human with a constant internal dialogue (as well as the imagined voice of my Yorkie, Madison, who sounds like Bea Arthur—please tell me I’m not the only one who imagines how my dog would talk to me in human voice!). I wanted to explore a bit about what is just “self-talk”, and when this becomes an “illness”…

First, I want to share a video from Janssen Pharma that simulates paranoid schizophrenia (the simulation includes auditory and visual hallucinations—the auditory are both voices and other sounds).

1. There was a thread throughout the papers and talks for this week about the differences between what is “internal dialogue”, considered ‘normal’ and “voice hearing”, considered a pathology. Looking at these papers, in what ways does the internal dialogue of one who is not mentally ill differ from one experiencing auditory hallucinations? Is it the manner in which we interact with these voices? How distracting they are? The ‘sound’ of the voice (self or non-self)?
2. Building upon the last question—what do you make of “voice hearing” that is not considered a pathology, for example, in religious experiences, “talking to God”, demons, etc? Or DO you consider this mental illness as well? Is this, and maybe also the experience of voice hearing, just an alternative way of seeing/experiencing the world?
3. Eleanor Longden speaks of interpreting her voice hearing as manifestations of her inner fears and anxiety, and related to aspects of her self that were unexpressed (Rufus May also discussed how what we suppress “comes back stronger” as well). How do you feel about this hypothesis? Do you experience this in your inner dialogue (beating yourself up)?
4. Do you consider voice hearing to be “self”? Although it is characterized as a “non-self” voice, can we characterize our internal dialogue as separate from voice hearing, truly? Wouldn’t both be considered part of “the self”, as they are both generated from within?
5. Trauma and voice hearing: Longden suggests that we should start to look at treating mental illness by approaching not from the viewpoint of “what’s wrong with you”, but rather “what has happened to you”? How does this oppose, or possibly align with the idea of schizophrenia as a developmental disorder?

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