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A Hearing Voices Group
I help run a hearing voices group
which I will describe, but first a brief introduction.
I am a voice hearer, diagnosed with suffering from Schizophrenia.
Several years ago, I realised that the voices came from my mind,
that they were my creation, my projection, dreams I had whilst
awake. Previous to this, I thought that they came from other
people. This realisation gave me almost complete mastery over my
voices, and they gradually faded away. I still hear them when I
am stressed, but am able to simply ignore them. They do not have
much to say to me. The odd occasion when I am "ill", I
can get carried away by them again and start believing that they
are real, but this does not last long. I try to take it very easy
during these times.
Earlier this year, I contacted my local Mental Health Services to
see if they had an "expert" on voices. I met a very
able psychologist, who was just about to start a local hearing
voices group, and she took me on as her co-facilitator in the
group. We run it for about an hour and a half, once a fortnight,
at the local Mind. Mind was chosen because it was not part of the
NHS, less formal, less controlled. It is an open group. There is
no commitment required on the part of the participants, apart
from us two. It is not compulsory. It is only open to voice
hearers or ex-voice hearers, apart from the psychologist, who as
far as I know, does not hear voices. Apart from us two, there are
about four other participants. We are open to more.
The openness and loose structure of the group seems to suit us
all very well, it adds to the flow of the conversation.
Participants say things about their voices etc. that they have
never been able to say before to anyone, I think to me
especially, being a service user and voice-hearer, they seem to
trust me more. The psychologist, being also busy with other
things, often cannot make the group, I often run it on my own,
which I seem to do quite well. We also have a cigarette break
half way through, we all smoke apart from one user and the
psychologist, we have to go into another room to smoke, which the
smokers all do together, and the group often continues there.
Apart from the psychologist, most of us know each other socially
as well, and the group has deepened our relationships. It is a
very friendly group. We usually start by asking everyone how they
feel, how their fortnight has been, if anything is going on for
them, etc. The psychologist and me, and sometimes others, add
helpful comments etc. If I need to, I say how I am too. If some-one
is a bit withdrawn, we make a point of getting them to talk
somehow. If someone is going through a bad time, we spend a lot
of time on that person, and let them talk a lot. Often this
process takes up the whole group, with everyone talking, about
voices and other problems. The psychologist and me know about
techniques for dealing with voices, and these often come up in
the conversation. Sometimes, the group has a more formal part to
it, with the psychologist giving a sort of lecture, often using
the "white board", on voices or other aspects of
schizophrenia. One of the main topics of conversation, apart from
voices, is medication.
This seems to be the structure of our hearing voices group. It
doesn't sound much, but a lot is said, it is enjoyable and
friendly, and I feel it is extremely helpful and sows many good
seeds. The participants come back for more. Before my realisation
about my voices that I mentioned at the beginning of this short
piece, I attended a different hearing voices group as a
participant, not a facilitator. This was extremely helpful, it
got me to think in depth about my voices, and sowed the seeds
which led to my realisation about my voices.
I must say that it was also largely due to my private Nutritional
Treatment (taking large doses of selected vitamins and minerals)
which led to my realisation about my voices. I am still on a low
maintenance dose of anti-psychotics.
John
Exell