Hearing Voices or Hallucinations

It can be scary when someone you care about tells you they are seeing and hearing things other people can’t see, but it’s a lot more common than you might think. If you’ve ever been stressed, you might have found yourself jumping at something you saw out of the corner of your eye, only to find when you look back at it, it was just a shadow. Sometimes our thoughts are so strong they can feel and sound like a voice in our head. A lot of people who hear and see things other people can’t, do not have a mental health problem. Some people believe they see spirits. Other people hear voices that are friendly and comforting. However, if your friend or family members experiences are scaring them or starting to have a negative impact on their life, it is important to support them to seek help.

What is psychosis?

Psychosis, or a ‘psychotic episode,’ is not a diagnosable mental health condition.  Psychosis describes when someone has experiences that aren’t based on reality.  This often involves:

• hallucinations – seeing, hearing or feeling things that aren’t actually happening
• delusions – believing things that are not actually true.

There are different types of psychosis. Someone might only have one episode of psychosis in their whole life. It might be something that happens to them now and then, or it can be something they live with for most of their life. People with some mental health conditions, such as schizophrenia and bipolar disorder, are more likely to have episodes of psychosis than someone who doesn’t have that mental health condition. Psychosis can also be triggered by:

• a traumatic experience
• stress
• drug or alcohol misuse
• side effects of prescribed medication
• a physical condition, such as a brain tumour.

If you think that someone you care about might be experiencing hallucinations and delusions, it is important to support them to get help as soon as you can.

Take a look at this video from the BBC about psychosis: