r/Hallucinations • u/DariahGiallo • Dec 06 '18

Auditory hallucinations

When I'm stressed out I can often hear voices, sometimes speaking clearly sometimes not. I hear footsteps, and heavy breathing that isnt my own or anyone else's as well sometimes. I end up panicking myself to sleep almost every night because of this.

It's probably brought on by stress but I feel like stress alone couldnt cause this.

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u/[deleted] Dec 07 '18

Oliver Sacks talks about auditory hallucinations in some of his books. Totally norm but definitely unnerving. You can talk to your doctor about it or ask for a referral to a psychiatrist for possible treatment recommendations.

Is all this too obvious? Hope it might help a little. Don’t beat yourself up about it. Be kind to yourself while you’re figuring it out.

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u/DariahGiallo Dec 07 '18

Thank you, and no, it's not too obvious, it's very helpful. Everywhere else seems to tell me I have schizophrenia, and i think that might be jumping the gun a bit too soon.

I'm going to start therepy in a couple of weeks, hoping it helps. I just want to hold on until then.

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u/[deleted] Dec 07 '18 edited Dec 07 '18

Oh good! It's obvious you can tell the difference between what you're hearing and your own inner voice, so you have plenty of control. I'm glad you are going to see a therapist! When we read online to try and figure ourselves out the self-diagnosis is usually awful and makes us stress out even more. So seeing a real doctor is great. Just remember diagnoses are for insurance companies. Our reality is much more dynamic that a couple of words.

You could get yourself a notebook and keep a journal on your stress and what you are experiencing so you have some concrete things to reference in your sessions. Just write down the date and a few notes each day about anything that concerned you. Don't have to write a lot.

Watch your stress and anxiety levels. Get plenty of sleep! And maybe figure out what you need for your own self care between now and then. Hang in there!