|
Do people with Asperger's Hear Voices?
Posted on Tuesday, December 18 @ 14:21:57 EST by | 
Dear Aspie:Do people with Asperger's who don't have schizophrenia hear things that aren't there? Like thoughts in your head that never go away? What is it called and what can you tell me about it?
-Tempy
Read on for BeenThereDoneThat's response!
Dear Tempy:I could be wrong, but it doesn't sound to me like schizophrenia. Only a
professional (like a psychiatrist) can tell you for sure. If you think
you're hearing things, and if it's really bothering you, I'd go see someone
really soon, however, hearing voices can also be the result of taking
certain classes of drugs (high doses of cocaine, amphetamine, or other
stimulant) or a symptom of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD).
It's worth
noting that stimulants are used to treat depression and AS symptoms, and if
this applies to you, you should see your doctor and make him or her aware of
the fact that you're hearing things. Sure, hearing voices can be a sign of
something serious, but there are all sorts of things you have to rule out
first, and that can only be done by a psychiatrist.
Everyone has thoughts that seem to go around and around in their heads.
There are supposed to be all kinds of tricks for getting them out. I've
never found that any of them work for the thoughts that go around and around
in my mind. You're not alone, and it's nothing to worry about. Some people
can't get a song out of their heads.
I am not trying to make a diagnosis here, and again, if it's really
bothering you, or if the voices are telling you to hurt yourself or other
people, or that you can do something very dangerous that no human can
do....like flying under your own power....then you should probably see
someone right away.
- BeenThereDoneThat
Send your questions to “Dear Aspie”! Just send an e-mail to dearaspie@wrongplanet.net. Questions of a personal nature may be submitted anonymously, though printing a user name is preferred. “Dear Aspie” reserves the privilege of editing for spelling, brevity, and clarity. Thanks for your submissions!
|
|
| |
|
|
| | The comments are owned by the poster. We aren't responsible for their content. |
|
|
|
No Comments Allowed for Anonymous, please register |
|
Re: Do people with Asperger's Hear Voices? (Score: 1)
by autism_diva Thursday, December 20 @ 03:46:23 EST
(User Info | Send a Message) | | I think tinintus is very common in ASDs, it's associated with hyperacusis. Tinnitus is usually thought of as "ringing in your ears" but according to a tinnitus website the sound can be like a distant crowd of people talking.
When I have heard ASD people say, "I hear voices." I have asked them (the two who I have met who said this), "what do you mean you hear voices?" Are they saying something specific? Can you hear what they are saying or is it like a distant crowd of voices.
In both cases these young men told me that it was the latter. They couldn't hear any words, specifically, but they were "voices" nonetheless.
No one bothered to ask them for details apparently, because one had been on meds for psychosis, which in my opinion was a bad diagnosis, since the guy was obviously on the spectrum. If he was psychotic he would have been able to say what the voices were saying, or at least say something like "the voices tell me I am bad" or "the voices tell me who they are...."
It is possible to have an ASD plus a psychosis (schizophrenia for instance) but it's not common.
So, if I was Dear Aspie, I would ask Tempie if the voices were actually things Tempie could understand.
Another thing is that a kid might say, "i'm hearing voices" to his parents and the parents might freak, but in fact the kid is hearing voices... the parents just don't have the kids sensitive hearing. The kid is listening to the neighbors talking next door and the parents hear nothing.
:-)
|
|
|
Re: Do people with Asperger's Hear Voices? (Score: 3, Interesting)
by Imperceptus Wednesday, December 19 @ 09:38:03 EST
(User Info | Send a Message) | | Echolalia is the repetition of vocalizations made by another person. Echolalia is present in autism, Tourette syndrome, Rubinstein-Taybi syndrome, developmental disability, schizophrenia and, occasionally, other forms of psychopathology. When done involuntarily, it is considered a tic.
I do know that I have experienced this Echolalia thing. Not thinking this is what is being expressed. I am never quite sure If I actually hear voices/sounds that are not connected to other people. Most times its a short word or just the saying of my name. Other times it could be a random sound. One doctor told me it was some kind of pre-morbid schizo something or other. If you aren't hearing anything from the voice a voice or voices that expresses harm then I wouldn't be too worried.I will confirm that these sounds can be vary from creepy to just plain weird. |
|
|
Re: Do people with Asperger's Hear Voices? (Score: 1)
by janey Sunday, April 06 @ 21:23:56 EDT
(User Info | Send a Message) http://www.myspace.com/eat_me_flex | | i always have recent events or conversations with people recent or otherwise, lists, random section of text from books i've read, etc sort of in the back of my mind. i've got use to this but every now and again when im concerntrating on an intense solitary activity and am distracted. i can have random thoughts or memories pop up and i become confused. when i recover i seem to have lost the clarity and order of the event or image. so certain things become half remebered, half contrieved.
i was just wandering if anyone here has the same or similar experiences. |
|
|
Re: Do people with Asperger's Hear Voices? (Score: 1)
by janey Sunday, April 06 @ 21:27:29 EDT
(User Info | Send a Message) http://www.myspace.com/eat_me_flex | | i always have recent events or conversations with people recent or otherwise, lists, random section of text from books i've read, etc sort of in the back of my mind. i've got use to this but every now and again when im concerntrating on an intense solitary activity and am distracted. i can have random thoughts or memories pop up and i become confused. when i recover i seem to have lost the clarity and order of the event or image. so certain things become half remebered, half contrieved.
i was just wandering if anyone here has the same or similar experiences. |
|
|
Re: Do people with Asperger's Hear Voices? (Score: 1)
by Roseduelist Monday, March 24 @ 19:23:50 EDT
(User Info | Send a Message | Journal) | | That is most likely a part of echolalia...i used to hear screaming noises that was really some sort of appliance |
|
|
Re: Do people with Asperger's Hear Voices? (Score: 1)
by preludeman Saturday, March 01 @ 22:14:44 EST
(User Info | Send a Message) | | I do not have this problem,yet I do talk to myself and have tried to brake that habit. |
|
|
Re: Do people with Asperger's Hear Voices? (Score: 1)
by Glasskitten Friday, February 01 @ 20:24:24 EST
(User Info | Send a Message) | | This sounds slightly familiar to me in two different ways:
For one thing, I have occasionally had auditory hallucinations while drifting off to sleep, mostly like a group of people speaking to one another in a different language (which got so loud as to wake me up), but I did once get very creeped out that a specific voice called out to me one night and then greeted me mockingly the next time I had sleep paralysis. O_O
I am told that hallucinating when one is very close to actual sleep is not too uncommon among the general populace.
The second way the "voices" theme seems familiar is that my mind operates via quite vivid sensory information (i.e. Thinking In Pictures with a Voiceover and Colored Subtitles). I can "hear" my own inner monologue almost as vividly as if it were a real voice, yet it remains distinct from external sounds just as my mind's eye and the things in front of me remain distinct. Also having traces of obsessive-compulsiveness, the narration sometimes goes on involuntary, repetitive tangents when I am doing certain activities. This never really bothered me, except when I come close to accidentally saying it out loud.
Is what I just said relevant to the original question in any way? ^^' |
|
|
Re: Do people with Asperger's Hear Voices? (Score: 1)
by polarity Thursday, January 31 @ 20:10:00 EST
(User Info | Send a Message) | | When I've lost a lot of sleep my brain goes ahead and starts dreaming on it's own, my subconscious mind doing it's own thing while I'm fully awake. The longer I'm awake the more comes through into the conscious side, so I'll start seeing things that aren't there (usually one or two spiders or crawling insects, they don't bother me), and hearing things, like a voice saying a couple of words.
I experienced schizophrenia for a couple of months when I had a nervous breakdown a few years ago (triggered by chemical exposure at work which has left me with MCS, although I'd been depressed for a long time too).
I'd say the defining characteristic of it is difficulty telling the difference between reality, memories, imagination and fiction. The mind is capable of filling in the gaps to such an extent that things that aren't real become more believable than reality.
When I was very young I'd occasionally have a voice in my head screaming at me and telling me I was useless. I'd tell it to shut up and it'd go away, eventually going away completely before puberty although it popped up a couple of times during my breakdown.
I think the biggest reason I got over that was because I've developed mindfulness (essentially CBT) to the point where part of my mind watches over what I'm thinking, and takes over before anything might happen that could lead to problems (nothing like before though, I just get badly depressed now). Unfortunately it takes a fair bit of effort to keep doing it, and if I'm stressed it's all to easy to slip into depression. I take stress avoidance seriously because of how badly it can affect my health. I'm unlikely to have a breakdown again, simply because the prospect is so terrifying. No matter how stressed I am I'll U turn if I think what I'm thinking is on that path. |
|
|
Re: Do people with Asperger's Hear Voices? (Score: 1)
by Dulcibella Sunday, January 27 @ 12:54:21 EST
(User Info | Send a Message) | | Hello Tempy
I think I can relate to what you're mentioning when you refer to it as "thoughts in your head that can never go away." They aren't voices but thoughts that one's brain constantly repeats. Many times these thoughts can take a tone of a familiar voice or one's own. But they are not dissociated. The person realizes that these thoughts are being created by oneself.
What is this? This is called "obsessive thinking," a common side effect among aspies. One's brain constantly obsesses over a thought, despite not wanting to. It feels almost impossible to halt the thought pattern and change the inner monologue. OCD, fortunately, is treatable through such medicines as Zoloft. As BeenThereDoneThat has stated, avoid amphetamines and stimulants as they often aggravate the obsessive tendencies. |
|
|
At Night (Score: 1)
by Marq Thursday, January 17 @ 23:46:56 EST
(User Info | Send a Message) http://www.gayvegangenius.com/ | | I sometimes hear voices (and often distinct words) just before I fall asleep. They seem real, but a month after I started hearing them, I realized that they must be in my head. |
- Re: At Night by uno1997sis Thursday, April 03 @ 09:36:29 EDT
|
|
Re: Do people with Asperger's Hear Voices? (Score: 1)
by to Wednesday, January 23 @ 11:33:13 EST
(User Info | Send a Message | Journal) | | Yep I do. If a fan is running like the AC or car is idling outside my window. I will at first hear it as someone or a group of people whispering. But I can't make out what they are saying. As I strain to listen I realize it is just an industrial noise that my sensitive ears have tried to make sense of but messed up. When taking risperdal it is much worse than with seroquel. |
|
|
Re: Do people with Asperger's Hear Voices? (Score: 1)
by Aaron_Mason Monday, January 07 @ 09:07:39 EST
(User Info | Send a Message | Journal) http://www.thats-too-much.info | | or that you can do something very dangerous that no human can do....like flying under your own power
Of course people can fly... all you have to do is throw yourself at the ground and miss. ;)
Any voices I hear in my head are usually repetitions of what people have said, or things I've heard or said myself, even things I've thought before. But I run my own voice - or a voice I find comforting - through my head when I'm thinking, or trying to think of something. If I don't I end up voicing my thoughts and people think you're off your tree if you do that. |
|
|
Re: Do people with Asperger's Hear Voices? (Score: 1)
by Aaron_Mason Monday, January 07 @ 09:08:55 EST
(User Info | Send a Message | Journal) http://www.thats-too-much.info | | or that you can do something very dangerous that no human can do....like flying under your own power
Of course people can fly... all you have to do is throw yourself at the ground and miss. ;)
Any voices I hear in my head are usually repetitions of what people have said, or things I've heard or said myself, even things I've thought before. But I run my own voice - or a voice I find comforting - through my head when I'm thinking, or trying to think of something. If I don't I end up voicing my thoughts and people think you're off your tree if you do that. |
|
|
Re: Do people with Asperger's Hear Voices? (Score: 1)
by Wilco Tuesday, January 01 @ 11:23:09 EST
(User Info | Send a Message) | | Maybe it's not only hearing voices. Many people with AS (or so I have heard) need an answer. When I am confused, I keep thikning and thinking, imagine the situation. And a discussion starts in my head with me and myself. It could be this, it could be that, why, why not etc etc. You can try to not think about it, somethimes it works, somethimes it doesnt. It's very hard in situations like a broken heart |
|
|
Re: Do people with Asperger's Hear Voices? (Score: 1)
by girl7000 Wednesday, January 02 @ 07:22:05 EST
(User Info | Send a Message) | | People who have AS, and also issues like OCD and Tourette's can be prone to 'intrusive thoughts'. These are thoughts that you don't want and that can be unpleasant that persistently repeat themselves in your mind - it can be very diffcult to distract yourself from them.
It might be worth seeing a medical professional as they could give advice as to what might help, such as medication, therapy, hypnosis (which helped me) etc. |
|
|
Re: Do people with Asperger's Hear Voices? (Score: 1)
by Benji_million Thursday, January 03 @ 19:41:43 EST
(User Info | Send a Message | Journal) http://benaspcoder.webs.com/ | | I think I'm schizophrenic...when I'm home alone, I always seem to be thinking out loud, and I also just all of a sudden think I just heard a human talking...very creepy being me |
|
|
Re: Do people with Asperger's Hear Voices? (Score: 1)
by Sifr Monday, January 07 @ 05:11:03 EST
(User Info | Send a Message) | | Last year I had a period where I thought I was going crazy. I went to check myself out and they said I was "fairly normal"--granted it was for BP-D. I couldn't go a day without hearing a voice inside me--nothing like "kill yourself" or "hurt others" and more like the voice that entered Abraham's head, a reassuring voice in time of need.
The voice first began as thoughts; if I were to describe them, like strings. Eventually they pulled themselves into words and I began to understand what the voice was telling me.
Occasionally, I will hear some whisper which would freak me out but I just attribute that to a "heighten" sense of hearing. Sometimes I will even smell some kind of floury scent that I cannot trace. |
|
|
Re: Do people with Asperger's Hear Voices? (Score: 1)
by marvolutional Friday, December 21 @ 08:58:30 EST
(User Info | Send a Message) | | I only joined this site 2day... but already im finding lots of people that are reporting stuff that is happening to me... alot of people here i can actually relate to... anyway the voices thing... i dont know if its a general AS thing, but ever since i was a child ive had these thoughts i couldnt control... i think it was worse when i was a child, im now 26... and i think its problely why i have mild OCD now, probely as a means to get them out... i dont think they're so much voices, but thoughts, if that makes sense... im also dyslexic and dyspraxic... and i have a history of epilepsy (or an abnormal EEG, i say abnormal EEG because i dont think its ever developed into full epilepsy yet, but my EEG readout was significantly abnormal)... you should ask for an EEG as a higher proportion of Austics have an abnormal EEG, like my self... this may cause uncontrolable thoughts... get a referal from your doctor. |
|
|
Re: Do people with Asperger's Hear Voices? (Score: 1)
by TiggerrsHusband Saturday, December 22 @ 09:34:20 EST
(User Info | Send a Message) | | My wife hears the undertone of the dishwasher and says it sounds like someone is talking. Often, I will start the dishwasher before I go to bed. When I do, I tell her the dishwasher is on. That way she knows she isn't hearing voices, but the dishwasher. |
|
|
|
|
|
