People with schizophrenia reveal what voices in their heads say

A GROUP of Australians have revealed the harsh reality of living with schizophrenia and the psychological toll that hearing disembodied voices can have.

“I HEAR voices all the time. Even just sitting here.”

Schizophrenia, like many mental illnesses, is a widely misunderstood diagnosis that carries a harsh stigma.

Some of the common misconceptions include believing everyone with schizophrenia has voices in their heads telling them to hurt people, or that they are all paranoid the government is out to get them.

On tonight’s episode of ABC’s You Can’t Ask That, a group of Australians with schizophrenia tackle these myths and reveal the an illness affects people in all kinds of ways.

READ: Alarming health concern among Millennials

One question asked of the guests on tonight’s episode is: Can you hear voices and what do they say?

Steve Woolley, of Melbourne, revealed that even during the interview he could hear people that weren’t there talking to him.

Sandy Jeffs and Steve Woolley have both heard voices as a result of schizophrenia. Picture: ABC

“In the early days when I was unwell, if I didn’t do what the voices told me to do they would just get louder and louder and louder,” he said.

The majority of the other interviewees explained that their medication helped to stop the voices, but said during the height of their illness they could hear dead relatives, unborn children and the devil.

Sandy Jeffs said she used to have a male and a female talking to her.

“They used to sound really crass in the way they spoke, but now in the last 10 years they’ve done elocution, so now my voices abuse me with a posh accent,” she said.

“They will tell me how evil I am, how disgusting I am, how disgusting I look, how my face is revolting, how if people touch me they will die because I will contaminate them with my oozing evil.”

Geelong resident James Mclure had the grim reaper and the devil telling him that he didn’t “deserve to eat or drink” and he almost died as a result.

One of the major issues that the participants addressed was the belief that hearing these voices meant people with schizophrenia were a danger to society.

Luana said the myth that all schizophrenic people wanted to hurt others was not only offensive but inaccurate.

“I think it comes from a lot of people who commit crimes and use mental illness as an excuse,” she said.

“I find that really upsetting and offensive.”

In fact all of the participants agreed they were more likely to hurt themselves than hurt other people.

Dr Richard Schweizer said people with schizophrenia were no more likely to be violent than anyone else and they were more likely to be the victims of violence. In fact childhood trauma is one cause of schizophrenia.

Richard Schweizer explains that schizophrenia doesn’t automatically make some violent. Picture: ABC

“It is very important to understand that only a very small percentage of people with schizophrenia are violent; in fact, people who suffer the illness are far more likely to be the victims of violence,” Dr Schweizer said.

“Do I want to kill anyone? No. All I want for the world is peace and love.”

In response to a question of whether they should be “locked up in a padded cell”, interviewees revealed that the idea that people with schizophrenia were constantly in a state of psychosis was highly inaccurate.

Despite have strong symptoms at certain points throughout their lives, people such as Luana were able to manage their schizophrenia most of the time.

“People aren’t animals; they don’t belong in cells,” she said.

“In reality, I’ve only had the symptoms for about six weeks in total over 37 years. I don’t feel like it controls me.”

Hamish and Hannah revealed some of the things the voices would say to them. Picture: ABC

Steve has even had the horrifying experience of being stripped of his clothes and locked in a padded cell alone.

“These guys grabbed me and put me in a straitjacket and I was put in a padded cell. All I had was a pillow, a mattress and one lousy blanket and I was in my underwear. That was it,” he said.

“In those days they treated us like animals.”

Schizophrenia is more common than many realise, with one in 100 people experiencing it in their life.

It usually develops between the late teens and early 30s but for some, particularly women, the symptoms can present later in life.

You can watch the full episode of You Can’t Ask That on ABC iview.