Is it normal to hear a voice in your head?

by Mary Gregory | Ask a Psychologist | 12 comments

Is it normal to hear a voice in your head?I hear a voice in my head that doesn’t sound like my voice.I can have a conversation with the voice and the voice replies. Sometimes I hear another voice and I think it is female. I am not sure and that voice is mean.I don’t know if this could be an indication of a mental illness?Karen

Thank you for your question Karen.Voice hearing is often called auditory verbal hallucinations in the research literature.Hearing a voice or voices is not an uncommon occurrence with between0.6% and 84% of the population hearing voices that other people don’t. The content and tone of the voices people hear is often different with some people finding the voices comforting while others find them distressing.A persons cultural or spiritual context can also impact their understanding of the voices and the level of distress they feel from hearing the voices.

Researchhas suggested that hearing voices does not necessarily indicate that someone is going to develop a psychosis or schizophrenia.Generally, an indication that someone may benefit from help or treatment for their voices is that you have negative experiences or beliefs from the voices.This can include negative content, frequency or emotional tone.In your message you say that the voice you hear is “mean”. As this voice is negative it indicates that you would benefit from discussing your voices with a health professional (i.e. your GP or a psychologist).I would suggest you make an appointment with a psychologist so they can further assess your situation.

There have been many advances in treatment and there are psychological treatments which can assist with the symptoms you describe.Cognitive Behaviour Therapy (CBT) has been found to be effective in the treatment of voices, delusions, or other psychotic symptoms.This treatment is based on the idea that some people are genetically predisposed to these types of experiences and that if they have stressful experiences their vulnerability to psychosis may be expressed.Treatment for voices focuses on helping you learn techniques for coping with stress and decreasing the distress and disturbance from these experiences.You and your therapist would work together to find ways to distract you from the voices and decrease the problems that can be associated with hearing voices.Alongside CBT some people also find medications helpful and a Psychiatrist or your GP would be able to discuss these with you.

Without further assessment I can’t tell you whether the voices you hear are an indication of a mental illness, however if you are distressed by your voices it is important to know there are effective treatments which can help you to manage these experiences.

Scarlett on 06/12/2020 at 7:05 pm
I heard a voice in my mind that I cant explain how but it is VERY VERY different than my own voice which I cant even voice act it because it’s possible it’s like a girl in my mind talked one word for me when I was talking in my mind and I can know it’s not someone because my brother was sleeping in his room my mom and sister were out getting clothes and my dad is in another country since he works there so how is it a person in another room or someone and it’s not the neighbour’s since their voices aren’t the same at ALL from what girl voice I heard in my mind/head it’s like she wanted to continue the word I was going to say like it’s not even youtube or anything too because what i watch is mostly boys on minecraft and also I was speaking my own language not English which the boys speaked english and the girl spoke my own language how is it possible to hear someone in my mind that randomly and especially a voice i never EVER heard before and if it was someone i heard on the past how would my mind remember when I was like 3 or 2???!?!?
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- Vicki on 21/01/2021 at 10:56 pm
  I can hear a voice in my head and have a full on conversation with him. and i’m a girl, so it can’t be like me if that makes sense. and he’s nice and kind and when i’m sad he will talk to me and i won’t be sad anymore, or when i’m in physical pain I hear his voice and the pain goes away. so it’s not really a bad thing but i want to know what it is. And i’m scared to tell someone because i don’t want them to laugh or call be crazy, please help
  See Also
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  - Yuki on 07/02/2021 at 5:29 am
    That might be Dissociative identity disordwr
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    - Adrian on 21/02/2021 at 2:04 am
      I have multiple voices in my head and I have no idea what or why they are there.
      I have a voice who acts exactly like a little girl. I am able to have full conversations with her. She can’t be me, and we are both convinced she is a different person. I talk to her when I am lonely, or she reaches out to me when the other voices pick on her.
      Another voice is less of a voice and more of a completely different person like the little girl, but he is older so he has more complex thoughts and feelings.
      Once I felt myself leave my body and a new person forced into my place. I can barely remember what happened even though it was only a few days ago, but a different person was shoved into my body like some sort of kids movie. I remember that he was terrified and confused.
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  - Adrian on 21/02/2021 at 2:07 am
    Hey same
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elizabeth on 16/01/2021 at 8:27 am
how can it be a hallucination when its inside of your head , you can imagine its coming from the outside but its not its coming from the inside . therefore the brain must be producing the voice and its not imaginary . when your dreaming you can talk to other people when your dreaming and hear people talking its possibly coming from the same source .
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Weetie on 24/02/2021 at 11:22 pm
I hear a voice in my head it sounds like me ever since I was a kid it would tell me “your family is gonna die” or something negative and it would haunt me at night so I would repeat over and over again that that’s not gonna happen but that voice would over lap mine and get louder so I’d start over again almost like it was interrupting me it still happens and I don’t know what that means
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Brock on 26/02/2021 at 7:58 am
I just had something lasnjgjy where I was asleep and heard a voice in my head saying dial 000 immediately and then I woke up and sat up and while I was conscious I could still hear it in my head and then from my eyes up to the top of my head all the way around when fuzzy I felt light headed and then my hand went numb, do you think it’s possible my brain was telling me to call 000 because something was wrong like it knew that was the response to help me or was it just a panic attack? Brock
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Ethan on 24/03/2021 at 1:23 pm
I here a voice sometimes, telling me to do bad things, Im a failure the ladys voice tells me, I am nothing but an empty abyss of loneliness and sadness, that i wont be anything like my brother, never better only worse, and i hate it, i only just not want to get made fun of, but its a voice of hate.
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Random on 26/03/2021 at 7:23 pm
I hear voices and they are constant and never really stop..
They’re not mean or commanding or anything it’s more “other people” around me stating what I’m doing or what “their thoughts” are of me in situations.. i feel like its honestly just my internal monologue but it really gets annoying
Its at the point where I feel like I’m reading everyone’s mind, which is redicculous and I know that’s not what’s actually happening but it feels like it is.. I don’t know what to do about it, i just want it to shut off so I can have some internal silence, no matter what I’m doing I hear people “talking about me” I’m wondering if maybe there’s other people that are experiencing what I have been and can give me a bit of clarification on what’s going on in my head..
This has been happening since I was very young.. since I can remember..
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Ella on 10/04/2021 at 12:55 am
I hear a voice, that I’m not sure if it sound different or not. In a way it doesn’t have a voice? I’m not sure how to explain it, but it tells me things like for example “don’t go in there your sisters asleep” even tho I just saw her awake in the other room? It happens quite a bit and I can have conversations with it sometimes.?
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Anne Foster on 02/12/2023 at 11:19 am
I don’t know if the voice in my head might be my higher self, it says my name first then says whatever it needs to say.
It is usually short and wise.
Like… Anne just observe nature.
OR… Anne go into the water, water is healing.
These messages come to me when I am sometimes feeling distressed.
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Is it normal to hear a voice in your head? - PsychHelp (2024)

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