I’m a 16m, and for the past few months I’ve been hearing voices at night. When it first started, it was small like I heard someone saying the letter ‘V’ or something like that. Now I hear full conversations between two people both are female voices, and whenever they talk, they treat me as if I’m part of the conversation. I have never replied to them.

I can’t sleep without blasting music now, and I feel like I’m going crazy. When I talked to my mom and dad about it, they just scolded me.

  • You should speak to a doctor auditory hallucinations are a symptom of several mental health problems.

    Unfortunately, I don’t think that’s possible for now since I'm low on money

    Can you talk to some teachers about it? Or school counselors? They might have some low cost or no cost options for you

    Talk to your school nurse or guidance councillor, they will sort you out. If your parents won't take you please tell your nurse this too.

    You're a minor. Where are your parents? They should be paying for your medical care.

    OP's parents scolded them when they told them

    It pisses me off that his parents don't take this seriously. I don't know if they are anti-mental health for some reason, or just ignorant, or neglectful, or don't want to admit that their offspring might have a mental health issue, but whatever it is it makes me so mad.

    I didn't want to post this as a higher level comment because it's just me raging without offering anything constructive. But OP, if you're reading this, please seek help with the nurse or guidance counselor at your school. I'm sorry that the people who are supposed to be your strongest advocates have dropped the ball, and I hope that you can get the help you need.

    me when i don’t read

    Did you even read the story???

    Not just mental health but neurological issues as well.

  • What are they saying? Tell your school counselor or a teacher you trust. They can help you get to a therapist or psychiatrist to figure out what's going on. Hang in there, bud. 

    THIS! So much this!!!!

  • Do you take Benadryl?

    Don’t jump to conclusions yet. Check for carbon monoxide & mold. Seek professional treatment if those are ruled out.

    Yes, thank you carbon monoxide commentator excellent point this is saving lives. We always need to make the carbon monoxide comment especially in winter when everyone is running heat.

    Serious question: Why would carbon monoxide lead to auditory hallucinations? Are there any examples of this having happened before?

    yes

    Source?

    https://www.lung.org/blog/spooky-things-in-house

    In fact, carbon monoxide has been found to be the culprit in several "ghost sightings." The first recorded case dates back to 1912, when one family reported hearing voices and footsteps, seeing apparitions, and feeling a "haunting" presence, only to discover the source was a faulty furnace that had been leaking the poisonous gas.

    The post you linked doesn't list any auditory hallucinations at all.

    didn't say it did..

    It's literally what I was asking about just a few short comments up the thread.

    look up the definition of the word relevant

    Dude, literally look on Reddit about people that thought they were succumb to schizophrenia. It was just low blood oxygen at night because the heat was on and they were getting carbon monoxide poisoning.

    Some of the like legendary Reddit posts are carbon monoxide rescues from commenters

    High doses of Benadryl years ago made me think the sound the furnace motor made were actually voices from a tv. You ever been in one room sleeping with a tv On in the other room? The voices on tv are difficult to hear so I just know people are talking. My furnace motor made sounds around the same frequency of people talking.

    Hence my brain tried to create whispering words

  • I had the same problem. A psychiatrist gave me a pill called Risperidon and that fixed it.

  • Thank you for being brave and saying this out loud. You’re only young, and this could be due to a number of different reasons. I’m sorry to hear that that’s how your parents responded. Depending on your area, there will likely be numbers you can call (anonymously) where you can talk this through, with somebody that is trained to give you advice. Do you feel ok otherwise?

  • Auditory hallucinations at night seem likely to be a hypnogogic hallucination. Think of it like... Your brain glitched it's order of operations for sleeping and dreaming so you're dreaming while still kind of awake. I sometimes hear voices but usually it's smashing/crashing noises because I have Exploding Head Syndrome (my hallucinations sound like explosions). I have woken up my other half so many many nights thinking someone was breaking into our house lol. 

    You should talk to your doctor. It can just be that on its own or it could be a symptom of something worse like for example a brain tumor or development of schizophrenia. 

    I have hypnogogic hallucinations too, but it would never ever get close to being full conversations that I’d have to blast music to drown out. I don’t think that’s the case with OP, but the only person who would know for sure is a professional.

    For all we know it could be a weird echo from a neighbor's house. Either way ruling out brain damage is important.

  • Okay sweetheart I don't want to scare you but this is really serious. It could be something like carbon monoxide poisoning which causes hallucinations. But this could also be an auditory presentation of schizophrenia.

    Unfortunately I have a great deal of family experience with this. Most schizophrenics first start presenting symptoms in roughly the 15 to 23-year-old age range. Not all. And I was lucky enough to find out that one of my cousins had late onset schizophrenia which I didn't know could occur. So apparently I'm not even in the safety zone now that I'm in my 40s.

    There are other things that could be too but what it is not is normal. Please please get help for so many reasons. Obviously you don't want to reach a point where you hurt yourself or others because of it, whether because you begin to believe the hallucinations or because you desperately want them to stop. But also you don't have to be scared and miserable. Finding the right medication(s) can be a process of trial and error but the vast majority of people with these types of problems can be treated and live a mostly normal life.

    Good luck sweetheart

    My grandmother got diagnosed with late onset schizophrenia when she was 93.

    She would have visual hallucinations and knew they were hallucinations most of the time. “That nurse wanted me to play hopscotch. I’m pretty sure no nurse would ask a 95 year old to play hopscotch.”

    But then she’d call and ask why one of her grandchildren weren’t visiting because a nurse told her one of us was coming, but we couldn’t. (Covid- we weren’t allowed.)

    I grew up in a household with my adult cousin. He was at 300 lb undifferentiated schizophrenic with bipolar.

    There are some sad stories but there are some truly terrifying ones too. He died years ago but I just had a nightmare a couple of nights ago like the ones I would have when I was a kid and a teenager.

    He'd be f****** my life up with a smile throwing things breaking things hitting neighbors throwing things at repair people getting us kicked out of homes while I pleaded and yelled for him to stop. And the people around me in the dream and in real life to be honest would tell me that I was the one overreacting and causing a scene. And then I had to smile and go on with whatever I was supposed to do next. I think I know what triggered this recent nightmare but I'm not happy about it

    I'm sorry that your grandmother's were sad. I hope they didn't frighten her

  • Go to your school counselor and let them know and keep them in the loop. If your parents won't act then others will. Don't let your parents discouragement push you away from fixing your mental health. If you do you'll be the one suffering the consequences. Your parents may love you but don't understand but their lack of understanding shouldn't trump your mental well-being...

  • Do you remember your dreams? Is it part of a dream like experience?

    Maybe it's a part of sleep paralysis or something

  • Not to be that person, but just so it's put out there: drugs can cause auditory hallucinations, as can sleep deprivation. I know on day 3 of no sleep on opiates, I heard voices all the time. Even weed, if your body reacts to it that way. If you don't do drugs, rule this out and seek medical help!! Seek help regardless!!

    How did you go 3 days without sleep on opiates???

    Anxiety, caffeine, and insomnia 😀 opiates do calm your thoughts, but only if you actually get, well, sedated.

  • You’re not crazy, but this is something you need real help with, not scolding. Hearing voices like that is a medical and mental health issue, especially at your age, and it’s important to talk to a doctor, school counselor, or another trusted adult as soon as possible. Even if your parents aren’t taking it seriously right now, please keep pushing for professional help. You deserve support and you don’t have to deal with this alone.

  • You should tell your school counselor about it. That sounds like early stages of some sort of mental illness

  • Before I became deaf. I was hearing all kinds of things. Please have your hearing checked.

  • Please, PLEASE, talk to a doctor immediately. Just find a way. They sound like auditory hallucinations and could be a sign of psychosis.

  • Is there a carbon monoxide detector in your home?

  • Hello friend! I'm so relieved you can admit you're going through this, a lot of people get stuck in fear and shame so I know that taking the step to reach out is scary and I just wanna say you're really brave for doing that. 🩷 The next thing. You are 16, you're experiencing full swing primordial soup of hormones that can literally create psychosis or psychedelic symptoms. The illicit chemicals that some people like to procure for fun actually work by triggering those same puberty chemicals in your brain. All that to say, those hormones are the biomechanism that make us hallucinate. Many people experience psychosis in puberty and it fades as you learn to take care and regulate these new body/ brain features. Some people find out that it's a feature of their merging adult personality. You may see more peers around you talking about bipolar diagnosis and BPD, it's all related to these hormones that your body is learning how to acclimate to.

    You're gonna be okay, hallucinating is not a permanent state. Don't give up, ask any other safe adults you can. You can talk to a school guidance counselor or nurse or if you got a friend who's mom is a nurse etc, they already have experience and knowledge and they'll help you advocate with your parents and make sure they understand you and take you seriously.

    psychosis is a scary word in our culture and people really throw it around to discredit others or describe antisocial behavior. In reality, just means "illness of the mind" Nobody's immune and you're not alone. 🩵

  • Hey my friend, Doctor here. You need to go to a trusted adult and tell them you need help, this type of thing is more common than you think but very well could get a lot worse without help. Please don’t be afraid or embarrassed

  • Try calling around for free or sliding scale mental health care . They are out there,if you can talk to a school counselor and see if they have any ideas on where you can get help. Sorry to hear that your parents are not helpful.

  • Do you otherwise sleep well?

  • Talk to a school counselor, and maybe they will be able to talk sense into your parents. Do you think your parents can be convinced, or are they extremely hard headed? I’m no psychiatrist but I think you need an antipsychotic medication as well as a diagnosis so you can understand what is happening. Do you have a family history of schizophrenia? Even if you don’t know of any diagnosis, do you know any family that seem to be out of touch with reality? It’s often genetic, and I wonder if your parents would understand more if you compare yourself to other family. Just remember, this does not make you crazy. There are millions of people that live happy lives with schizophrenia. The key is knowing that you are having hallucinations so that you can learn to decipher what is real and what is not. Some people even have service dogs that help by telling them when a person is real or a hallucination.

  • I had auditory hallucinations when I was your age. I didn't seek medical treatment because mental health treatment was brutal in the '90s, and I was fortunate enough to have it go away in my early 20s.

    If medical attention is definitely not an option, what worked for me was calling it "brain radio", like background noise. You don't need to drown it out. Just let it wash over you, without responding, just like the radio is on. See if it doesn't ease up once you've had some sleep.

    Also, check for any large magnetic speakers in the room. I know that's quite retro tech but worth checking.

  • Time to get a carbon monoxide detector

    I was looking for this comment!! OP should read this

    ⚠️ carbon monoxide mention ⚠️

  • Are you sleep deprived? It sounds a bit like Exploding Head Syndrome. It happens sometimes to people as they're falling asleep, and causes them to hear conversations. It happens to me if I'm very sleep deprived. I doubt it's anything more serious unless it starts happening throughout the day while fully awake.

  • Probably trauma response. Good luck

  • "V has come to"

  • Do you use any substances

  • Op, can you sleep somewhere else for a night or two over Holliday? See if you experience it away from your house. Carbon Monoxide mention.

    That's a good idea! Also wouldn't Carbon Monoxide be affecting everyone in the house and not the one...

    Not necessarily- depends on the layout and where the gas pools

  • I thought about this a little bit, your parents reaction might have been rooted in a little bit of fear and denial. Totally understandable as they don't want you to have troubles they can't fix themselves. Sometimes kids do prank about these things and they would genuinely prefer that over your real crisis. Maybe approaching them calmly but sternly about it after that initial vibe of scolding has passed, it might compel them to answer you seriously and support you.

  • Well..I can't sleep sometimes for some reason and I start hearing people also talking?? Idk I force myself to wake up(of a mid sleep state?) when I start hearing them, I get in a state I can't move and just hear the voices and can't breath, idk what it is, but I hope you get better off what you have!

  • My ex had this as part of DID or a similar condition, probably owing to a variety of childhood trauma and other mental health conditions. That is a possible reason for it

  • You seem to have habituated auditory hallucinations. I've had it since I was 15. Habituated auditory hallucinations are a sign of an overly active subconcious problem solving skills. Your brain is trying to order boring background noises into recognizable patterns, and it's ready to invent something to do it.

    My main HAH happens when I have fans running in the background, I usually hear a heavy metal soundtrack (at this point it's precise enough that I can easily hum it to people.) Last night my aquarium became the Rimworld default menu soundtrack for as long as it took me to fall asleep.

    If you have an active imagination: Congratulations! You have a possible future in creative work!

  • Dude check your carbon monoxide levels in your room..

  • Could perhaps be something super natural going on. If a spirit notices you noticing it, that can sometimes make things escalate. Stop paying attention to the voices. Do not speak of them out loud to anyone. Just pretend you hear nothing. You can read a book out loud to drown them out. Hopefully they will move on and stop bothering you.

    If after a few weeks things haven't chilled out you will need to undo what you started by participating in the whole thing. Be strong and order them to leave your property immediately not to return. Make sure you believe they will do as you say before confrontation.

    I hope things get better for you and this goes away.

  • Yeah Ghosts are real. But don't worry they are harmless unless you do something to them. Now some scientists might come with the words “HALLUCINATION, DELUSION, ILLUSION ”.etc. but the ones that experienced paranormal stuff knows the deal. I remember my childhood when I was 15 and started living alone without my dad for the first time. I felt exactly the same as you did but instead of hearing voices I could feel someone walking past me, footsteps, running noises, shower noises from the bathroom of my room. Yeah but got along with them over time. It's pretty normal. They're called djinn btw