3 ms·

Off topic, but do deaf people ever hear voices?

theturtletalks 5mo ago
I’ve heard they actually see people signing at them. Also, in India, the voices are actually nice and encouraging I’ve heard.
- solumunus 5mo ago
  > Also, in India, the voices are actually nice and encouraging I’ve heard. And you’re not as skeptical of this claim?
  - hyperhello 5mo ago
    I’m not, actually. I think we all have inner voices if we listen, and it’s possible that different societies have different characteristics. One of them could be whether the environment is on the individual’s side or not. A more compatible inner voice could do better in either situation.
    - 4gotunameagain 5mo ago
      [flagged]
      - hyperhello 5mo ago
        I didn’t say inner voices are scientifically correct. I think they’re an adaptation. Maybe if India had more functioning depressives it wouldn’t be in that situation, who knows?
      - tsol 5mo ago
        Probably has more to do with how they regard hallucinations. In some cultures they're regarded as possibly mystical and a good thing, in other cultures they're regarded as strictly a sign of a malfunctioning brain which is of course bad. Even a corpse can create different feelings based on context and beliefs-- ie a corpse at a funeral is a somber memorial, a corpse lying in the street is sad and worrying.
      - hgoel 5mo ago
        And you’re not as skeptical of this claim?
  - anon291 5mo ago
    I'm not because my schizophrenic uncle moved from India to America and went psycho, moved back and was normal again.
  - DANmode 5mo ago
    Why? It wouldn’t surprise me if people felt safer around Others in general there (aside from contentedness). https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/26349837/ https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/26349837/
  - wahern 5mo ago
    There's been several studies. The same phenomenon happens in the US among a subset of people who frame the voices in terms of older cultural narratives like, e.g., hearing the dead (i.e. traditional Western spiritualism), or with immigrants who came of age overseas. The critical elements seem to be 1) how the culture primes the person to frame the hallucinations, and 2) how family, friends, and other community members receive the claims. If both are positive or at least benign, it's less likely for the symptoms to become debilitating. Stress has a well known and very strong effect on progression of the disease. If you have angry, scary, violent voices, or when the community around you reaffirms the negativity and pathological nature of the voices, your stress levels go up tremendously. The priming effect is huge, I think. American culture loves conspiracy theories, and conspiracy figures prominently in the experiences of American sufferers. Likewise for tropes like nefarious government surveillance, not to mention how both are infused with literal and tacit threats of extreme violence, or demands of violent responses. That's just not true to the same degree, if at all, most other places, with notable exceptions being other Anglo countries, which share similar cultural histories, not to mention sharing to a much greater degree Hollywood media which express and popularize these kinds of stories.
- 2ndorderthought 5mo ago
  Contrary to popular belief not all delusions and hallucinations are horrifying. Similarly, not all of them compel people to do bad things. There are cases of schizophrenics who had voices and hallucinations telling them to be good to people and go out of their way to help strangers. There's definitely all sorts though it's not like one or the other or that a person only has one type.
  - spoiler 5mo ago
    If I'm very tired (after I had insomnia for two or so days) I have mild hallucinations, and they're pretty boring/benign. But mine are more auditory than visual. This isn't unusual when people are sleep deprived though. I think lots of people just don't realise they are hallucinating in that state

I’ve heard they actually see people signing at them. Also, in India, the voices are actually nice and encouraging I’ve heard.

solumunus 5mo ago
> Also, in India, the voices are actually nice and encouraging I’ve heard. And you’re not as skeptical of this claim?
- hyperhello 5mo ago
  I’m not, actually. I think we all have inner voices if we listen, and it’s possible that different societies have different characteristics. One of them could be whether the environment is on the individual’s side or not. A more compatible inner voice could do better in either situation.
  - 4gotunameagain 5mo ago
    [flagged]
    - hyperhello 5mo ago
      I didn’t say inner voices are scientifically correct. I think they’re an adaptation. Maybe if India had more functioning depressives it wouldn’t be in that situation, who knows?
    - tsol 5mo ago
      Probably has more to do with how they regard hallucinations. In some cultures they're regarded as possibly mystical and a good thing, in other cultures they're regarded as strictly a sign of a malfunctioning brain which is of course bad. Even a corpse can create different feelings based on context and beliefs-- ie a corpse at a funeral is a somber memorial, a corpse lying in the street is sad and worrying.
    - hgoel 5mo ago
      And you’re not as skeptical of this claim?
- anon291 5mo ago
  I'm not because my schizophrenic uncle moved from India to America and went psycho, moved back and was normal again.
- DANmode 5mo ago
  Why? It wouldn’t surprise me if people felt safer around Others in general there (aside from contentedness). https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/26349837/ https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/26349837/
- wahern 5mo ago
  There's been several studies. The same phenomenon happens in the US among a subset of people who frame the voices in terms of older cultural narratives like, e.g., hearing the dead (i.e. traditional Western spiritualism), or with immigrants who came of age overseas. The critical elements seem to be 1) how the culture primes the person to frame the hallucinations, and 2) how family, friends, and other community members receive the claims. If both are positive or at least benign, it's less likely for the symptoms to become debilitating. Stress has a well known and very strong effect on progression of the disease. If you have angry, scary, violent voices, or when the community around you reaffirms the negativity and pathological nature of the voices, your stress levels go up tremendously. The priming effect is huge, I think. American culture loves conspiracy theories, and conspiracy figures prominently in the experiences of American sufferers. Likewise for tropes like nefarious government surveillance, not to mention how both are infused with literal and tacit threats of extreme violence, or demands of violent responses. That's just not true to the same degree, if at all, most other places, with notable exceptions being other Anglo countries, which share similar cultural histories, not to mention sharing to a much greater degree Hollywood media which express and popularize these kinds of stories.
2ndorderthought 5mo ago
Contrary to popular belief not all delusions and hallucinations are horrifying. Similarly, not all of them compel people to do bad things. There are cases of schizophrenics who had voices and hallucinations telling them to be good to people and go out of their way to help strangers. There's definitely all sorts though it's not like one or the other or that a person only has one type.
- spoiler 5mo ago
  If I'm very tired (after I had insomnia for two or so days) I have mild hallucinations, and they're pretty boring/benign. But mine are more auditory than visual. This isn't unusual when people are sleep deprived though. I think lots of people just don't realise they are hallucinating in that state