Over 20% of Irish children report hearing voices

some random drunk

Hearing voices may affect over a fifth of schoolchildren aged 11 to 13, a psychiatric study has found.
In most cases, the auditory hallucinations stop with time, the findings show. But children who continue to hear voices could be at risk of mental illness or behavioural disorders.
Researchers carried out psychiatric assessments of almost 2,500 children aged between 11 and 16 in Dublin.
They discovered that 21%-23% of younger adolescents, aged 11 to 13, had experienced auditory hallucinations

Full article on RTE here: http://www.rte.ie/news/2012/0412/over-20-of-children-report-hearing-voices.html

I have to admit I'm very surprised by this report. It seems an extraordinarily high figure to me.
I never knew hearing "voices" was so common. I didn't hear anything growing up but I think if I'd heard anything I would have really been freaked out by it.
Probably would have been reluctant to talk about it too, I'd imagine a lot of people would have called me crazy or labelled me a "psycho". Hopefully with this report showing that hearing voices is commonplace, it will help breakdown taboos about it.
Did anyone on here hear voices growing up? Did it scare you? Did you talk to anyone about it? What are your thoughts on this?

krudler

its called daydreaming, can kids just be left be kids anymore?

justsomebloke

if only 20% of kids hear voices does that mean 80% of kids are deaf?

mikemac1

They tell me to set fire to things laddie

Dave!

That's because children are more in tune with the spirit world. As they grow older, society conditions them to ignore the voices and to conform.

foxyboxer

Burn em Ralphy, Burn em all!

Owryan

krudler wrote: »

its called daydreaming, can kids just be left be kids anymore?

Dont be silly, they cant just be left to be kids, its all about analyising and tagging kids these days.

One of mine is a bit "wild" plenty of energy, always climbing and stuff. GP wants him tested for ADHD,apsbergers n god knows what else. He s only two and enjoying being a kid FFS

Lando Griffin

They assessed 2500 children in Dublin and then claim its nationwide.
Surly a comprensive assessment should be of children from all over Ireland.
I agree with this.
Do you?
Yes I do.

davet82

i'm predicting a rise of 'the voices told me to do it' in irelands criminal courts now

Seachmall

krudler wrote: »

its called daydreaming, can kids just be left be kids anymore?

No, at least not until every nuance of human existence has been labeled a condition.

mikemac1

Looks like another generation of children are going to drugged up just for being children

There is a label and a drug for everything these days

humberklog

I wouldn't worry too much about 20% of kids hearing voices.
It's the larger percentage that don't listen is what concerns me.

Mr Benevolent

I've no problem with kids hearing voices or seeing things we can't. Their imagination is far, far better than most adults after all.

Sleepy

Aye, and according to a questionnaire we answered anonymously when I was in in secondary school about 75% of my class had cocaine habits too...

DEFTLEFTHAND

They say it just to get noticed, kids are like dogs, always vying for their owner's attention.

seamus

I don't know what to make of this "study" tbh.

How do you explain to a child what "hearing voices" should sound like? There's a general theory that it takes a little while for humans to make sense of how their head works, and so children tend to have difficulty integrating the inner monologue with the rest of their thinking, and so may often describe this as "someone inside me telling me what to do". As an inner monologue isn't always a single train of thought either, it would be very easy to describe it as a conversation going on between two or more people inside your own head.

The maturation of the brain leads to better control of the inner monlogue and more understanding internally of how it all fits together.

I don't think it's a massive leap then to suppose that most of this 20% is the simply the result of immature brains failing to understand the difference between inner monologues, daydreams and actual auditory hallucinations. This would also explain why it spontaneously "goes away" as they get older.

ChubbyHubby

How do I get my hands on the actual study? Serious question.

Victor

Note, its OK to hear your own voice in your head. It is when you hear other people's voice when you shouldn't be able to, that's when it might be a problem.

krudler wrote: »

its called daydreaming, can kids just be left be kids anymore?

While this is AH, I think thats may be a bit glib.Pretty much everyone daydreams, not everyone hears voices.

Once, I saw three coffins in the office at work. My eys were telling me there were coffins, logic and common sense told me that we don't keep coffins in work. I was only able to deduce I was halucinating.

I wasn't halucinating, the coffins were there - the builder who was fitting out the storey below us was doing a prank for Halloween.

Sometimes the mind has difficulty reconciling perception with reality.

IM0

well that fits in with 1:4/5 people will develop a mental illness stat. makes sense.

stevedublin

IM0 wrote: »

well that fits in with 1:4/5 people will develop a mental illness stat. makes sense.

decyphering your mathematical notation would make me develop a mental illness.

IM0

stevedublin wrote: »

decyphering your mathematical notation would make me develop a mental illness.

simple ratio. Ill spell it out for you. 1 in 4 or 5 people!

still not with me?

ok. well if 5 people are in a room......

Mr Benevolent

IM0 wrote: »

well that fits in with 1:4/5 people will develop a mental illness stat. makes sense.

You know nothing about mental illness, right?

IM0

Confab wrote: »

You know nothing about mental illness, right?

why
Id say I know more than most tbh

krudler

seamus wrote: »

I don't know what to make of this "study" tbh.

How do you explain to a child what "hearing voices" should sound like? There's a general theory that it takes a little while for humans to make sense of how their head works, and so children tend to have difficulty integrating the inner monologue with the rest of their thinking, and so may often describe this as "someone inside me telling me what to do". As an inner monologue isn't always a single train of thought either, it would be very easy to describe it as a conversation going on between two or more people inside your own head.

The maturation of the brain leads to better control of the inner monlogue and more understanding internally of how it all fits together.

I don't think it's a massive leap then to suppose that most of this 20% is the simply the result of immature brains failing to understand the difference between inner monologues, daydreams and actual auditory hallucinations. This would also explain why it spontaneously "goes away" as they get older.

exactly, everyone has that "ah sh1t I forgot to do that thing, ah well do it tomorrow" voice in their head, but its not an actual case of hearing voices, my inner monologue is always going.

Irish Halo

ChubbyHubby wrote: »

How do I get my hands on the actual study? Serious question.

This should be it:
http://bjp.rcpsych.org/content/early/2012/03/28/bjp.bp.111.101543

kylith

I'm willing to bet that 19% of Irish kids answered Yes just to wind up the researcher.

foxyboxer

I'm Morgan Freeman,





You are hearing my voice in your head as you read this.






:pac:

stovelid

Thanks OP.

I've just killed my children to be on the safe side.

haminka

I'll just wait till my daughter starts seeing dead people. When she spots Bruce Willis, I'll ask her to arrange a date.

RichieC

foxyboxer wrote: »

I'm Morgan Freeman,





You are hearing my voice in your head as you read this.






:pac:

Where is Morgan gone, I enjoyed his posts..

mathie

Lando Griffin wrote: »

They assessed 2500 children in Dublin and then claim its nationwide.
Surly a comprensive assessment should be of children from all over Ireland.
I agree with this.
Do you?
Yes I do.

People outside Dublin don't count.

ejmaztec

kylith wrote: »

I'm willing to bet that 19% of Irish kids answered Yes just to wind up the researcher.

Only because the voices told them to.:eek:

foxyboxer

I hear this voice when I'm in the car.

I think he said his name is Matt Cooper.

Sometimes he talks to friends too.

Duh.

al28283

Dave! wrote: »

That's because children are more in tune with the spirit world. As they grow older, society conditions them to ignore the voices and to conform.

whats your source for this?

mathie

al28283 wrote: »

whats your source for this?

The Daily Mail.

JohnMarston

I hear voices in my head, They council me, They understand, They talk to me ...

haminka

mathie wrote: »

People outside Dublin don't count.

Creatures living outside Dublin don't count as people.

Seachmall

haminka wrote: »

Creatures living outside Dublin don't count as people.

I am not a creature! I am not an animal! I am a human being! I ... am ... a ... man!

CrazyRabbit

20% of Irish children are thieving bastards. I wonder if there is a correlation?

(For those of you without that inner voice telling you already...I'm only joking)

Dave!

I

al28283 wrote: »

Dave! wrote: »

That's because children are more in tune with the spirit world. As they grow older, society conditions them to ignore the voices and to conform.

whats your source for this?

It's pretty standard science tbh, look it up

xsiborg

i had an imaginary friend too when i was younger, he did all kinds of shít and somehow i got the blame for it! when i tried to say "milko told me to do it", my parents didnt believe me, then milko would laugh at me over my shoulder. he disappeared though for some reason when i went through my "i think i might be gay" phase in puberty! :pac:

cloptrop

My dad was fixing the washing machine when I was a kid. Heleft loads of bolts and washers on the floor. I knew I wasnt to eat them but a voice told me "HE WOULDNT HAVE LEFT THEM THERE IF YOU ARNT SUPPOSED TO EAT THEM"
Casualty -x ray - very painful poo later , I never trusted the voices again .

Doc Ruby

Psychiatry! Its almost science.

later12

From the report:
Y

ounger adolescents had a higher prevalence (21–23%) of psychotic symptoms than older adolescents (7%). In both age groups the majority of adolescents who reported psychotic symptoms had at least one diagnosable non-psychotic psychiatric disorder, although associations with psychopathology increased with age: nearly 80% of the mid- adolescence sample who reported psychotic symptoms had at least one diagnosis, compared with 57% of the early adolescence sample. Adolescents who reported psychotic symptoms were at particularly high risk of having multiple co-occurring diagnoses.

I think it's fair to say there is more going on here than daydreaming.

There is a correlation that I think could actually be useful as a screening tool in assessing children's mental health.

Maybe this is something we should be asking all children?

Cork boy 55

it's like a story off the onion news network

Fluorescence

I remember once having an auditory hallucination. It was when I drifting off to sleep one night and it sounded (clear as day) as if someone was speaking right beside my ear. I can't remember what it was now, but it was a deep man's voice.

Hasn't happened before or since then. Weird.

cloptrop

Jim Corr told me that once all the children are medicated Ronald McDonald can rise again.
If you dig through the crazy stuff maybe hes onto something.

face1990

Reminds me of that South Park episode where Butters is diagnosed with multiple personalities, after they notice him slipping in and out of multiple personas while he's playing, including inspector Butters & fireman Butters.


But wait, the study is saying that psychotic symptom correlate with non-psychotic diagnoses? I don't know a whole lot about psychology but that doesn't make sense to me.
And the rate of psychosis diagnosed in the older age group was significantly lower that the younger age group? That also doesn't make sense, other than to say that these symptoms go away by themselves over the space of a few years (in which case it's a non-issue).

IM0

face1990 wrote: »

Reminds me of that South Park episode where Butters is diagnosed with multiple personalities, after they notice him slipping in and out of multiple personas while he's playing, including inspector Butters & fireman Butters.


But wait, the study is saying that psychotic symptom correlate with non-psychotic diagnoses? I don't know a whole lot about psychology but that doesn't make sense to me.

it is actually normal to hear auditory hallucinations*, it only becomes a diagnosis when it becomes a problem when it is prolonged and cyclical and interferes with your normal everyday life.

*source: consultant psychiatrist and family friend

psychosis is like a bad trip without taking acid, they both get worse the more you believe your symtoms are real, and both wont end well the longer you cling to the belief it is real

xsiborg

IM0 wrote: »

it is actually normal to hear auditory hallucinations*, it only becomes a diagnosis when it becomes a problem when it is prolonged and cyclical and interferes with your normal everyday life.

*source: consultant psychiatrist and family friend

psychosis is like a bad trip without taking acid, they both get worse the more you believe your symtoms are real, and both wont end well the longer you cling to the belief it is real

thanks for that IMO 'cause i was the same as faces1990, couldnt make head nor tails of what they were trying to say either!

i do believe though they used a very small sample group and although i imagine they were thorough in their testing, i dont know if i'd honestly believe in the whole idea of diagnosing children with disorders, especially psychiatric or psychotic disorders while their brains are still developing.

children go through different phases and i just wonder are the people who carried out this study WANTING to find something as opposed to questioning whether something exists if that makes sense?

reminds me a bit of those paranormal investigations they do on tv where they want to believe in the paranormal as opposed to finding out a creaking door just needs a squirt of oil or whatever!

snafuk35

The greatest mythology would be nothing without the voices.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U8mJwgPiarg

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2LTsvOHq3xc

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mrcwJXCLdT0