The voices in my head.

Whilst trawling through the library of Australian Broadcasting Corporation's podcasts, I discovered a podcast dealing with intrusive thoughts and voice hearing. It's an interesting subject and a fascinating exploration into the field of neuro-psychology.

Podcast download:http://mpegmedia.abc.net.au/rn/podcast/2013/12/aim_20131201.mp3

 

I can deal with the voices in my head...It's the ones in the wall that keep me up at night!

 

I used to try to ignore the voices in my head, I knew they weren't real....But then I realized they made so damned much sense.

 

Ummm, I suppose you think we're all jealous because the voices are speaking to you instead of us? You do don't you?

 

No. Not at all. Most people have some kind of internal dialogue going on in their head... some call that voice God. I'm no more jealous of other folks' God voices than others are jealous of the parliament debating in my head.

 

They have meds for that, at least that's what the voices tell me!

 

This thread may be an unusual topic for a Prepping site, but it is, according to the researchers featured in the podcast, suggested that some 4% or more of the general population experience / perceive intrusive voices and / or sounds to some extent in their daily life. In the event of a societal breakdown...and even if society trundles along as is...the odds are that you will at some time or other come across someone who hears voices.

I guess it's easy to treat the issue flippantly, but it's worth knowing that there are resources available to assist those for whom hearing voices is disruptive to the quality of their life. This has been a public service announcement.

For more information:

Hearing Voices Network USA

http://hearingvoicescymru.org/wp-co...earing-Voices-Resources-USA-Final-version.pdf

In Your Head: Hearing Voices | Psychology Today

 

The subject is reasonable for consideration, particularly on a prepper site, I believe. "Particularly," because any disruption to societal norms is certainly going to exacerbate the existing difficulties that many struggle to cope with, on a daily basis, even while enjoying a "normal" lifestyle.

These people, when confronted with the fact that the world as they knew it has ceased to exist, will begin to exhibit a host of psychological symptoms, as a means of coping. These folks may be strangers, or neighbors; or even family or team members, who had previously seemed well adjusted. Stress can do funny things to people.

I've seen it happen on military deployments. I went to sea with a fellow SNCO some years back, a friend of mine, who seemed to be the most well adjusted fellow you could imagine - married, children, well-educated, fifteen years in the Marine Corps; and he snapped the first week out. Nothing violent, or lunatic; he just stopped talking. He would refuse to verbally acknowledge anyone; be they friend, superior, or subordinate. He would just look at you with a vacant expression, and walk away. He reverted to an earlier position, and set of work skills; he went from being the Operations Chief (an E-7/8 billet) to a linguist (an E-3/4 billet). Instead of taking his position at the intelligence reporting desk, one morning he walked over to an empty chair in front of a collection position, and began to work. He would collect information, transcribe it, translate it, and drop it on the reporter's desk, and return to his seat, without uttering a sound. I, as assistant Ops Chief, took over his duties; and we simply had an extra intelligence collector.

We all debated what to do about the situation, but since he was still functioning at an intellectually high level, and had made no threatening gestures or comments concerning his own safety or that of anyone else, we decided to let it play out. One afternoon, after three months, I was getting dressed, preparing to go on for the afternoon shift, and he turned to me and said - "You want to grab some lunch before watch?" I about fell out. I gathered myself and said "sure." We grabbed some lunch and made our way to the work space. He walked in, sat down at the supervisor's desk, and carried on with the duties commensurate with his billet of Operations Chief. He didn't mention his three-month-long vacation from reality, and none of us did either.

I think you see a similar situation when people have to deal with grief, as in the death of a loved one. People will often busy themselves with mindless tasks - washing dishes, cutting grass, cleaning the house, cooking; whatever it takes to make it through the day. I believe that in a post SHTF world, we will see this type of behavior writ large upon the society as a whole - people trying to act as though nothing is wrong. It is worth considering the fact that some of the people you intend to count upon to be leaders and decision-makers within a family unit or team, may not be up to the task, either temporarily or permanently. Maybe they will just check out of reality, and downgrade their functionality, or maybe they will start hearing voices. Do you have a "Plan-B?" Now is a better time to consider these possibilities than later.

 

Thankyou for a thoughtful and well reasoned reply.

 

In addition, we have another thread about if you would be here now without medication. Post SHTF, those who need them, are not likely to be getting them. Including those drugs that keep some people on track.

 

Am of the belief that IF you have accepted Jesus as your personal savior then The Holy Spirit is as big a part of your being as you allow Him to be. The indwelling of the HS is a real and vibrant part of a believer's life--if we allow it. Trouble is with me I keep letting other forces lead me to do things/say things/go places that I should not. If one is not a believer in the gift of Jesus's life then it does not make them a bad person--just puts one at "arm's length" from guidance from above. Hope any reading this will consider that relationship for their life's journey.

 

-06's post does touch upon a relevant element in any discussion of mental illness, I believe; in that people need something to hold onto. It is my thought that the primary issue underlying the difficulties that many of our military veterans suffer is the fact that they feel that they have nothing to hold onto. Repeated deployments can render "the real world" seemingly ingenuine, and unimportant. These veterans have formed bonds of loyalty with their fellow service members, they have developed their military skills to a fine art, they are respected within their units, and they have a purpose. They exit the military, and all of that evaporates. Their new reality is the ingenuine, unimportant world that they eschewed while in uniform. The idea of working an eight to five job, running a cash register or shuffling papers, seems ridiculous. So many of them drift, purposeless, and directionless.

Anyway, the point that I'm trying to get at with my rambling is that we may want to consider possible remedies for a family member, or team member, mentally checking out during a societal disruption. It is my thought that helping to provide a purpose for that individual may be that remedy. If someone is no longer capable of functioning at their normal level, providing them with simple tasks which they are able to complete may be a good short term fix. A longer term fix may be helping them find a larger purpose. For many of us, the larger purpose that keeps us connected to this world may be our children or grandchildren. For others, it may be our careers. For others, it may be logic and reason; and for others, it might be religious belief.

 

My problem is that some folk lean so heavily upon the church, that they can not stand alone. I had neighbors who tithed to their church more than was wise in their financial situation. why? because that was the percentage they were told was their due pledge. They always had trouble paying their bills, lost a car to the bank, and lost a furnace in the middle of the winter, and had to BORROW from their church to get them out of a hole. They gave so much, they created their own hardship case, and COULD NOT recover on their own. They created their own dependency.

 

Well, you are right to separate the two. church and faith. I hold to my beliefs, but I haven't set foot in a church other than a few weddings, since my own wedding. I would agree it is people who flaw the church, in general.

 

sorry, forgot the OP. My bad.