am i going crazy?

Student Lounge College Life
1

<p>before seeking medical attention, i thought i'd run this by some people who don't know me, and would give me neutral answers. </p>

<p>well, lately, these past few months it seems, i have been hearing what appears to be another voice in my head. i always thought it was just my gut talking to me, or myself talking to me. but it doesn't really sound like me. sometimes i notice that my personality completely spilts between these two voices in my head. one of the voices is very confident, smarter, and assertive. the other voice, the voice i feel is more like mine, is confused most of the time, lacks in self-esteem, and pretty much the opposite of the first voice. since i feel like they're so different, i will seperate them, calling first voice, voice A, and second voice, (mine), voice B. sometimes, these voices talk to each other in my head, possessing different personality traits... though these do sound like things i would say. it's just that i usually don't have the confident voice, especially when i'm speaking aloud. the voice i use with other people is voice B.. and usually only I hear voice A... or it comes out when I need to be confident.. assertive.. etc. </p>

<p>This may sound a little creepy... but I actually felt like voice A was just looking out for me... it hasn't told me to do anything scary or bad... but it does scream at me to wake up when i need to get to school... when voice B gets tempted to watch TV or use the net when i need to be studying, voice A commands me to do my homework. when i need to get something done, and i'm slacking, or getting distracted, voice A tells me, and a rush of adrenaline would rush through me, and i'd hurry it up a bit. This may sound like I'm just telling myself to get into a better shape and bettering myself. But wait till I tell you this.</p>

<p>I was on the bus a few days ago, and it was about 10 minutes before my stop. i usually didn't take this bus, though the route is pretty much the same from my regular bus. i fell asleep about 10 minutes before my stop, thinking that it's risky that i might miss my stop... but i went ahead and slept away. i was totally unconscious... until... all of a sudden... i hear voice A screaming at me, at my name, to wake up, and my eyes are quickly awake. I see that it is right before my stop, and the bus driver is actually going to stop at where i need to get off. is this just a coincidence? i have never been so accurate before. sure, i have never missed a bus stop when i fell asleep.. but i usually wake up 5-10 min. before my stop.. .and it's not a voice screaming at me before... my body could feel before... but my body was completely unconscious this time,, and voice A just woke me up. it sounds really creepy, i know, and i have a feeling i might be going crazy. i'm not yet, or i wouldn't admit to it. as crazy as this may sound, i actually like voice A. it's who i've always wanted to be... though i do like voice B and the dorkiness of it... sometimes when i'm lonely or by myself, the two voices debate over very silly things and laugh at each other... and say something stupid that makes me laugh. Maybe i'm just very lonely... i haven't been able to make a friend, a REAL friend, in such a long time. and i haven't been able to confide in anyone lately, or really be able to talk to someone. i just don't feel like i have it in me anymore... but sometimes, i also feel like voice A is my guardian angel... helping me do things i've always wanted to do but had no motivation to do, or couldn't do on my own. is this a bad voice? should i let it stay or shoo it away before it turns bad? how do i even make it go away? it usually just comes when i don't know what to do, or scared, or sad, or lonely.</p>

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<p>It might depend, but for me, I usually wake up from naps if it's a sudden movement, such as a car exiting the freeway and slowing down to a complete stop. I doubt that was the same with your bus, but it might just be this once. Perhaps it might take more outcomes to actually figure it out. Also, maybe internal clock, the turns, or such. I feel you got lucky so you might want to try again.</p>

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<p>To me it sounds like you should consider seeing a psychologist and asking him for professional advice on this particular instance. Anything I could add would probably be useless and possibly dangerous considering that I have practically no knowledge about psychology.</p>

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<p>I agree with iljets10. This is not the kind of situation to figure out via advice from message boards.</p>

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<p>I think a trip to a neurologist would be a smart move. Good luck to you.</p>

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<p>How real are the voices? Do they sound like someone is talking to you? Or are these thoughts that just float by? Sensory perception that isn't actually happening could be psychosis. Hallucination would be the term for an instance.</p>

<p>And thoughts that come in that don't involve sensory perception can be termed intrusive thoughts.</p>

<p>I would suggest consulting a psychologist or psychiatrist.</p>

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<p>Study a bit of basic psychology and neurology and you'll find that this isn't uncommon or creepy at all.</p>

<p>You should see a professional if this becomes something that gets in the way of you living your life. Otherwise, it's okay to have two voices in your head, especially in this way. You seem to be trying to find a balance between your limbic system (emotion center) which is voice B, and your frontal lobe (emotion regulator) which is voice A. We ALL do this.</p>

<p>The incident you described is a phenomenon that has been pretty well studied and proven. You aren't entirely unconscious when you go to sleep (that would be called death, lol). Most of the time if you know you need to get up in the morning at a certain time but don't have an alarm clock, if you go to bed fully aware of when you need to wake up, you actually will wake up at that time.</p>

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<p>Lumine, lots of us can tell ourselves to wake up at 6 am and wake up right before then -- we're not hearing voices telling us to do so, though.</p>

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<p>i would really take this seriously and seek medical attention...i dont want to jump to conclusions and say what this could possibly be, but it could definitely be serious, so dont take it too lightly -- better to be safe than sorry</p>

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<p>See a psychiatrist to be on the safe side.</p>

<p>CC is not a source of medical advice.</p>

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<p>I hear my own voice telling myself to do stuff.... is that weird? I just tell myself to do things I don't want to do but I know I should, aka wakeup, sleep, study, eat, workout, etc...</p>

12

<p>No expert, but I feel like Lumine's comments make a lot of sense here. Unless the voices are indeed telling you something bad, I doubt you're going crazy. But it doesn't hurt to chat with a psychologist and make sure everything is ok; maybe it'll help you deal with some of your issues with loneliness.</p>

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<p>But it doesn't hurt to chat with a psychologist and make sure everything is ok; maybe it'll help you deal with some of your issues with loneliness.
My thoughts exactly.</p>

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<p>I am not going to comment on your voices. I just wanted to add that whenever I fall asleep on the bus or in our car, I always wake up just before the bus stop or our home. I just internalized the turns on the road. It's not that unusual...</p>

15

<p>Wow, that is really interesting, even a bit humorous... Kind of like having the axiomatic "angel and devil" on your shoulder, albeit related to work ethic. I think we all have the voices you described, though their interactions aren't normally intelligible (at least not for me). Don't panic, just go talk to a counselor or psychologist. Hold off on the psychiatrist option, because from what I understand they just give you meds. You may not even need those, you know. Maybe you're experiencing this because you're very lonely, so you may just need someone to talk to, maybe have a heart-to-heart with. So yeah, go find a good professional who'll listen and they can help you out from there. Cheers!</p>