About a year ago, I was trying to fall asleep in a relative’s house when I began to hear noises coming from the fireplace…it was kind of like marching feet or a match being lit…It persisted for a few hours and then I fell asleep, never to hear them again (but I did develope a fear of the fireplace). I know that the sounds were in my head because when I concentrated on something else hearing related (e.g. singing a song in my head) it went away, but if I stopped concentrating the sounds would return. It scared me half to death, but I have never had an experiance like that since. I also know quite a few other people who have occasional auditory hallucinations. Just how common is this? why does it happen? thanks in advance.
I have a very good auditory memory, so when I get a song stuck in my head, it’s every bit of the song, not just the lyrics. Sometimes, when I’m not quite fully awake, I’ll think I hear music somewhere. There are two ways that I can determine whether it’s really there:
1: Wake up completely. This is not always possible.
2: Try to will the volume of the music to change. If it does, it’s in my head.
Usually, the music is a song I’ve heard before, but sometimes (when falling asleep and very tired) it seems to be an original composition. Usually in swing or classical style.
Also, occasionally, I’ll think I hear the AIM or ICQ incoming message sound even when I’m nowhere near a computer. But there’s still a quality about it that lets me know it’s subjective.
Once, when I was alone, I heard someone say ``eight inches of love,’’ for whatever reason…
Other times I think I’m hearing stuff but it turned out to be a barely audible radio or a television set in an adjacent room.
``All of your dreams will come true. All of my dreams came true, but now… I have a bunch of other dreams.’’ – Sonic Youth.
I have them from time to time. Never understood them, but generally they’re pretty innocuous. Usually pretty vague, rarely very specific.
Maybe this is what’s happening when people think that they’re getting messages from ETs throught their dental fillings! Who knows.
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Im deafened, I hear voices, music, etc. You’re only nuts if you take them serious, though 
I haven’t had it happen in ages, but I remember a few times when I’d hear my Mom’s voice calling me… then I’d realize that my parents were out for the afternoon… and after I moved out, it’s happened a couple times… usually when I’m doing something I shouldn’t be…
one thing that really freaked me out once, was the night my daughter was born… I was back home, while my then-girlfriend (now wife) was still at the hospital, and I was sleeping, when I distinctly head a voice in my head say “she’s dead.” can you just imagine how fast I woke up then?? Fortunately, the next morning, when I called the hospital, they were just fine… ::phew::
but it sounded very real at the time…
I don’t suffer from insanity…
I enjoy every minute of it!
“AHHHHHHHHHH! INCOMING!”
Wheww!
VB
Some people say that cats are sneaky, evil, and cruel. True, and they have many other fine qualities as well.
Weird, I get this too, it’s some guy who won’t stop saying “Go and drink beer, go and drink beer” until I do.
You get that as well Android? I thought I was the only one…
You two don’t have to worry, there is help.
www.goanddrinkbeer.org is there to help you.
I usually here things just as I’m drifting off. Usually voices of friends.
I sold my soul to Satan for a dollar. I got it in the mail.
I have had a few experiences with this, only one scary:
- When I was about 16, I was awakened in terror by a hissing noise in my room. It was a short 1-1.5 second hiss, quite loud, and repeated at random intervals. I immediately called for help, as I was terrified, and after my Mom had entered the room I didn’t hear it again. It never happened again, and I never knew what it was. But it did lead to me sleeping with a light/TV on for the next, oh, 10 years.
- One very late night at age 21, driving home after being completely mentally and physically exhausted from a 12-hour work shift, I heard the entirety of Rush’s “Vital Signs” in my head, and I could not get rid of it even by turning on the radio. It played once, and stopped.
- One night at age 26, when pulling a 36-hour straight shift to meet a project deadline, I kept hearing the sounds of keyboards clacking (as if they were being typed on) in my office. It was very real sounding, and the co-worker there said he couldn’t hear anything.
Overall, although they can be disturbing (or very disturbing as the hissing was), I have convinced myself that they are harmless phantoms of the mind.
Either that or demons are trying to drive me insane. Maybe a little from Column A, a little from Column B…
The Prince: “Did you kill Jahamaraj Jah?”
Lady: “Yes.”
The Prince: “My Gods! Why?”
Lady: “His existence offended me.”
I’ve never heard sounds that weren’t there, but sometimes the sounds of creeks in the wilderness sound like people’s voices, though without distinguishable words. The last time I listend to such a creek, it seemed a little more like voices than before – like maybe, on aging, fewer neurons were dedicated to such a matter of distiction maybe.
Ray (I don’t hear any bells; that’s a flock of geese going overhead.)
I know this sounds dumb, but did you ever hear a cow cough? It sounds so human it’s incredible.
I think a lot of animals sound human. I’ve heard crows that almost emit a voice like call. Certain cats can sound just like a woman’s scream. My dog has a certain bark/howl that you could almost swear was human.