OK, not actually voices, but sound hallucinations. I am by no means hearing a voice telling me to turn over all my money over to some goof on TV or to hurt children, animals or vegetables.
The past week I have heard what sounds like children playing at a pool or on a playground. It is faint and slightly garbled.
The strange thing is I am in no area of town where such a ruckus is logical or reasonably possible.
What causes the brain to hear noises that are not there?
Is this normal? is this a fluke? or an I going dribbling mad crazy?
A Google search for “auditory hallucinations” turned up:
[ul]
[li]Ear wax and the resultant tinnitus.[/li][li]Tinnitus in general, frequently due to loud rock music (damage).[/li][li]Parkinson’s.[/li][li]Schizophrenia.[/li][li]Bipolar disorder.[/li][li]Malingering.[/li][/ul]
And a whole bundle of other possible causes, courtesy of the NIH. See a doctor, eh? Find out whassup.
Late teens to mid-twenties is the typical age for onset of schizophrenia.
Over forty? Think tinnitus.
Another possibility is an acoustic neuroma (a benign but troublesome tumor).
Go see your doctor if this doesn’t resolve soon. Hope it’s nothing.
I’ve heard that - don’t laugh - dental fillings (of all things) can act as a radio receiver and pick up local radio stations. Snopes has a related story but seems ambivalent on the subject.
On a much more serious note, I am in the middle of “The Man Who Mistook His Wife For A Hat” by Oliver Sachs; one of the patients he describes suffered from auditory hallucinations due to a brain tumor stimulating some part of her brain. It was causing memories from her childhood to resurface. This is probably way out there and I wouldn’t want to panic you for something as improbable as that, but if this doesn’t clear up it definitely sounds like something you should ask your doctor about. (Just noticed ejrn mentioned something similar).
Of course, look for the simple stuff first - a radio playing somewhere in your house (or left on in a neighbor’s house) for example.
I’ve heard that - don’t laugh - dental fillings (of all things) can act as a radio receiver and pick up local radio stations. Snopes has a related story but seems ambivalent on the subject.
On a much more serious note, I am in the middle of “The Man Who Mistook His Wife For A Hat” by Oliver Sachs; one of the patients he describes suffered from auditory hallucinations due to a brain tumor stimulating some part of her brain. It was causing memories from her childhood to resurface. This is probably way out there and I wouldn’t want to panic you for something as improbable as that, but if this doesn’t clear up it definitely sounds like something you should ask your doctor about. (Just noticed ejrn mentioned something similar).
Of course, look for the simple stuff first - a radio playing somewhere in your house (or left on in a neighbor’s house) for example.
Something I know a little about.
I’ve been an insomniac for quite a spell now, and if you’re hearing these things at night or while nothing is happening, it’s your brain shutting down before you fall asleep. Dreaming while awake. If this is the case just be glad you aren’t getting any visual hallucinations, and try to get some more sleep.
Also, you may want to check the side effects of any medication you’re taking.
As a WAG what you are hearing as the sound of far off, muddled tinkling laughter that you are translating as “voices” may be quite real and not an auditory “made up” hallucination, so much as it is a more of a mis-interpreted “mirage”. It could be the high end of the auditory ringing “burble” of fluid(s) (blood etc.) in your head resonating in your auditory canal. Think of the sound the water makes (like a ringing telephone) in the shower or when you pee in the toilet. Your ears are blocked at some point deep in the ear canal and this tinkling, burbling “kiddy laughter” is what you hear as fluids move past.
astro has a good possibility. I’ve from time to time heard things which shouldn’t have been there, and they nearly always are garbled vague noises extracted from a background din which I find myself straining to interpret as recognisable. Fans/air-conditioners will sometimes do this for me, sounding like quiet conversations where I can’t make out any words (and yes, I’ve had that “kids at the pool/playground” thing, too). I put it down to a phenomenon similar to seeing faces in clouds: given enough chaotic information, your brain will try to make sense out of what it’s getting, and organise it into comprehensible patterns.
Wow, Cecil even refers to Oliver Sachs in that article. (And I was prompted to read the book in the first place by another thread here on the SDMB - how circular!)
Thanks everyone, I feared someone posting more jokes than useful information. I ugess more information would be useful.
DDG
I would not call it a raging ear wax problem, but I do get a lot of goop out of the old ears every morning.
Malingering? I do not fake an illness for the benift of ditching work.
Samclem.
Actually I did have a filling put in a month ago. Also I am close to the point of having to get the upper wisdom teeth pulled.
ejrn
I am 31.
HIppy
I have those as well (at night) yet I reckognized them for what they are after I focus on the odd noise for a while. Sometimes getting out of bed to track the noise down. I used to get freaked out as a child. I would imagine a monster breathing near my ear, only to later discover it was a ceiling fan inthe next room.
Astro.
Glad to see someone else has experienced the same thing.
Does this mean they forgive us for not drinking the koolaid and missing the comet and now coming back for us? (joking)
Dijon Warlock
That could also be it. I am in a Work van driving around town most times. With no AC I drive with the windows down. My brain might be translating the wind and rattling of tools as something familiar.
As for my money No chance, yet if you want to take over what debt I have your more than welcome to it
Could the wisdom teeth be putting pressure on my skull/head and in effect doing as tumor as DarrenS mentioned?
