The voices in my head
5,716,739 views | Eleanor Longden • TED2013
To all appearances, Eleanor Longden was just like every other student, heading to college full of promise and without a care in the world. That was until the voices in her head started talking. Initially innocuous, these internal narrators became increasingly antagonistic and dictatorial, turning her life into a living nightmare. Diagnosed with schizophrenia, hospitalized, drugged, Longden was discarded by a system that didn't know how to help her. Longden tells the moving tale of her years-long journey back to mental health, and makes the case that it was through learning to listen to her voices that she was able to survive.
To all appearances, Eleanor Longden was just like every other student, heading to college full of promise and without a care in the world. That was until the voices in her head started talking. Initially innocuous, these internal narrators became increasingly antagonistic and dictatorial, turning her life into a living nightmare. Diagnosed with schizophrenia, hospitalized, drugged, Longden was discarded by a system that didn't know how to help her. Longden tells the moving tale of her years-long journey back to mental health, and makes the case that it was through learning to listen to her voices that she was able to survive.
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Join a community that spreads non-stigmatizing messages about voice hearing and offers solidarity to those who hear voices.
About the speaker
Eleanor Longden overcame her diagnosis of schizophrenia to earn a master’s in psychology and demonstrate that the voices in her head were “a sane reaction to insane circumstances.”
Suzette Boon et al. | W. W. Norton, 2011 | Book
Coping with Trauma-Related Dissociation
An accessible, reassuring book that offers practical guidance for trauma survivors and their supporters in working towards healing and recovery.
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The origins of voices: Links between voice hearing and life history in a survey of 100 cases
We’re often told that voices are a meaningless symptom of illness, with no more psychological relevance than a headache or chest pain. In fact, the content and characteristics of voices can provide important insights into emotional and social conflict. This article uses findings from 100 voice hearers (mostly diagnosed with schizophrenia) to show how voices often make sense in the context of people’s lives — and how this information can help guide recovery.
Yvonne Dolan | BT Press, 2000 | Book
Beyond Survival
Valuable reading for anyone struggling with painful memories. This is a beautiful, compassionate book that explores how to move beyond surviving the past to celebrate the present and embrace the future.
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Hearing Voices
An extremely well-researched and readable book that weaves historical accounts of voice hearing with contemporary perspectives and research. Whether you hear voices yourself or have a clinical or research-based curiosity, you’ll find something to interest you here.
John Read et al. | Neuropsychiatry, February 2014 | Article
The traumagenic neurodevelopmental model of psychosis revisited
Brain changes in people diagnosed with schizophrenia were traditionally believed to be the result of disease or disorder. This pioneering article takes a truly bio-psycho-social approach by showing how childhood adversity can affect neurological development in ways that make individuals vulnerable to psychosis — and raises some profound social and clinical implications.
Marius Romme et al. | PCCS Books, 2009 | Book
Living with Voices: 50 Stories of Recovery
A unique book that brings together the wisdom, expertise and insights of 50 people from across the world who have learned to live peacefully and positively with their voices. Rousing, reassuring and empowering in equal measure, this book is essential reading for voice hearers, mental health workers, friends and family members.
Philip Thomas and Eleanor Longden | Medical Humanities, 2013
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In a psychiatric system dominated by medication, the vital role of caring human relationships is sometimes overlooked. This article argues for the need to bring a 'moral imagination' into mental health work, and presents a model of caring based on empathy for, and acknowledgment of, the stories patients tell about their lives.
Angela Woods | Journal of Mental Health, 2013 | Article
The voice-hearer
What does it mean to take on the identity of a 'voice hearer'? This thought-provoking and eloquent article examines the politics, values and narrative practices that arose from the work of the Hearing Voices Movement, and explores their implications for psychiatric survivors.
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Intervoice
If you hear voices, Intervoice is here to listen! This is probably the most comprehensive resource for voice hearing on the Internet, with coping and recovery literature, a database of famous voice hearers and links to over 20 national voice-hearing networks.
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Mad in America
A dynamic, lively online community that hosts blogs from a broad range of resident authors, as well as news, research and personal stories. An excellent resource for anyone who’s interested in rethinking psychiatric care in the United States and abroad.
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Voice Collective
How can we offer comfort and support to children and young people struggling with voice hearing? Voice Collective is a London-based project that aims to do exactly that, and their website is a valuable source of information and inspiration.
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Hearing the Voice
Based at Durham University in the UK, Hearing the Voice is an innovative interdisciplinary research group dedicated to exploring voice hearing from a range of perspectives. The team includes academics from the fields of philosophy, cognitive neuroscience, theology and English literature, as well as psychology and psychiatry. A visit is highly recommended to anyone with a scholarly interest in voice hearing.
King's College London, 2015 | Watch
Compassion for Voices
A short animated film outlining compassionate approaches for relating to voices, narrated by me and partly inspired by my TED talk.
Learn more
This talk was presented at an official TED conference. TED's editors chose to feature it for you.
Join a community that spreads non-stigmatizing messages about voice hearing and offers solidarity to those who hear voices.