Auditory Hallucinations

I've had them several times, a lot when I was younger. At first I thought it was just the famous voices I was hearing, but later on I've come to the conclusion that they can be explained by somewhat normal phenomena that happen during hypnagogia. I used to hear my own thoughts in different voices, one was like a woman screaming, one was a very low bass. And these would happen almost or totally exclusively while lying in bed. I haven't had these in a while so I can't remember much else. Here's the Wikipedia bit on auditory hypnagogic hallucinations:

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Hypnagogic hallucinations are often auditory or have an auditory component. Like the visuals, hypnagogic sounds vary in intensity from faint impressions to loud noises, like knocking and crash and bangs (exploding head syndrome). People may imagine their own name called, crumpling bags, white noise, or a doorbell ringing. Snatches of imagined speech are common. While typically nonsensical and fragmented, these speech events can occasionally strike the individual as apt comments on — or summations of — their thoughts at the time. They often contain word play, neologisms and made-up names. Hypnagogic speech may manifest as the subject's own "inner voice", or as the voices of others: familiar people or strangers. More rarely, poetry or music is heard.[26]

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One of my psychology professors, who also works as a therapist, had an interesting take on auditory hallucinations.  He told us about a person who managed their "voices" telling them things by reframing them as the voice of the devil, and she ignored them by telling herself, "Get thee behind me, Satan.".  It doesn't work for everyone of course, but it certainly worked for that woman.
It's interesting to note that people who have schizophrenia and have auditory hallucinations in the U.S. differ from those in several other countries.  Researchers have found that the voices are different depending on the local culture.  In the U.S., the hallucinations tend to be more menacing, or are more geared to socially unacceptable topics.  In some countries, they are more positive, along the lines of "live right" or other neutral things.  Here is the original article: http://news.stanford.edu/2014/07/16/voices-culture-luhrmann-071614/

Sure, when I was working in a highly politicized office, I would imagine people talking about me behind my back. But, after a while I realized that I couldn't really hear them say anything from that far away and that my mind was basically "filling in the blanks" with whatever crazy words it could come up with. 

The only auditory hallucinations I've had was hearing a knock on the door when there actually wasn't anyone there. I'd been expecting someone and when I heard that knock on the door I believed it was my guest who'd arrived but when I opened the door to let him in, there was no one there. I suppose it was my mind playing tricks on me. Since then I've had no other auditory hallucination.

I probably suffer this sometimes. When I am at home, I hear sometimes my mother calling me, but she isn't. Or at school, I feel someone is calling me, but they aren't. I don't ask what's up, or ask if they called me. Maybe it has to do with my wishes? Or is it mental problem? Well, who knows.

No, I don't think I have ever had them to the best of my recollection. My form of MI (if you can call it that) doesn't extend to schzophrenia or any kind of auditory hallucinations. I think I am pretty normal in the regard that I don't think or see things that are not there, nor do I over react to most situations, I just don't expect enough of myself maybe, and then get depressed when things don't turn out well. 

I've pretty much have had these in a few ocassions:

DylanRowan said:

 When I am at home, I hear sometimes my mother calling me, but she isn't. Or at school, I feel someone is calling me, but they aren't.





 

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John Snort said:

The only auditory hallucinations I've had was hearing a knock on the door when there actually wasn't anyone there. I'd been expecting someone and when I heard that knock on the door I believed it was my guest who'd arrived but when I opened the door to let him in, there was no one there.





 

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It is the eeriest when I am home alone. Sometimes I'd hear a door closing by itself, but that never happened.
Or some stranger calling me.


It used to happen a lot more when i was younger, not so much nowadays.

Back when I was in High school I had both experience with Auditory and Visual Hallucinations but didn't even think of it as a mental problem because everything seems so real. A lot of friends of mind can attest that what was happening to me is supernatural because I was able to project these hallucinations with them. One example of this is when we went on a retreat in a Mother House in Manila, me and my three room mates decided to go back to bed after the recollection session when suddenly I saw something floating in front of us while we lie on our beds, I touched my buddy who's lying beside me and he got scared of what he saw in front of him--it's a silhouette of a nun staring at us. I told my fried to touch the other two and they all did see what we are seeing. After this event, I went at home to sleep and at that moment, I heard an unfamiliar voice uttering words that are so foreign to me, that voice is of a woman and I can hear her clearly speaking and repeating those words while I had my eyes close. If I remember them correctly, the words are like these "Por favor me ayude (ayudar?). Quiero estar en paz". It's been a while so it may not be the same words anymore. What I did after this is that I prayed and then the voice just stopped...

Surrender said:

Have you ever had an auditory hallucination? What was it?


I have only had 3 or so that I can think of.  One was just a loud noise, like static or something, and it was while I was wearing earplugs, so it really freaked me out.  The other was very creepy, I was walking in the woods with my family and heard a woman's voice whisper loud and quick in my ear "help me".  I thought it was my husband joking around but turned and everyone was far off, so that one was super creepy.  The the last one I remember I was falling asleep and heard a man's voice say "be clear". 


Have you ever had anything like this happen?

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Yep, almost the same as yours.  Mine always come when I'm falling asleep, or just about to fall asleep (?)  Many times it has happened while wearing earplugs, just like you. I don't know why the earplugs seem to bring these odd auditory occurrences on, but they do.  Maybe it's because they block out the sounds of the rest of the world, and your mind actually has a chance to "speak out loud", and that could possibly be what we are hearing...our own minds trying to figure things out.


I have heard robotic sounds and voices (like robots talking, but only blurting out one word) - that always startles me and wakes me from that semi-dream state.  And then of course I have the infamous "3 people" as I like to call them.  It's 2 men and 1 woman all having a conversation.  Almost sounds like I have a television going on in the background, but really I don't.  My TV is off when I hear the 3 people, and I hear them in my head and ears, NOT in the background. The men do most of the speaking to each other, and then the woman will chime in every now and then.  The woman has a voice very similar to my Mom's (but no, it's not my Mom really talking in the background, she's asleep when I hear these voices, so I know it's not her.)  The 2 men will laugh a lot and speak to each other in very loud, clear voices...yet I have a difficult time understanding what their actual conversation is about.  It all usually ends with the woman yelling, "Shut up!" And then all is quiet.  By then, I fall asleep, but always remember the next day that I heard "the 3 people talking" again.   :huh: :laugh:

I used to have these a lot as a child. I would hear my mother screaming and my gayer threatening even if they were not home. I would awaken to other voices calling my name. I also have experience with a family member who suffers from drug addiction. Drugs enhance auditory hallucinations. He would lock himself in the bedroom and swear that the police were beating down our front door and that a helicopter was above. It was very scary.