I have been really busy since I returned from La Bourboule
and have not had any time for posts.
However, today was the last weekend work stint for me for a while, so I
decided to air my views on a subject close to my heart.
About five years ago I first heard of a young woman who had
found a new way of dealing with her schizophrenia. She suffered from voices in her head, who
were quite destructive, criticising her, condemning her, even urging her to
commit suicide. She was given medication
to suppress the voices, but this fogged her mind to such an extent that she was
unable to go to school for many years.
However, this woman was determined to go to university, and somehow hit
upon a method to deal with her voices.
In a nutshell, she stopped the medication which suppressed
the voices and started to face them directly.
She told the voices that they would have to keep office hours, as it
were. From 07:00
until 08:00 every morning the voices
were allowed to say whatever they pleased, and the woman listened to them. During this hour she paid complete attention
to the voices and did nothing else. She
took them totally seriously and made no attempt to belittle or dismiss them.
If the voices tried to talk to her outside their allotted
hour, she would tell them sternly to wait until 07:00
and refused to listen to them. At first
everyone thought this way of dealing with the voices was mad, but the woman
went on to get her university degree and as far as I know is still leading a
normal life.
I recently read a newspaper article about the Hearing Voices
Movement (I have added a link to the Wikipedia entry below) which uses the same
method: Let the voices have their say,
take them seriously, debate with them, but limit them to a set time. Studies have been done on this approach, and
apparently it is quite a successful way of dealing with the voices. And since it does not involve drugs, which
can be quite debilitating, it allows sufferers to lead a relatively normal
life.
One of the reasons I find this approach so interesting is
that I feel it may be of use to non-schizophrenics as well. We have all internalised the commandments of
certain people like parents and teachers, and long after we escaped from their
clutches they continue to live in our heads as voices. A critical teacher, a demanding parent, a
jealous friend – all sorts of people have managed to set up shop inside of our
heads, and insist on giving us their unwanted advice. And we are all subject to unwanted desires
and urges that intrude upon us when we least need it – maybe we can manage them
by using this method?
Trying to ignore our internal voices and desires is not a
good strategy, because eventually they will resurface and clamour for attention
again, usually when we don’t have the strength to suppress them. I have noticed this time and again – when
people are very ill, or become feeble from old age, they become weak not only
physically, but also emotionally, and whatever voices/needs/fears/etc they
managed to suppress for decades come to the fore again. This can be quite terrifying, because the
already weakened person has to deal with forces which are strong and fierce, angry
after years of being suppressed. It can
be like a dam breaking – suddenly long forgotten feelings and needs emerge from
our subconscious, leaving us frightened and bewildered.
What the Hearing Voices Method suggests is that a voice that
is confronted and talked to becomes more manageable, more reasonable and open
to change. Some schizophrenics even
report that they managed to enlist the help of their voices – their voices
changed from being negative and destructive to being positive and
supportive! Of course this is only
possible if one engages with one’s voices and doesn’t seek to suppress them.
I have always tried to deal with whatever voices/desires
arose in me as soon as I became aware of them.
I try to reason with them, to come up with a compromise, to manage
them. One of my favourite methods is to
Draw a Box – to allow a force to do as it pleases within certain strict
perimeters. For example, there are times
when something inside me feels very lazy and refuses to do anything after I
come home from work. But I have a long
list of things I want to get done! So we
compromise. I authorise one week of
laziness, provided that certain basic tasks (ensuring the kitchen and bathroom
are clean, taking out the rubbish, etc) are undertaken. After that week it is back to normal. Usually this works.
Or I suddenly feel overwhelmed by a deep desire for
crisps/potato chips. Before I know what
is going on, I walk into a shop on my way home and buy a bag of Kettle chips,
quelling all protests by arguing that this is a patriotic thing to do, as
Kettle chips come from Oregon
I suppose what I really like about the method is the focus
on management, and attempt to address the needs and concerns of the internal
community that makes up a human being. I
am not into suppression and eradication and final solutions and winner-takes-all
scenarios. I prefer to negotiate limits
and allow freedom within these limits. I
find it much easier to get compliance that way.
And anyway, most problems can be managed; there is always a work
around. The important thing is to keep
in mind what really matters – long term survival of the individual, rather than
fame, fortune, or similar idiotic goals.
Whatever voices/desires inhabit us share the common goal of
wanting our body & mind unit to survive for as long as possible. And once a voice/desire is satisfied that it
is taken seriously and, yes, LOVED, it is much easier to find some kind of
compromise. Even the crisp-glutton, if
approached with love and respect, usually agrees that eating an entire bag of
crisps should be limited to at most once a month. Just the other day I felt that he really
deserved a treat, and offered to go to the shop and buy some Kettle chips, and
half way to the shop he said, You know what, I know the Pineapple-fiend is
gagging for some nice fresh pineapple pieces, why don’t you buy those
instead! Why, I almost cried. We are such a great team, my sub-conscious
desires and I!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hearing_Voices_Movement
