Voices in people's heads far varied than thought

London, March 11: Do you hear multiple voices in your head at times? Research reveals that the voices are far more varied and complex than previously thought. The study found that the majority of voice-hearers hear multiple voices with distinct character-like qualities, with many also experiencing physical effects on their bodies. The team also confirmed that both people with and without psychiatric diagnoses hear voices. “The findings have the potential to overturn mainstream psychiatric assumptions about the ture of hearing voices. These show that there is an unrecognised complexity in the ‘character’ qualities of some voices,a explained lead researcher Dr Angela Woods from the centre for medical humanities at Durham University in Britain. For the study, researchers collected answers through an on-line questionire focused on description of experiences from 153 respondents. The majority of respondents had been diagnosed with a psychiatric condition but 26 had no history of mental illness. The large majority of respondents described hearing multiple voices (81 percent) with characterful qualities (70 percent). Sixty-six percent of people felt bodily sensations while hearing voices such as feeling hot or tingling sensations in their hands and feet. (IANS)