"I still have the evil spirit talking to me. That's why I'm here, I still hear the voices. I hear the voice of the evil spirit talking to me all the time and I don't want to hear it; I'm tired of it. I don't want to hear it; I'm not willing...It talks to me virtually all the time but I don't hear it with people, when I'm in company...It's listening. It's going to start telling me things when I leave this place about...you, maybe about somebody. Sometimes it gets loud, screams at me, tells me I'm not moral, that I'm just pretending to be moral."
(from an interview with a patient, 1993)
(qtd. in Frith and Fletcher, 71)
In order for one to understand the impact of auditory hallucinations associated with schizophrenia, we need to establish working definitions for both of these terms. Schizophrenia is a mental disorder in which one suffers from disturbed thought processes, a disconnection with reality, and numerous behavioral and emotional alterations. There are four basic types: catatonic, disorganized, paranoid, and simple. Auditory hallucinations are auditory sensations that occur without proper stimuli present. In many cases, the patient hears derogatory phrases or comments that provokes feelings of extreme paranoia. Someone who suffers from this symptom of schizophrenia can no longer function properly in everyday life. This is why such a disease can be so crippling.
Approximately one in every hundred people in the world suffer from schizophrenia. Between 60% and 74% of schizophrenic patients experience auditory hallucinations, making it one of the most common symptoms of this debilitating disorder. Statistically, the incidence of this disease is equal among men and women. Nearly one third of all schizophrenic patients are not significantly aided by use of anti-psychotic drugs. The purpose of this site is to clearly outline the fundamental aspects of auditory hallucinations associated with schizophrenia. This includes descriptions of experiences (demonstrated through case studies and psychological experiments), theoretical causes, neurobiology, and treatment options. Initially, we had hoped to focus solely on aspects pertaining to auditory hallucinations. However, during the course of our research, we discovered that auditory hallucinations are so intertwined with other classic symptoms of schizophrenia that it was nearly impossible to isolate auditory hallucinations.