Hearing Voices vs. Intrusive Thoughts: What's the Difference?

[@orcusvox]

I have schizoaffective disorder. I have intrusive thoughts every day, but they are different voices. They're men and women. They usually just say a couple of words. I also have internal and external auditory hallucinations. I sometimes hear two people having a conversation when there's no one else home. I've also had deja Vu every day for 4 months. It makes me confused, and I lose touch with reality. It really sucks These videos are invaluable to me. This is the only way I can learn, and it's my only connection to others suffering from the same illness. Keep up the good Kit!

[@jimmyh706]

I’m schizophrenic too. I hope you find better health. Being mentally ill is not necessarily a death sentence. I once thought it was. Today I have better health and I owe it to my prayer life. Particularly with praying the Holy Rosary 📿

[@OneWhoAcheives]

I hear voices to and they feel like they are people in the neighborhood. I have schizophrenia as well. They have messed with me lately im reaching out for help too

[@jimmyh706]

@@OneWhoAcheives prayer is the key

[@Hollyucinogen]

When I have an intrusive thought, it's my OWN voice trying to convince me to do bad/harmful things. I am aware of that, so it's easy to resist. It isn't a literal auditory hallucination like people with schizophrenia get. I just see it as my own brain trying to annoy me.

[@SchizoKitzo]

It’s so important to be able to tell the difference!

[@Catlily5]

Resisting my own negative voice can be difficult but it is not the same as a hallucination.

[@Hollyucinogen]

@@Catlily5 Plus, they're often irrational, so it's easy to tell the difference. Like, my intrusive thoughts occasionally instruct me to run out into the middle of traffic...... but why the f*ck would I do that? I am aware of how irrational they are, so they're easy to ignore.

[@Catlily5]

@@Hollyucinogen I haven't gone into traffic but I have harmed myself.

[@tatiana4050]

I get intrusive thoughts as images.

[@aspelund76]

Earlier this year. I had a horrible boss who made my life absolutely hell. I got a new job but when im having stress at work i can hear him criticizing me. I never actually think he's there but sometimes his voice wont stop, let a bad song that gets stuck in my head.

[@ivaylohandarov4080]

Questioning reality is really a big discomfort

[@lattysmart]

I’m definitely hallucinating horrible mean voices in my head and I don’t know what to do. It’s not always the same voice. Sometimes it’s a guy, sometimes it sounds animated, sometimes it’s a girl. Sometimes it does actually sound like me but a completely different version of me, like an alter ego from another realm stuck in there. I sound completely nuts and I wish this wasn’t happening and I can’t tell anyone

[@damnablethief]

It's cool dude you're not alone

[@damnablethief]

Even though you're not a dude lol sorry I call everyone dude

[@jsnpojarify]

I was helping my Dad put a gate together at my house and I went inside for a second and had a thought "I should probably lock the door so no one attempts to break in". I then played in my head what I would do if someone was in my house as I walked in. I imagined a burglar there and started to feel the fear that comes with that. Then I shrugged it off and didn't think anything of it. But when I came back in the door to that same spot, the scenario and idea and fear returned and it stayed with me and made me feel paranoid of someone being in my house when there wasn't. I could observe this all happening in my thoughts and emotions and realized it was happening and the feelings of fear were strong too. I then started to feel panicked that I did something wrong for leaving the door open because someone came in the house when there was nobody. I then began to try to shrug this thought away because the feelings were so intense. I then googled the difference between an intrusive thought and audio hallucinations and your video came up. What does this whole scenario sound like to you? Curious about your thoughts. Thanks for this video friend! It's awesome what you are doing to help people understand these kinds of things. Get back to me when you can. Thanks.

[@robertanderson6730]

You are just WONDERFUL! You plainly covered in less than 10 minutes what others don't even do in 2 hours of video.

[@SchizoKitzo]

I try to be concise!

[@papakis996]

This is my favorite kind of videos for this channel, explaining this things in a way i havent seen anyone else do.

[@songcentral3110]

Wow this is helpful. I have internal auditory hallucinations and then also intrusive thoughts but sometimes Ive mistaken the two for each other. This is very helpful

[@Vandbærer]

Thanks for the explanation. Love the hoody. A black long-sleeve t-shirt with your logo on would be so cool.

[@SchizoKitzo]

Oooooooooo 👀

[@martinaatanasova]

Lately, I've been properly diagnosed at last with PTSD...I had these awful flashbacks and words connected to the traumatic experience came to my mind for years, as well as intrusive thoughts. At some point, when I became 17, I thought I was losing my mind and I had a psychosis because I literally didn't know what was wrong with me. Luckily, psychotherapy helped me a LOT so I'm not thinking almost 24/7 about this stuff, though occasionally thoughts and flashbacks come back but not as scary as before. I'm 25 now, and dealing with generalized anxiety disorder thanks to that but luckily my mind is in peace for solid few years. Wish you much luck in healing process, stay strong, and sending hugs. ❤

[@gckinsey]

I remember your video about the differences between internal auditory hallucinations and internal monologue, so I knew this was going to be a great one too! Your definitions/examples of auditory hallucinations, intrusive thoughts, and internal monologue were super clear. And it was cool to hear how you tell the difference between your intrusive thoughts and your voices. (I think the most interesting part was that your intrusive thoughts sound like you.) This video has also made me realize that whenever I have an intrusive thought, it'll be accompanied by an image instead of just words... I wonder how common that is, LOL. Thank you so much for making this video and helping people learn something! :)

[@SchizoKitzo]

This video answered a question a lot of people have asked, and I mean A LOT and I still get it asked on a regular basis over on TikTok 😆 glad you found it educational, and images can totally be part of intrusive thoughts I just didn’t cover that much here because people asked about voices. Thanks GC!

[@laureeeee]

Thank you so much for the video, it's super interesting to hear about other people's experiences because irl some of us don't have many people to talk with about these things (without sounding """insane"""") In my case, I don't have hallucinations but the way I diferenciate my intrusive thought with my internal monolgue is that, for some reason, my internal monologue feels like I'm physically talking. I don't know how to explain it better. However the intrusive thoughts just come out of nowhere and terrorizes me with things that will disturb me, mostly "what if's" about my morality, memories and personal relationships. It's annoying and although I know those "what if's" are not real, there are some moments where I do fall in the rabbit hole and start questioning myself. When they are not doing that, my intrusive thoughts are usually violent, demanding and even sometimes like "imitating" people I've known that has hurt me in the past. Acting like them and criticizing what I do like they would do. Thankfully I keep learning how to deal myself with these thoughs and they don't keep me from doing what NT people do, but I can understand when some people struggle to even come out of bed because of the severity of their intrusive thoughts

[@nikoteardrop4904]

This is so close to my experience it's wild. Looks like I probably am "hearing voices" on top of intrusive thoughts. I also think almost exclusively in words and concepts. Very little to no imagery unless I'm actually dreaming. My internal auditory hallucinations often come in the form of arguments, but not always. I've also "internally hallucinated" a male figure in a specific spot outside. I still didn't have an image, but I knew exactly what he looked like, and what he was doing. I can get just as engaged with a hallucinatory conversation as you've described. Holy shit.

[@graciev2973]

This was very helpful, thank you. I have OCD and intrusive thoughts/images are one of the biggest symptoms for me, to the point that I was scared it wasn't just OCD because of how often they happen. To make things more confusing, my OCD stuff turns more bizarre and weird when I am hormonal, which makes me wonder if I am psychotic at times, even though I don't think I am. I've always been afraid to ask a professional about the way my intrusive thoughts show up because they are occasionally commands rather than just a phrase or image. I'm afraid that if I asked about this, it would immediately be labeled as a voice/hallucination due to the fact that it is a command. In reality, I think a lot of intrusive thoughts can show up as commands and not be hallucinations. Your insight in this video was really helpful.

[@1fhasdfadf]

How can you tell a legitimate "internal voice" causing you to question reality, from a legitimate "internal thought" causing you to question reality?

[@kitkat8231]

I struggle with this too. I haven't been diagnosed with a psychotic disorder before but sometimes I wonder if I do have one.

[@ChrisKadaver]

I have like hallucinations when I'm about to go to sleep. Like total random pictures and voices in the head. No external auditory hallucinations. More like as if I would've had a bad fever and random things rapidly comes up in my head. Like short snapshots or movie like scenes that only last for a second or two. It doesn't make any sense at all. So I have to listen to youtube videos when falling asleep because it starts when I relax and don't focus on anything. I know it's all in my head and I wouldn't mistake it for being the reality or anything like that. What could it be? It came after a seriously period of stress as my girlfriend became really sick and was locked up in a mental institution while I at the same time knew it wasn't only psychpsis. I think it could've been wernicke's encepholopathy and I knew they didn't treat it properly. Yet they denied me to speaking to any doctor. And now I/we have to live with the aftermath were they only treat her with abilify injections and she is really ill and don't get any help. Her parents put her in a home after she was released. So I think it might have triggered mental illness in my case too. Also I got a relapse of herpes and have gotten neuopathies in hands, feet and saddle area. It has soon gone two months and these hallucinations continues. I have also have really low stress tolerance and racing thought the last couple of years. I was diagnosed with ME/CFS back in 2019 and haven't worked since 2017. But I think I might have mental illness/illnesses also. But I have been afraid to be evaluated and that they wouldn't take my somatic symptoms serioualy and just write everything off as being mental illness.

[@damnablethief]

I have major depression with psychosis...idk I am off my meds rn and paranoia is really getting to me...like people might be after me idk that part is possibly real...what I get for pissing off the wrong people lol if I'm gone tomorrow...hope you know I am really happy I found your channel. It has been very helpful. Thanks for that. Best wishes.

[@KallieWoodstaff]

rly hope u r still here. if u r u got this and if u arent u had lots of people who cared abt u. rip

[@damnablethief]

@@KallieWoodstaff I'm still here, despite the voices threatening to kill me. Thanks

[@KallieWoodstaff]

@@damnablethief u r going to be okay. i don’t completely understand schizophrenia and psychosis, but i am doing my research. u got this and it must be so incredibly hard to deal with it every day. personally i think u should ask ur doctor abt going back on ur meds to help decrease ur symptoms, its very hard to ask for help and i get that. in the end its ur choice but i rly think it would help. im gonna be praying for u, i dont know u but im here for u.

[@damnablethief]

@@KallieWoodstaff thank you for trying to understand. I often feel surrounded by people who don't

[@KallieWoodstaff]

@@damnablethief i feel the same way. ive been surrounded by people who dont give a shit abt me or my disorders. i ended up sabotaging myself in the worse way but in the end it was the best thing i have done. people who dont care to understand arent ur real friends. i love doing research on mental illness and i always remind myself that everyone is human and we all r different in our own ways. u r different in urs aswell. schizophrenia is very very hard to navigate and i want u to know im rooting for u. i rly hope things turn out for u.

[@rbf_blonde672]

This is making soooooo much sense wow…. I’m understanding the way my brain works a lot better now. I think in words too and now I think I may need to mention this to my counsellor now that I have one

[@franskel9647]

I had a phase where I tried to create a tulpa and this character I created spoke back to me and we had a conversation. I think this was an internal hallucination? Because it was like they had a mind of its own and had a distinguished voice than mine. Thanks for the informative video by the way!

[@damnablethief]

I decided I wanted to summon a demon when I was a teenager...never went through with it but dark stuff...tulpa is nice

[@gh0stpyram1d]

Great video! Thanks for making this, and sharing

[@sunny-dee]

hello! i appreciate your personal takes in this video! for me, i have twice experienced while trying to fall asleep an internal own voice hallucination and same own?/not distinctly different from own internal voice in my own ear whispering scary stuff, so i do find there is a blurring which i hear so little about but i find so scary 🥺

[@juliaz3072]

when you hallucinate while falling asleep it's called hipnogogic hallucinations and they're totally normal, it's not a symptom of any disorder, people experience it sometimes 😊 so don't worry

[@Wezryx]

You should make a video describing your voices and what they're like. Their personalities.

[@robertstone8056]

Good video kitz!

[@silmarilasmr6801]

Love this. Keep making more videos if you can. I love this channel and watching you, as a fellow schizoaffective.

[@SchizoKitzo]

I plan to keep doing this as long as I can! I have plenty of ideas too :)

[@Mrs_Boots]

some people be just having a whole D&D campaign in their head..... but less friendly.... and it's not role-play.....

[@kinzhe83]

Good video Kit, can't say much about topic, I do have intrusive thoughts sometimes but it's nothing too destabilizing. I usually just say something to myself, like, it's ok, pull yourself together and it goes away. Nice hoodie by the way, is there merch incoming? Cheers :)

[@SchizoKitzo]

No merch (yet) just me and my Cricut! Also I love that you’re able to reassure yourself, that’s so valuable!

[@FlyingWonderGirl]

You should read about maladaptive daydreaming! It’s interesting!

[@Mrs_Boots]

for me, interest of thoughts and some internal auditory hallucinations work together at the same exact time and are literally the same exact thing. I would hear one thing most times . Usually a phrase, but it would be spammed in my head like a broken record. An example would be "hitlers penis" over and over and over again.... and the more I try to yell out internally random words to override the shouting in my head the more it wants to fight back. how I cope with this is try to focus on other auditory things around me like the street or if there is a TV on I listen to the words to try to drown out the words in my head by hyper focusing on everything else like as if my ADHD could be controlled or some thing lol.

[@wholiddleolme476]

If 'intrusive thoughts' are not yours as you seem to suggest, then where do they come from if not you? Don't get me wrong, but I do believe everyone is susceptible to them, what matters is whether we act upon them, or more importantly who places them in our head?

[@KRB84]

Well done! 👍

[@jantaljaard835]

A lot of us have this problem.

[@Catlily5]

Good video!

[@natalija7098]

Kako uspevas da budes mrsava tacnije normalne tezine pored tolikih lekova koji goje?Koji je magicni recept?🥰

[@hettyherz]

I wonder, is the difference bw external and internal voices any similar to the difference bw hearing people talking in the same room and hearing people talking in your earbuds (which for me is literally like the sound is inside my head)?

[@lisatomihiro3488]

Is it easy for you to tell internal hallucinations from external ones?

[@SchizoKitzo]

Yup!

[@katoyukimaru]

hi, i have a question: are you friends/enemies/acquaintances with the voices? and do they have a plot or develop alongside you?

[@jan-owennugent1932]

Wish I could talk to other skitzos. At least they might kinda get me

[@jan-owennugent1932]

Nvm, I’ll find a way

[@FrankRoque3.0]

What were these voices and what did they say? 👽

[@1fhasdfadf]

Couldn't the "shifting into a dreamlike reality" based on internal monologue, be the fodder for writers? What else would they be using?

[@bethdouty4591]

Why do people have intrusive thoughts? I've never had an intrusive thought. I'm not the type that thinks about hurting someone or had disturbing thoughts about someone. Where does this come from?

[@1fhasdfadf]

@@bethdouty4591 what motivated you to check out this video, then ? curious

[@bethdouty4591]

Because I know someone who claims they have intrusive thoughts and I'm trying to understand it.

[@1fhasdfadf]

@@bethdouty4591 I'd read "Intrusive thoughts: Linking spontaneous mind wandering and OCD symptomatology" to understand.

[@tatiana4050]

Can you have internal visual hallucinations?

[@agregtagregt]

Привет! Очень познавательное видео, спасибо! У меня тоже шизоаффективное расстройство биполярного типа.

[@climbtopeace]

love the mc bees!!

[@SchizoKitzo]

I AM OBSESSED

[@jameslewis5131]

can a strict meditation routine help control intrusive thoughts there is evidence that it can strengthen frontal lobe synaptic connections and lower emotional reactions it can bring calm sometimes. oh and may the 4TH be with you

[@SchizoKitzo]

I practice mindfulness. If meditation helped I’d be cured by now 😂

[@rainygreene9161]

THAAAAANKS!

[@ivaylohandarov4080]

Love you.

[@professorJorge11]

Doesn't everyone get intrusive thoughts?

[@SchizoKitzo]

Yeah they’re common! But not everyone gets internal auditory hallucinations

[@orlandoacontreras]

I think you're cute. Greetings from Venezuela, South America. 🇻🇪

[@laureeeee]

hey I'm also from Vzla, glad to see a fellow venezuelan here!

[@orlandoacontreras]

@@laureeeee Hehe, yes... I'm from Valencia, and you?

[@homerpoikafani1336]

I have a skeleton man in my head sometimes when i'm going to sleep. A normal conversation could go something like this: *skeleton is holding cigarette and a booze bottle* Me: Hey skeleton, what's with the smoking. Throw that stuff away Skeleton: I like to drink Me: Cmon now, thats not healthy, here, take some milk *Skeleton has now a milk bottle* Me: So how have you been doing? Skeleton: Pretty good. Me: What have you been up to? Skeleton: There is not much to do here in the dark, all day all night. You come visit me only ever so often. Me: Okay, okay

[@hwwwarrior90]

Do you ever wonder if the interal voices are just... You know... You screwing with yourself? I experience this im not being skeptical here.

[@KevinChristensen-h8x]

Intrusive thoughts where you think due to your bad heart, voices intrude on your mind in your head.

[@roberttravers7587]

Great video! I hate intrusive thought😁

[@SchizoKitzo]

They suckkkkkkk

[@robertbattikha]

i think a lot of these issues that you are dealing with, would be a lot easier to deal with if you found a local church to join. i think the external voices are dark spirits, and the internal voices are other people you know that you are connected to or lies from the evil one or your own ocd thoughts or a combination of all three. again, these though might go away on their own over time, joining a local church and developing relationships there will help you resolve these issues much more quickly. i understand that going to church as a kid is what caused these issues to develop in the first place, but its not the churches fault, its the enemy. ❤ saying a prayer for you. PS: you look pretty stable despite your struggles, and i thank God for that

[@SchizoKitzo]

I deal with religious delusions church and god is not an option, thanks for understanding

[@RKO1988]

V2K and synthetic telepathy