Hello! I hope you’re all doing well! Today, I’d like to write about taking responsibility for invasive thoughts, and choosing not to, as well.
Some of the voices in schizophrenia will give the patient good ideas and at other times, some of the same voices will give bad ideas. Sometimes the accuracy of the information is correct and accurate, other times it is not (for good reasons and bad reasons).
Sometimes they seem like they want the patient to know more than is appropriate, other times they will try to occupy the patient with activities so the patient doesn’t think much at all.
They will also say ridiculous things, true and false, good and bad, and make the patient feel like they’re responsible for the ridiculous ideas. It’s something a lot of people with schizophrenia likely struggle with more if they’re having delusions that their own thoughts can be heard by other humans.
So, if I’m hearing thoughts in my voice and I know the external characters and voices behind them want me to feel responsible for them, often times I say aloud or merely think the trusty phrase, “That’s not me”.
If I think and/or say that phrase over and over again, perhaps 50 times or more in just a few minutes time, it generally quiets them down.
“There’s a (competition) for your personality,” one voice just said as I was typing this. A lot of them want me to worry.
Knowing there are voices that are not the patient’s own, and knowing that the patient thinks their thoughts are audible, saying “That’s not me” can be my way of assuring my neighbors that the ridiculous thoughts are not my own, even if it’s all just in my head. Saying “That’s not me” goes a long way in relieving paranoia.
Please take care, as the weather is changing around the Earth. I hope that more can be learned about schizophrenia in the future.-Chris Milbourn