Listening to Voice Hearers

I present an online documentary called 'Listening to Voice Hearers', directed by Bob Sapey where the narratives of three people with lived experience of psychosis who see their voices as a psychological response to life... [ view full abstract ]

I present an online documentary called 'Listening to Voice Hearers', directed by Bob Sapey where the narratives of three people with lived experience of psychosis who see their voices as a psychological response to life experiences of trauma. All three narratives identify about child abuse as central to their experiences. The documentary shows the ways in which the voice hearers have learnt to understand and cope with their voices and investigates their relationships with their voices throughout their life from childhood to being an adult.

This film provides a direct challenge to the psychiatric orthodoxy that assumes voices are symptoms of an organic illness which should be suppressed using anti psychotic medication. All three voice hearers have all sought help through the Hearing Voices Network and attribute much of their recovery to what they have learnt at these meetings. The narratives include how mental health services have helped or hindered the process of coping with their voices.

I am someone with lived experience of psychosis and for a while heard voices. I have facilitated Hearing Voices Network meetings and promoted their use when I worked in the UK National Health Service for a mental health trust.

Following the screening of the documentary I will facilitate a discussion about the impact of these narratives of today's mental health system and how what we have seen can be taken forward to help other voice hearers.