Paracusia, or auditory hallucinations, can include hearing voices, music, or distorted sounds. It is often associated with mental illness but can also be caused by hearing loss or brain injuries. The Hearing Voices Network offers coping mechanisms and therapy for those experiencing paracusia. It is important to seek help and understand the cause of the hallucinations.
Paracusia (plural: paracusiae) is a medical term that can alternatively be defined as auditory hallucinations. This can include things like hearing voices, hearing distortion of voices, or hearing things like music. Symptoms of paracusia are best known in conditions such as schizophrenia and the manic phase of bipolar disorder, although they can occur for reasons not related to mental illness.
The experience of paracusia is often viewed as very negative and a sign of extreme mental illness. This isn’t always the case. There are a number of people who have suffered from hearing loss who still hear voices or sounds. Brain injuries that result in hearing loss may have a connection to the condition. Other times brain tumors or brain injuries can bring on paracusia, even when a person is mentally stable.
Some people have very mild paracusis and hearing voices or sounds are easily ignored and don’t provide too much distraction from daily life. For others, having to deal with sounds and voices that seem very real but aren’t, can create numerous problems. They can cause significant difficulty concentrating and often the misconception that a person is clearly “mentally ill” because they hear voices.
One organization that has taken an interesting approach to paracusis is the Hearing Voices Network, founded in England in 1988. While this group clearly understands that auditory hallucinations can be the result of mental illness, they have also taken the approach that many people with auditory hallucinations never manifest other symptoms of mental illness. As a result, people can learn through methods such as cognitive behavioral therapy to adapt to paracusia and find coping mechanisms for it, especially when the stigma associated with the condition is not present.
Auditory hallucinations can also be temporary. If you’ve ever had a high fever, you may remember hearing distorted voices or sounds that weren’t really there. These extra sounds that you can’t account for can be scary, especially when they’re unfamiliar. Also, in some cases, what is said matters as much as the fact that what is said does not exist. Some people hear constant negative voices recommending very dangerous courses of action, such as hurting others or hurting themselves. These hallucinations can be particularly dangerous and may be more associated with the occurrence of psychotic conditions.
On the other hand, the things heard might be relatively harmless, somewhat annoying, or just plain surprising. Fortunately, organizations like the Hearing Voices Network have become strong advocates of understanding the many potential causes of paracusis. However, if you’re experiencing this condition, you shouldn’t dismiss it as entirely benign. Finding out what’s causing the auditory hallucinations can be the equivalent of ending this condition or learning how to deal with it.
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