Hearing Voices Network NSW Discussion Forum

Hi

Only two things could stop the voices suddenly and for a controlled duration

i) Holding my breath. As soon I breathed again they would come back
ii) Putting pressure on my larynx. I improvised and put an elastic ribbon around my neck to keep pressure on and the voices eventually never returned when the pressure was removed.

There could be a couple of reasons this worked and I helped a write a hypothesis which should get a around soon.

Has anyone else found this effect? I would love to know.

Hmm I have never tried these things, however i read on another forum that people have tried special metallic earplugs that may have worked for them, interesting stuff, theres alot of unusual remedies out there.

Hi

Never heard of metal earplugs but I can see how they might have an effect. They would reflect and sound inside the ear.

I can see two explanations for the metal plug that idea the fit with my understanding.

i) The sound traveling from the Larynx to the Cochlear is modified by the metal plug. It sounds different so breaks the cycle.
ii) Like in i) but the actual signal in more internal and modified by the Cochlear trying to work in different environment.

I asked a Sydney Uni Lecturer in Psychiatry if they had done proper trials on alternatives to medication and he said no. They haven't explored all the options yet.

I learned yesterday that the vocal cords may have an off position. They should move out of the airway when you are not talking.

Maybe pressure on my larynx triggers this off response, stopping the voices?

I'm guessing that if you have had the problem of your vocal cords not going to an off position for a long time, you may need at lot therapy.

I responded to pressure on the front of the larynx after hearing voices for three and a half years. Some people may even need the help of a speech pathologist and at worst an ear nose and throat surgeon to get that effect.

We may not all have a brain chemistry problem but a real physiological problem. Psychiatrists don't look for physiological problems

I will have to now identify others like me, ask them the right questions and have some harmless tests done.

Open your mouth a little and take some deep slow breaths and see if that has any effect on what the voices say or how intense they are.

That is trying to move the vocal cords apart to a position where they should not vocalize any thoughts. That vocal cord position is far apart for heavy breathing (not talking).

Some may achieved this with pressure on the Larynx but I wouldn't expect everyone to respond to that.

People with no problem should try this also to see if it effects their auditory thoughts.

I found some old notes and some interesting things I did to cope when it was bad.

Three of these tricks were
Speak to people
Move head around
Stretch like yawning

All of these work on the Larynx. Wonder what it means?