My son hears voices in his head

Kay_Peel

I remember a lot of discussion around this phenomenon in the late 1990s when my own children were small. The charity MIND used to produce a booklet called 'Making Sense of Voices' - I don't know whether its available anymore.

In those days, children were seen by a paediatrician to eliminate any mental health problems. Some had gone through bereavement, house move or other kind of stress and there was thought to be a connection. Others were exceptionally bright - but then again some novelists report living with voices as children. The peak ages seemed to be between 5 and 8 (that's why I was interested), declining at 9. The voice declined because the children learnt to control the voice and put it in its place - for example, telling the voice to come back later because they were busy in a school activity.

KDC

Thanks for the replies. I'll pick my time and ask him about the voices in his head or wait until he decides to speak about it again.

nzmegs

My daughter describes herself as "thinking in numbers" and sometimes thisn can become overwhelming for her. She complains of having numbers running through her head constantly. She also likes to count things all the time. Some of this counting is habitual. She is exceptional at school especially in maths and is also 9. But....she is very sociable, has lots of good friends and manages other school work without problems. In my opinion I should not fix what ain't broke. yes, she has some odd traits - but she is happy, bright and doing very well.

I think you are doing the right thing to get your son assessed - but try not to worry too much. this is probably more common than you think especially with children who are very bright and good at certain things. As long as he is interacting with other kids and enjoying school a wait of a few months shouldn't hurt.

Dave101t

we all did didnt we? i remember genuinely thinking the turtles were just under the nearest sewer hatch, or that i could run as fast as my favourite spiky blue hedgehog.
as i write this i hear the words in my head, is that a voice?
as long as it doenst say 'burn things' id say he will grow out of it.

julie03

my son has aspergers and for a couple of years had 2 worlds, the world inside his head was his way of dealing with all his insecurities and all the things he couldnt cope with, then he would retreat there. he was some kind of mega hero in this world and was good at everything and when it rained he used to say he was controlling it and he would come out with all these characters who talked to him.
about a year ago when i asked him about it he told me they had moved out and were living above paris in a castle on a cloud, after that he slowly stopped mentioning it as he became better able to cope with things.
he is almost exactly the same as your son minus the ocd stuff

System

when my dd was being assessed for autism this was one of the things i was concerned about, apparently its not unusual, what he is describing as voices are most probably just him thinking,
good luck with the assessment ,

bargainbunny

Hi op my son has aspergers and he says he can replay a movie in his head
he does remember all the movies we watch.. its probably the way he is explaining it..

C_Mababejive

I suspuct that many children go through varying forms of OCD but then grow out of it.

patchwork_cat

I wouldn't panic about it. He is seeing a psychologist in the not too distant future. I would write down what he has said and make sure that you tell the psychologist everything.