Just needed to be heard for a little while

Waves_and_Smiles

Pyxis, imagination can go one of two ways. Obviously, I have a very vivid imagination and I can use it to my advantage. I use a lot of visualisation techniques to deal with symptoms. For example, I can quieten the voices somewhat by placing them in a nuclear bunker underground, I can also remove intrusive thoughts for a while by imagining them as objects on a piece of string that I throw out into the universe and watch disappear from sight. I have a lot of these techniques that I use on a daily basis to make things easier.

On the not so bright side I have to be careful how intently I imagine something and how long I do it for. I can quite easily believe that what I imagine is real if I allow myself to dwell on it. I will first feel the emotions associated with what I imagine and then the scenario will start to feel real and eventually if I don't ground myself I will pretty much become convinced that it is true.

So, imagination is useful but needs to be monitored.

Yes, whitewing I have out of body experiences. I find myself floating above my bed and looking down at myself and around the room. Sometimes I float above other rooms and see things happening to me from my past, it is all part of my Dissociative Disorder and very common after abuse.

I have my rain sounds on! The alarm will trigger the voices particularly as it is repetitive so I need to disguise it as much as possible.

jobbingmusician

Hugs and rainfall sounds (((((())))) "'"'"'"'"'"'"'"'"'" "'"'《 rain

Waves_and_Smiles

Aw, thank you JM. I also have the tiniest little insect imaginable currently insisting on crawling on my knee. Believe it or not, these things comfort me. A little life, no matter how small makes me happy so it is cheering me up considerably and is welcome to stay on me as long it wants. I know I'm weird!

Duke, after having a think about it I think the best book for Harry would be Coping With Voices and Visions (written by people who have these experiences). It is available from the hearing voices network for £5. It is very human and easy to read and should help him realise that he certainly isn't alone.

oldestgnome

Sorry to be missing in action I'm away this weekend, sending hugs and loud rain drops your way

haybel19

Thank you for the kind words.


In relation to the post about animals. I have a dog, Max. I got him after our second miscarriage a few years ago, I was very depressed and needed something to love and fuss. I had never had a dog before but wanted one for ages- along came Max. Full of energy, and the cuddliest most loving and affectionate boy. He really helped me cope, and knows when I need a bit of extra fuss. if I wake and need a cuddle as my partner works nights I sneak down to visit Max and we have the biggest snuggles - he especially likes cuddly sleep but hogs most of the room. He is an absolute joy. When he was little he was very poorly with a tummy problem and allergies/intolerances (he cannot eat meat) he spent a lot of time to-ing and fro-ing to the vets and it was a miracle if a week went by without a visit. When he was poorly he always wanted me near, and I lost count of the number of times I've soothed him better or syringed him fluids so that he did not have to be away from me or on a drip. Like a child he always wants mummy. Thankfully after a stay in animal hospital we got to the bottom of it all and now manage with diet- sometimes people have commented on the time and care I have given him thinking that I have saved him but what they do not understand is that really he saved me.


He is snuggling in as I type- he absolutely has to be touching at all times even if I am washing up and he is in danger of getting wet- he still sits on my feet. He is such an incredible important part of my family- and is so kind and patient with little one- he is quite convinced that she is in fact his baby.


We have a travel cot downstairs for daytime naps so we don't disturb my partner as working nights he is asleep daytimes. If little one has a nap and Max thinks she is too still he has to go and have a gentle sniff and give her a kiss. He also always positions himself so that he can watch her.


When I was pregnant with her he always like to snooze resting his head on my tummy. As I have both pernicious anaemia and rheumatoid arthritis I get very tired and was especially tired when I was pregnant I used to have an afternoon nap and Max would shepherd me into position on the sofa you could almost set your watch by him. He then nudged me until I snuggled into him insisting one arm under him and one arm wrapped round him. He still loves cuddly naps and would quite like it I went back to having them more often!

DUKE

That's a great help, thanks ever so much WaS

Yoohoo Team WaS, back later

lostinrates

Haybel Max sounds like a wonderful person.

I am blessed with a wonderful animal family. I lost my special horse, after her lifetime with me, last year, and in don't think I'll ever fully get over it. A relationship with your special horse can be intensively close, you communicate with them with your body, know each other's body language very very closely, like a parent and child, best friend, or even a partner.

Luckily her end was very quick and after an accident in the field, and her friends were with her and both DH and I were there, as it was a weekend, ( DH is n't here weekdays) and she'd grown to love DH very much. Our vet was in tears too afterwards and said how much love there was there had always been evident, but never more so, than from her at the end.

We lost another one last year, technically a clients horse, but we loved her as much as our own, but we felt ready for her to go, it was her time!

In side we have three dogs and two cats ATM. One of our dogs is quite old and we don't expect to have her for much longer. One is my 'dog of a lifetime' and was totally not what I expected, she is funny, remarkably clever, gentle but fiercely protective. The other is a dog we researched for a long time, planned and planned for. Adorable and totally frustrating! He decided recently not to return to the word 'come' but to return when I shout 'oi' . Not very dignified at all. He also has the pip with me because he's not allowed upstairs without invitation and he had a sneaky way through that I have blocked up, and he 'd sneak up to have a nap with me , cute but not in the rules, so now he's saying 'no snuggling upstairs, no snuggling down stairs!' And he sits grinning at me on his bed saying 'see what a good boy I am, not on the sofa!'

whitewing

I had to get the bus in to work today and had a few minutes to spare,so I sat in the churchyard in the sunshine and I wasn't intimidated by the chap mumbling to himself because of this thread, and ended up having a little chat with him. (he wasn't B though).

It did make me wonder, WaS, when did you stop being able to go out? You used to work and be out in the churchyard too. So what happened (if you want to tell us). Was it a gradual shrinking of your world?

I was also reading a thread on here about a blind person ultimately having a guide dog and that being allowed in rented property as it was an assistance dog not a pet. I was wondering if either you would be able to have some kind of assistance dog to help you, or if you could have visits from , say, one of those dogs that goes into schools or hospitals on visits, with a view to getting you more comfortable outside (on the basis that people would look at the dog rather than you!). I have a lovely image of you being escorted to your psychiatric appointments by dog!

On the subject of equine therapy, I did have the autobiography of Jaycee Lee Dugard, the American girl who was kidnapped as a child. Her and her daughters had equine therapy after that ordeal.

lostinrates

DUKE wrote: »

whitewing - I was on my way to see H some years ago & there was a bloke chatting away to his voices at the bus station, everyone was backing away & muttering to themselves. Thanks to H I was the only one who didn't. Some people don't understand that the people with voices are usually harmless. If they did hit out it would only be in fear, & anyone could do that.

I am learning a lot from this thread. I admit I would feel uncomfortable in such a situation, but I'm hoping that I am becoming more open minded. I've had a couple of dodgy public transport experiences, I tend to back away and mutter from lots of people, maybe even most!

Pyxis

With regards to B, I was wondering if the Salvation Army could help to find him?