Hearing voices: when to worry?

My younger son's childhood nickname was "Dos"--his toddler brother's pronunciation of his "real" name.

Dos was about three and we were reading. He pointed to his name written in the front of the book and said, "S-O-D". That spells my name.
I explained about English being read from left to right and that "S-O-D" actually said, "Sod".

He replied, quick as a whip, "Sod. That's my name when I'm bad."

Therefore, my answer to you is "None of the Above".

I'd make it clear to Mo that he is in charge of the Water People and while they are a wily and obsterperous bunch of invaders that Mighty Mo can learn to quell them and tame them and keep them--and himself--out of trouble.

Is that "Mo" thing to do or is that "Water People?"

Boy, those Water People certainly don't think ahead the way Mo does.

What do you think your teacher would say if the Water People got loose in the classroom?

The Water People are a wonderful way to talk about wickedness without making Mo feel he's wicked.

I've talked about sozlet and Jones -- he lives in her brain, and has a certain regulating effect. Sometimes when she does something that makes me say "what were you thinking??", the answer will be "sorry, Jones is on vacation."

Which is to say, I think it CAN be normal.

That doesn't mean it IS normal, though.

Also it depends somewhat on what the bad things are.

And maybe that the water people are telling him to do bad things rather than the other way around (Jones is kind of a stern good guy -- superego really).

I think if I wasn't sure -- especially given the background -- I'd go ahead and talk to a professional about it. (I know, there I go again.) I think it's one of those things that could go a few ways. I also know it's not cheap though. So I guess just trust your gut. I think you have good instincts.

Good points from Noddy about it being a way to talk about problematic behavior...

I think it could be any of them, but with regard to your last question, would my response be different knowing what he has experienced, I have to say it would. Right or wrong, I'd talk to a professional about it if for no other reason than to understand the likelihood of it being something serious.

Something around 10% of children (and youth) hear 'voices (that's in Germany, and from a survey maybe 10 years ago).

It'sperhaps just a temporary thing.
It certainly is not doing any bad if
- the child isn't influenced by the voices to do 'bad things',
- if those voices don't make it fearful,
- if the voices can be influenced by the child.

That means, thechild must learn to control those voices.


So, ...
- those voices can be send away,
- only listen to the voices when the child likes to do so,
- making arrangements with the voices (like about times, places where to talk)
...

(All similar to what Noddy already said.)


Bsides that, some strategies might help to make this easier like going to a place where "they can't follow", "thinking hem away" ...

Sounds like the old problem with Winie. If Winnie finally went away, I would reasonably expect the water people to go too. Probably.

Thank you all for your replies.

I got the name of a highly recommended therapist and I have contacted her requesting a consultation. I just did know how much of this twist to add to the mix.

The thing is, according to Mo, these people take over his body and control what he does and they want him to do bad things. And he's doing some bad things.

If he was just kind of chatting with the water-people I don't think I'd worry.

But yeah, for sure, getting him to think he can control them would be great. I'll try working on it from that angle.

Thanks all!

Gosh -- you're right -- it does sound kind of like Winnie!

Winnie didn't live in his head and take control of him though. He was afraid of her and he isn't afraid of the water-people.

So the water people make him do bad things -- that has to be the case because Mo is a good boy. So if Mo does bad things, it's because the water people make him. It sounds like he knows he's behaving badly, doesn't understand why he does those things, and doesn't want to be that kind of kid. That actually sounds kind of promising to me, but I know almost nothing about this sort of thing.

By all means, get a professional opinion, but I'm with Free Duck that the Bad Mo is being personified is a Good Thing.

The Old Adam, prone to sin, is a venerable archetype. Mo's just added his particular twist to the myth.

Has the puppy arrived? I'm betting that puppy has lots and lots of Water People making suggestions about puddles and chewing and playing rough and...

Puppy wants to be good, but the Water People get in the way.


Owner and Faithful Dog can battle the Water People together.

My daughter used to (at least we thought is was how she tried to get away with things) say her black heart told her do something naughty. Her red heart was when she was good and her black heart was what made her do naughty things. Sort of her excuse for misbehaving rather than it being her own fault.

I used to tell her when her black heart told her do something call up the red heart - she could control which heart she would listen to.

I wonder if all kids come up with some way to explain why they misbehave - perhaps it is a way for them to not feel that they are naughty themselves.

I don't know about other surveys, but here in Germany (2005) it's 8% of children.

Re: Hearing voices: when to worry?



Not.


I'm with Noddy.



Usually, with voices, people are worrying about schizophrenia.


The chances of such a thing developing at Mo's age are extraordinarily low.

This "voice" thing is usually thought to be about a kid not having integrated the notion that we are good AND bad.....it's like they separate out the bad parts, and assign the the thoughts and impulses they consider to be bad to a separate entity.



If he were adolescent, I'd be more worried.

Despite the current grip of the "everything is genes" school of thought, it is looking as though trauma can influence whether things like schizophrenia express themselves in particular individuals.


If you are really worried, though, check it out with someone who knows what they are talking about, cos worry isn't good for you right now.


Like a good therapist.



Be wary though...I don't know about levels of education about such things there, but here we have GPs who scare the bejesus out of people, and paediatricians who have actually diagnosed schizophrenia in a child Mo's age...AND GIVEN DRUGS FOR THE IMAGINED AILMENT....this though the child had an experienced and competent child psychiatrist working with him and the family.

Practical thought: Water People can always be flushed down the toilet.

Another great boomer topic (bookmark).

Re: Hearing voices: when to worry?
To add 2 cents to what dlowan, noddy and others have said, childhood-onset Schizophrenia or legitimate Auditory Hallucinations are also not things I'd be too concerned about, especially at his age. It sounds like he's trying to explain away, to himself as much as to you, why he had negative ideas or impulses which he knows are wrong and doesn't want to think came from his own conscience.

As adults these personifications of the dark side of one's conscience become more metaphorical in nature. The ole "the devil made me do it" gives way to the good angel, and bad angel, the imp on the shoulder, conscience(s) and all sorts of metaphors used by adults to write off negative impulses in their stream of thought that they disavow.

I really like noddy's practical suggestion ("Water People can always be flushed down the toilet.") and others of that nature because they leverage the magic he's invoking but I also like the practice of steering the concept toward metaphor and reinforcing that he has control.

On some level he surely knows that there are also good water people in him, and he can always decide who he listens to.

Re: Hearing voices: when to worry?


I forgot this part.

Extreme emotion is one of the triggers for Auditory Hallucinations in both pathological and incidental cases so it certainly wouldn't worry me any more than the emotional trauma already did.

I wonder if these voices aren't the beginnings of a conscience. The imaginary characters seem to be very common in children. The fact that he's having an internal debate regarding right and wrong...sounds like a conscience trying to evolve.

I might agree if there seemed to be any kind of "debate" going on. Right now, the water people* tell him to do it and he does it.

Extreme emotion is something we've seen a lot of lately around here..... hmmmm.....

I'm trying not to fret about it or make a big issue of it. I mentioned it to the therapist we're going to see and she asked me a bit more about it when we had our phone consultation. I'm sure it will come up again in our conversation next week.

Thank you all for putting my mind at ease and for offering suggestions on how to combat the water people.

*Just thought I'd mention -- Mo doesn't call them the water-people. He told me and Mr. B that they were people made out of something that looked kind of like water. They went into his head while he was asleep one night and have been telling him what to do ever since.