Depression and voices

[bonjour16]

I've been diagnosed with severe depression and anxiety and was wondering if anyone experienced hearing voices (angry ones) with their depression? And if so, did they go away once your depression was lifted. Feeling low and scared and in need of some reassurance. I'm on 20mg citalopram and 5mg olanzipine. Thank you in advance.

@Pinktornado I can relate to the voice saying the same thing over and over again day and night. Just wondering how you managed to cope as well as a small baby. Did they just go away once you managed to catch up on sleep. I think mine is anxiety related.

Has anyone else experienced voices from extreme stress and anxiety?

@bonjour16 sorry to hear you're having such a tough time.
Hearing voices is very common, a lot more than people think. But it can be scary and confusing and weird to make sense of. There are lots of online forums and support. But if you're in the UK and you're having these experiences, you can (and in my opinion should) be being referred to an Early Intervention in Psychosis service. You can often self refer or go via GP.

It doesn't mean that's how your experiences would be labelled necessarily (ie as psychosis) but they are experts in assessing these kinds of experiences and giving advice.
That might include working with their team (who will include psychiatrists specialising in these experiences, but also other professionals who can offer therapy/psychological and social support). Or they might signpost you to some resources and you stay under your current psychiatrist.

@Potat0es thank you. I am seeing my psychiatrist weekly and have a CPN. I just wanted to see if anyone had experienced something similar and recovered so I have hope.

OP, I'm sorry to hear you're having a tough time. I had severe PND and I heard voices (telling me I was a terrible mother and my children would be better off without me), which were very upsetting at the time. It's important to say that the majority of people who hear voices aren't psychotic. In my case what I was hearing were my own thoughts, but the thoughts were so distressing and all-consuming that they manifested as voices. The psychiatrist I saw explained that this is common in severe cases of Depression and Anxiety. I knew the voices weren't real, that others couldn't hear them and they were inside my head. Mine went away gradually as I recovered from the PND, with the help of Psychotherapy. But if your Psychiatrist feels you need antipsychotic medication then they are best placed to advise you as everyone's experience of voice hearing is different.

I hope the increase in Olanzapine helps and you start to feel better soon

@MinisterforCheekyFuckery thank you for kind reply. That gives me some hope. Did you need antidepressants for your PND? Did your voices sound different to your own voice? I'm taking citalopram so I'm hoping that helps too!

My DH has bipolar 2. He very occasionally heard voices, usually when he was particularly low and anxious. He is on a combination of sertraline, quetiapine and lamotrigine which seems to have put a stop to them (touch wood).

I hope you feel better soon, OP

I have fibromyalgia and intrusive thoughts are a part of the package. Don't hear voices but anxiety can take over sometimes and I feel like the rationally and logically thinking me is being kicked out of my body.
I am also a control freak which is a curse and a blessing because while it may increase my stress, it also helps me cope with the symptoms.
Stress and insomnia are really bad.
I am also very sensitive to sounds and then feel guilty when I react to some normal sounds such as singing or laughter in a very irritated way. I think feeling guilty about your changes in behaviour adds up to the stress too because you feel like a nuisance and bother to others.

@OnlyTheTitOfTheLangBerg thank you. Fingers crossed too 🤞

@EerieSilence do you take medication to help? I can relate to the sensitivity to sounds. I experience that too as well as stress!

@bonjour16 I can't. I react very badly to antidepressants, name a side effect and I get it all with the exception of sudden death.
I developed other coping mechanisms, knowing that it's not you, it's a disease helps. I also run early in the morning which helps coping with the anxiety and helps serotonin to develop.

Did you need antidepressants for your PND? Did your voices sound different to your own voice? I'm taking citalopram so I'm hoping that helps too!

I didn't take antidepressants. I was offered them though. With the benefit of hindsight, I think I probably made life more difficult for myself by not taking them but at the time I was worried about side effects. Therapy was really helpful for me, I'd go as far as to say it saved my life. But it's definitely the long road. If I could go back in time is tell myself to take the medication and then do the therapy as well!
Yes, my voices were completely different from my own voice. But when the Psychiatrist told me they were my thoughts it was like a lightbulb moment. The voices were basically forcing me to confront the worst things I thought about myself, all the horrible anxious thoughts I'd been desperately trying to ignore and push to the back of my mind. I think the voices were my brain's way of shaking me and going "look, this isn't going to go away, you have to deal with this" because the sheer effort of pretending (to myself and the rest of the world) to be ok every day was almost as bad as the illness itself.

You won't always feel like this

@MinisterforCheekyFuckery thank you. That's really insightful. I most certainly hope I don't feel like this forever! I hope you are happy and healthy now. Thanks again x

I heard voices as a side affect of the anti depressants I was on (also citalopram). If it’s new, go to your doctor and tell them. It’s not something you should ignore. I hope you feel better soon

@EerieSilence thanks I should really try and get some exercise to boost my mood!

@SugarNyx thanks for your reply. Are you still on citalopram? Did the voices go away? I've been on and off citalopram since 2006 and restarted again this month. I've not experienced voices with them before so my psychiatrist thinks its not connected to the citalopram.

I agree with @MinisterforCheekyFuckery. It is scary to confront these voices, but it may well be a way through to wellness. I'm not sure I would advise doing this alone though, as it's hard to be subjective when your mind is the one creating them so I would say you will need therapy to support you through this. Just take things one step at a time as it can take time.

Woolly I completely agree. Therapy was essential for me, as was accepting that you can't (and shouldnt) do it alone.

@MinisterforCheekyFuckery. I should look into therapy. Did you go private or through the NHS?

I can off it as soon as it started and they have never returned. I was on them for about 6 months. After that they gave me mild tranquillisers to take when I was feeling shit.

It could be the meds doing this, it does happen. Please go back to your GP.

Olanzipine is prescribed for schizophrenia and bipolar.
Citalopram is an anti-depressant.

The only time I've ever seen or heard anything not there has been when I've been prescribed drugs and when I stopped taking, that all stopped. Now I take nothing except the odd pain killer.

Go back to your doctor and tell him/her about these symptoms, they may be drug related.

@SugarNyx so you were on them for a while with no probs then you started to hear voices? Was this due to an increase in dose? Sorry for all the questions.