Persistent voices in the head, telling you to do something or consistently negative / destructive is one symptom of psychosis. Does he have any other symptoms? (see below from NHS site)
I would recommend he goes to see the GP, or ask for referral to Community Mental Health Team (CMHT). There are medications that can keep these kind of symptoms under control.
Symptoms of psychotic episodes
There are four main symptoms associated with a psychotic episode:
- hallucinations,
- delusions,
- confused and disturbed thoughts, and
- a lack of insight and self-awareness.
Hallucinations
A hallucination is when you think you perceive something that does not exist in reality. Hallucinations can occur in all five of your senses as outlined below.
- Sight - someone with psychosis may see colours and shapes, or imaginary people, or animals.
- Sounds - someone with psychosis may hear voices that are angry, unpleasant or sarcastic.
- Touch - a common psychotic hallucination is that insects are crawling on the skin.
- Smell - usually a strange, or unpleasant, smell.
- Taste - some people with psychosis have complained of having a constant unpleasant taste in their mouth.
Delusion
A delusion is having an unshakable belief in something that is implausible, bizarre or obviously untrue. There are two common types of psychotic delusion that are described below.
Paranoid delusion
A person with psychosis will often believe that an individual or organisation is making plans to hurt or kill them, which in turn can lead to unusual behaviour. For example, a person with psychosis may refuse to be in the same room as a mobile phone because they believe they are actually mind-control devices.
Delusions of grandeur
A person with psychosis may have delusions of grandeur where they believe that they have some imaginary power, or authority. For example, they may think they are president of a country, or that they have the power to bring people back from the dead.
Confusion of thought
People with psychosis often have disturbed, confused and disrupted patterns of thought. Signs of this include:
- their speech may be rapid and constant,
- the content of their speech appears random; they may switch from one topic to another in mid-sentence, and
- their train of thought may suddenly stop, resulting in an abrupt pause in conversation or activity.
Lack of insight
People who are experiencing a psychotic episode often totally unaware that their behaviour is in any way strange, or that the delusions or hallucinations that they are experiencing could be imaginary.
They may be capable of recognising delusional or bizarre behaviour in others, but lack the self-awareness to recognise it themself. A person with psychosis who is being treated in a psychiatric ward will often complain that all of their fellow patients are mentally ill while they are perfectly normal.