On Aug 7, 5:27 pm, KingOfTheApes
yahoo.com> wrote:> It is said that the in the old times God spoke to the prophets and
> made them write the Bible, etc. How should I interpret when new
> messages come into my mind, God is talking to me or am I going crazy?
> And if I am, how do we know the old prophets weren't crazy too?
>
Research indicates that hearing voices isn't all that rare; that many
cope well with it, belying its association with madness; and that so
many parts of the brain are involved in audition that finding those
responsible for hearing voices may be impossible. Smith proceeds from
present-day science to the nineteenth-century labeling of hearing
voices as hallucinatory, and then to famous cases of it, most of them
preceding but one during its pathologization. Socrates (Smith posits
that the voices the philosopher heard affected his sentencing to
death), Joan of Arc, and a German jurist who largely recovered from
schizophrenic voice hearing are the three figures about whom Smith
writes so intelligently and absorbingly that one wishes he had covered
others he notes, especially William Blake, as fully. One also wants to
read more of him, on any subject he chooses.
Muses, Madmen, and Prophets: Hearing Voices and the Borders of Sanity
by Daniel B. Smith
http://www.amazon.com/Muses-Madmen-Prophets-Hearing-Borders/dp/0143113151
> I guess only "God knows" the answer to these questions, so to speak...
>
What would counter the theory that you are suffering from auditory
hallucinations, which are actually pretty common.
Auditory hallucinations, particularly of one or more talking voices,
are particularly associated with psychotic disorders such as
schizophrenia, and hold special significance in diagnosing these
conditions, although many people not suffering from diagnosable mental
illness may sometimes hear voices as well. The Hearing Voices Movement
is a support and advocacy group for people who hallucinate voices, but
do not otherwise show signs of mental illness or impairment. Other
types of auditory hallucinations include musical hallucinations, where
people will hear music playing in their mind, usually songs they are
familiar with. One reason this can be caused is by lesions on the
brain stem, occurring most often from strokes, but also tumors,
encephalitis, or abscesses. Other reasons include hearing loss and
epileptic activity. Recent reports have also mentioned that it is also
possible to get musical hallucinations from listening to music for
long periods of time.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hallucination
http://www.healthyplace.com/Communities/Thought_Disorders/schizo/articles/hearing_voices...
