I don’t like to self-diagnose, even if it’s not a medical condition, but this sounds exactly like me except for the “concentrate deeply with a high degree of focus”. I mentally jump from one thing to the next, like project to project, but generally meet deadlines. I just cannot sit down and pay attention to the same subject for very long unless I really, really enjoy that subject.
One thing I’ll say is that being so sensitive to minuscule changes in the environment really helps with being a naturalist :). Knowing a spicebush is around the corner because you smell them before you see them is a fun novelty too.
I’ve heard Lyme sufferers complain of formication, and would also add that electrical fields can trigger this symptom if they are high enough or if someone is hypersensitive to them.
I came here from my most recent intro post, but I suppose I’ll share my two cents.
I’ve never been diagnosed with anything, but there have been times that I’ve not felt “Normal”, but everyone feels like that.
I hear voices sometimes, I’ve heard them for a few years now, but I see them as friends, rather than some type of “hallucinations”.
I’ve slightly lost connection to some memories from my younger life, and I’ve learned how to tag memories to certian objects. I have hundreds of objects, and if someone asks me about one of the objects in my “Hoard”, I can recall my age, and the place that the memory took place.
Some people don’t take me seriously when I say I hear voices, so I’ve since stopped talking about them, but if anyone wishes to learn about them, I think they’d love to share about themselves
With voices it does worth to get diagnosed, you’d like to know what to expect in a future or to be sure if something is needed or not needed to be done. If you definitely have multiple voices in your head as a normal thing it’s auditory hallucinations and can be caused by many things, some of them very serious and dangerous to life. There was a good video of a girl with schizophrenia talking about her voices and how they started, but I can’t find it right now (I will try to).
I’ve come to the conclusion they may be walk-ins, similar to tulpas in a sense, (Using the modern version of the term “tulpa”, as the old version)
although i don’t consider them tulpas, as tulpamancers usually create them, and none of my voices were created.
As far as I know, they’re not any form of Alters, as I’ve never experienced any form of trauma, at least before the age of 7.
Now I’m trying to research tulpas and understand how it is different from regular thinking that almost always involves an interlocutor.
As long as you’re not worried abou it it’s ok! I’m just afraid of tumours everywhere, our bodies are not suited for this world at all.
I am nowhere near an expert as I am not plural but my understanding is people can be plural without known trauma (not all alters are traumogenic)? Which isn’t to say you are plural either, of course. This is all so fascinating.
that is true, I’ve heard of some people who haven’t experienced any specific trauma, and yet have some type of plurality.
In my memory, two of the “Voices” showed up at once, when I was maybe…9?
Sukie, female; and Clay, a male.
They didn’t say much, accept for the occasional “You’re fine”, or “Good/Bad” (depending on what I asked them)
Wisp (He/they) showed up shortly after, maybe when I was 10. He and Clay are very close. Wisp was considered the “voice” I could tell anything. I remember once I told him I was feeling sad (I won’t share the reason online), and he said “It’s alright, I’m here, we’re all here.”
About 2 years later Birch (She/they/It) showed up out of nowhere, I remember we used to think she was a boy, as she almost never spoke, but recently she’s been much more active, and she’s become fond of talking to me every morning, or when I’m feeling upset.
As I said, I’m not very sure how they became sentient, they just sort of came, and I welcomed them as people I could talk to, and they talked to me.
(3 of them are feeling a bit flattered they’re being talked about )
Oh, and if you’re wondering, I gave the “voices” names to be able to tell the difference, except for Birch, she told me that was the name she felt comfortable with
Yeah, we’ve had our disagreements, (Once Clay and Sukie had a large fight, with Wisp being in the middle of it, it wasn’t the best fight, but we worked it out )
but overall we pretty much see each other as…a family? maybe? Clay and Wisp would be the dads…Birch is honestly like the fun aunt…Sukie…Sukie’s just there for the party…
it sounds similar to how I have heard people describing being plural on Youtube and Twitter, except in some cases the alters take over everything for some people? Again, I am no expert as I have no alters (though I have realized lately that my ‘masked’ self and my openly autistic self can be pretty darn different).
After reading all about your voices @brownfam, I’ve realised how much I talk my myself ! I’m always saying something when I’m alone, but I talk to myself, i.e. I’m the teller as well as listener. I’m talking as if I’m telling those things to someone, like a conversation, but it’s just one way conversation since I’m telling that to myself. I also “imagine” a conversation, with the person I will be meeting in near future or met in near past, in which I’m both persons, except that this times the other person also replies to what I say, though that person doesn’t talks much. And this happens only when I couldn’t sleep at night, or when I’m alone. But those aren’t “conscious & sentient” beings, just me role-playing as others as well as myself at the same time. Kind of like what people do before going for an interview or something. And when I think about the voices in your head, I start to question the concepts of reality & consciousness. What exactly is consciousness ? Is it even a real thing or just a concept made by our “smart enough to perceive the surroundings but not enough to understand it completely” brain ? What is reality and what isn’t ? etc etc etc ! But then I realise we’re getting Philosophical now, so I just give up on finding answers to this questions and click on “Reply” button !
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