I’ve seen this before, but after a re-read, I found this:
In an interview, Luhrmann said that American clinicians “sometimes treat the voices as if they … should be ignored. Our work found that … the way people pay attention to their voices alters what they hear their voices say. That may have clinical implications.”
Yes, definitely. The people I hear are only ever critical or offensive, and “they” have learned what’s most hurtful to me. If I start paying attention to their echoes of financial worry, they get louder and more forceful. There’s something going on in my brain that learns what’s most painful to me, and amplifies it to cause pain.
Yes, as a Westerner I’d agree with the study’s findings. The people I hear are harsh, not mirthful.
And I am struck by this:
It’s an invasive feeling, like an outsider in your head, digging around for things that hurt and embarrass you, then saying those things aloud. It makes you powerless, all you can do is sit there while someone yells out your most shameful thoughts, and there’s no stopping them.