7 year old daughter hearing voices

[shadetree66]

My daughter is hearing voices. She has mentioned this off and on since she was 3. (It used to be she "had a friend in her head"). I figured it was probably an imaginary friend since she doesn't have any siblings who still live at home. Today I asked her whose voice it was. She said that it was just "the girl's" voice. Sometimes it tells her to do bad things (like give in to peer pressure--climb the small storage shed, eg.) Now she says if it tells her to do something bad she can put it down the chute and get a new person who looks the same. Sometimes the voice will comfort her during a test. She is the one who "makes the dreams". When I asked her to give me an example of something she says (since she talks all the time when no one else is talking) my dh told me to be quiet. After several seconds, she chuckled and said, "Deer Tracks are not available to the phone. You're insane". We have finally ascertained that the voice is coming from within her head--not as if someone is talking to her from outside her head. My dh is really quite bright--she does well in school, so it does not appear to be affecting her academically. She is well-liked and is extrememly well behaved. This does not seem to be affecting any other part of her life, but she says that it is annoying to her. Does this sound like a medical problem a psychological problem or what? Thank you for any help!

[Cleveland Mom]

It sounds like she may be experiencing auditory hallucinations.  Talk to her doctor.  The physician will likely refer her for a psychological evaluation.  Halluncinations can be caused by a delirium i.e. fever, infection, by drugs and drug withdrawl, by dementia, neurological problems and by psychiatric disorders.  I would take this seriously and talk her physician.  Best wishes...

[koukla29]

Definitely take her to the pediatrician.  I think it's always a good idea to rule out any medical issues.  Since you say that she functions well in all other settings, and has social connections (friendships), I think your daughter might have a great imagination.  Has a teacher or other adult ever approached you about her "voices".  For example, in class today your daughter was having a conversation with herself, or she seems to be losing friends over some of her erratic type behaviors.  This would be cause for great concern.  However, if she is only telling you these things when she is alone and bored, I think she has tons of imagination.  

First step, though take her to the pediatrician to make sure there are no medical issues that might be causing this.  Best wishes

[::taylor-A-::]

Are you sure she's not mistaking this 'thing' for her conshince?


I know i spelled it wrong :)

[Cleveland Mom]

Thats a good point.  I would be concerned because it sounds as if this child talks to these voices, which indicates that she is being internally stimulated by auditory hallucinations.  Also, the comment about the deer tracks is illogical.  If mom were quite sure that this child merely had a very active imagination, she wouldn't be posting here.  This child should be seen by a mental health clinician.

[koukla29]

I've worked with schizophrenic children.  They don't just say a phrase of "word salad" here and there.  They have bizzarre tendancies that are very difficult to dismiss as imagination and creativity.  In addition, the bizarre behavior is throughout - not periodic statements.  I haven't heard anything that would alarm me to auditory hallucinations.  

However, I do think you should take her to the pediatrician and get her checked out.  Never hurts. Best wishes  

[Cleveland Mom]

I wasn't thinking of schizophrenia, specifically.  There are other psychiatric conditions where psychosis become present at one time or another.  Mom stated that there are voices in this little girls head and that they are annoying to her.  Believing that there are voices in one's head seems distinct and separate from one having a vivid and active imagination, to me.  As you point out koukla29, this child's behavior sounds organized much more organized than what one would expect in a child experiencing auditory hallucinations.  Its not at all clear whats going on.

[koukla29]

Well, you are right.  Quite honestly, it is not clear what exactly is going on with this little girl.  I think it is always best err on the side of caution and check out every possibility.  Mom should take her to a pediatrician and go from there.  I am confident her doctor can give referrals to the appropriate persons/agencies.  

[rhunter3sc]

My daughter went through something very similar at around the same age.  She had two seperate incidences.  Which we finally connected to a tramatic experience for her, first was me, going back to work full time when she was first starting school.  and then When I had to have emergency surgery and was hospitalized and we were in the midst of moving.  She would say that her head would tell her that people were fat or ugly and it would tell her to say bad words or think of bad words or bad things or wish bad things on people.  Thank god that stuff has stopped and she has grown out of it.  She is a very intelligent well rounded child  of  9 now.  We even did the psychiatric consult too.  And he said that she was fine.  

[Mocatan2000]

I am a teacher of a preschool, one of my parents has a child that is going through the same thing your child is going through. I would like to know if you could please post what you did to help your child and the results. Her childs voices are now telling her she is not about anything and that she should kill herself. Has me very concerned. I love this child very much. I will be checking back often.

Thanks in advance

Concerned

[mj444]

Have you ever thought that she may be clairaudient? That she hears things from the other side?  While I agree that she might need to be seen by her Dr., I think that you should maybe think outside of the box and consider something along the lines of psychic ability.  Although most people may be skeptics, I think this might be worth looking into, especially since there are many people/children who are locked up in mental wards just because they have psychic abilities that are not recognized by the medical community.

[tl001]

I used to hear voices when I was little...sounded like conversations but when I listened closely I could never actually make out the words.  I never told anyone and eventually I outgrew it (or maybe learned to ignore it)

Yesterday my daughter asked me if your conscience can really talk to you, because she hears voices in her head...voices that sound like arguing but she can't quite make out what they are saying.

I have no idea what is going on...

[crying out 4 help]

my lil bro dose that 2, but i dont think that theres any thing wrong maybe shes lonely, talk to her.

[mama24]

My daughter who is five just told me three days ago that she hears a little voice in her head.  She said this little voice mostly repeats what she says and speaks nonsense.  I am extremely concerned.  I made an appointment with her pediatrician and hope he will shed some light.  She started kindergarten four days ago.  I think this is why she started hearing the little voice.  She used to have an imaginary friend when she was three years old.  I am open to all sorts of interpretation, but mostly I just want it to go away.  She says it does not bother her and yet she asked I keep it a secret and when she brings it up she quickly wants to stop talking about it.  I hope she is ok and not lonely.  

[LalaLalaLala]

I also used to hear voices when I was little.  It would be a male voice and a female voice arguing - usually "yes" "no" - it was really annoying and used to give me headaches.  Always seemed to happen when I was alone - cleaning my room, reading, trying to sleep.

I sometimes also saw thick lines and thin lines rolling away from me and the voices would say "thick " "thin" or "rough" "smooth".  I was an imaginative child - and a lonely and sometimes unhappy child but these voices were real.

I grew out of it. Other than my conscience I now hear no voices. I still suffer from migraine with visual aura though and often wonder if it was connected.

I mentioned it to my older sister a couple of years ago and she said that she suffered something similar with the addition of a "little man dangling on a string".

The brain is a strange thing!

[April2]

Did you guys also see this post in the doctor forum? Someone said hearing voices can be related to ocd. I had never heard that before. I find it very interesting.

A long time ago when I was a new Chrisian I began hearing "thoughts or voices" saying terrible things about God (seems silly now, I know but I was so scared!). It grieved me terribly because I loved God and wanted to please him. It also scared me because I thought I was going to go to hell! Let me tell you I was messed up for awhile. I went to a pastor and he told me it was demons and I needed to fight them. I wasn't sure if this was even more scary to believe that or that it was coming from me! I tried memorizing scriptures, etc. to drown out the voices, I prayed a lot. Finally, they subsided and I think I was just so exhausted at that point that I gave up and "gave it to God".

You're right, the brain is a mysterious thing. I'd like to check it out, though, and see if there really is a link to ocd and hearing voices. It's certainly something to think of.

[Eseva]

My 7yr old son is telling me he sees monsters and that they come to him. They are not telling him to do anything bad. But I am worried never the less. When he was 5-6yrs old he told me my deceased father would come to him in his dreams and tell him nice things. I didn't think much of it then, since he never got to meet my father. I thought this was his imagination wanting to get to know him. What would you recommend? Anyone.I don't want to over react but I am fearful and am not sure how to handle the situation. I am just trying not to make him feel regretful in opening up to me and discussing what he sees.

[sintew]

my seven year old daughter sometimes hears stomping and "angel voices they always say come with me or us. one time, the first bout she said they told her to get a knife and kill herself they said they neede her help and that they come down on this big spiral thing to hide them she was on claritin for the first time she also saw a face back in first bout a white scary face. she is happy does dance lessons acting lessons loves to sing and play. dont know what to think  thanks  rnom rn

[1Hope3]

My son is now 10, and first told me about 'talking' in his head when he was about 8.  We went to a psychologist and came up with ways to deal with the voice.  He would ask it to come back later or to only come if it had something good to say.  After 6 months he was not hearing it any more.  Then a year later at 9 he was extremely anxious over a swimming carnival and told me that the voice came back on the bus.  But that was it again for another year.  Now he's 10 and had it again, under the same circumstances.  He has also been quite hyperactive this time with the anxiety and all.  Otherwise he is a 'well' child.  I suppose that we need to be realistic in that this could become something more - but how can I know.  We have him on fish oil, and lots of vit, mins etc and are being very supportive, but once again the voice is gone and he is fine.  Believing it's paranormal is a much better prospect for me, believing he'll grow out of it is even better, but only time will tell.  One thing is for sure, treat this phenonemon as real.  Help your child cope, we taught him to believe and say that he was the boss of the voice.  Look up voice hearing web sites, and be prepared I suppose, because there is no answer right now.   Good luck

[jamae]

My daughter is 5 and she is telling me that she hears voices
I am very concerned.  She says the voice is her own - which I think is good - but it always tells her to do bad things.  It told her to suffocate herself and also to get herself lost when we were out shopping together.  Any insight, advice, any other experience or stories as to how this turned out for any of you would be much appreciated.  We are currently waiting for an appointment with the pedi neurologist and perhaps a child psychologist.  Thank you very much.

[rilbrianne]

I would seek advice from your child's pediatrician and possibly a mental health doctor
( someplace where her brain activity can be detected)  Sometimes you will see or hear things if there is something in your brain, for example a small tumor/bleeding/etc.   Even the smallest of symptoms (a pupil that doesn't enlarge or get smaller with light changes) can be a sign of some sort of condition in the brain.

[babystarr]

My just turned 5 year old daughter is very scared at night. A year ago, she came to the living rm from bed and said she couldn't sleep b/c she has the "sounds in my ears". Freaked me out. The sounds were saying heffalumps and weasles" over and over (from Winnie the Pooh). I waited 6 months to see if it would change. She complained about 4X per month and only when she was trying to sleep at night. The sounds did add, "mommy, daddy" in a nice and mean voice. At month 8, with no change and the new voice added, I got her evaluated. The psychologist is working w/ her, says she seems fine but that it is outside the range of normal enough for him to see her. He's talking to her about the voices. Asking if she can make them loud or soft and trying to get her to modulate the volume of the voice. It is scary but I think if you make too much of it you project your fears on the kids so handle with care

[ela123]

My daugher is almost 7. It all started 2 weeks ago when she cried at school and told us she did so becuase her teacher looked bigger and was wearing bigger clothes and also a girl on the bus had a shadow in her ear. My immediate thought was OCD, but then a few days later, she said that she had voices telling her that mommy and daddy were the devil. She told me that she loved me and really didn't think we were the devil. Then the next day while she was in a good mood and playing, she stopped and started crying. She then said the voices told her that she was the devil and so was her brother, aunt and cousins that she was with that day. A few hours later, she asked if a relative had a gun and then said her mind was telling her to shoot herself, her brother, aunt and cousins. It has progressed over the last few weeks. She descibes the voices as a girl, a boy and a mean girl voice. She seems like a different person all together. She is very hyper, outgoing (normally shy and reserved) and reacts differently to situations than she used to. She is very intellegent, even reading at almost a 3rd grade level. She was smart from birth -  she could recognize the upper and lower case alphabet at 16 months old. However, she was a colic baby and has always been very particular about things. We have seen a therapist one time and have an appointment with a pyschiatrist soon. The Theapists seems to think that her sudden bazare behavior was triggered by a recent traumactic experience. We can not get her to tell us that anything traumactic that has happened. We have went over every single situation that she has been in for the last few weeks. We think that something could have happened at a neighbor/friend's house, but don't know for sure. We could be completely wrong. I don't know which would be worse, a phsychiatric condition or a traumactic experience that caused this. This is scary and hard to understand.

[1Hope3]

Hi ela123, I have a post above yours (1HOPE3) re my son age 10.  I would like to suggest that you visit the web site schizophrenia.com and go into the childhood onset forum and have a read of some of the threads.  I do not suggest that your child is schizophrenic at all, but you will find some very important and interesting advice and information from others with children like ours.  I have a few posts on there too.  Look for a thread titles "schizoaffective" posted by Marla and have a read.  I have posted under my name Michele.  There is some good advice and recommendation re diet, nutrition, biology etc you may find relevant.  Hope this helps.  Hope to hear from you on the site.
Michele

[splucky]

My daughter confided in me last night she hears voices all of the time. She is a very bright 8yr. old who is also very moody. She says the voice is a man and he tells her only bad things. He tells her to do the opposite of what she is told. He sharpens his pencils, spins a globe and screeches his chair across the floor. He always wants her to throw stuff, break stuff, say mean things.  She insists he lives in her head.  She says she doesn't do what he says but hates that he is always so mean.  She was afraid to tell me because she thinks I will not believe her. I told her I believe her and that she could talk to me about it anytime.  I am wondering how much it affects her moods.  I talked to her teacher earlier this week to make sure she is not giving any negative attitude and her teacher says she is great.  Great student and child.  My daughter wants this voice to go away.  Guess I am on a new path i wasn't expecting to be on as a parent. Thanks for reading.

[babybluemama]

All of these things sound very much like OCD.  What they are doing is a form of "Pure O", where your brain gets caught up on a very weird or unusual thought.  You just can't stop thinking about it.  Eventually, you start having conversations with this part of your brain, WILLING it to stop saying such horrible things.  

As an adult, I have random thoughts, out of nowhere.  Some thoughts are "I don't really believe in God" or "I should throw my kid down these steps"  "do it!"  "Say F*ck" in the middle of church.  From what I have read, you think about things that you feel most passion for..ie, my faith, my kids, etc.  It's a very normal and real part of OCD.  I can actually say "stop it, just shut up!" to myself outloud because I cannot control these outbursts in my head.  

I can EASILY see how a child would confuse these outburst thoughts as a person inside their head.  Have someone adminster an OCD test, focusing on pure O for now.  Observe to see if she does anything to calm these thoughts....constant need to talk about them, need for reassurance, avoiding things in fear the thoughts might come are all related.  If they or anyone thinks it's OCD there is a GREAT site called "Stuck in a Doorway" where much of this is chatted about.

[althepal39]

I was just reading the paper this morning and there was an article that said certain flu shots are being related to hallucinations in children..  The name of the drug is Relenza..  just wanted to pass it on in case anyones kids have taken this drug.  

[amotherof2]

My daughter just turned 4 in December.  She started saying the people in her head tell her to do things around Feb./March.  It is little things like walking funny, misbehaving, or telling her to do something when we are telling her not to.  She is a very active, smart, and outgoing child.  She does have an imaginary friend as well. I asked her one time why she was acting like she was (not listening, misbehaving) she was distraught and stated that the people in her head are telling her to.  I am concerned about it and have set her up with a therapist for later this month.  I cannot think of anything traumatic that has happened to her recently.  She's been going to the same preschool two days a week for about 2 years now.  Does this sound like something more of a mental illness or an over active imagination?  

[princess_peach]

i also have a 7yr old daughter whos been sayin shes hearing naughty voices in her head.she says they tell her to say very rude swear words(nobody uses bad language around her!)this evening she came out with a racist comment which is sooooo not my daughter :0(   she is a very intellegent child,far beyond her years.she was reading by 3yrs old.she is kind,considerate and usually a very good girl.i am really scared for her as it seems to be getting worse and is upsetting her.i am an excellent mother,but i feel totally out of my depth with this.

[curly10]

My 6 yr old has been telling me he has been hearing voices.  He calls them "robbers."  They tell him to say bad words and think nasty thougts about girls.  I asked him if he can draw me a picture of the "robbers" and he told me he can't see them he only hears them.  We have an app. w/ a specialist.  He's ready to get the robbers out of his head.  He's been through alot in his little life.  His dad shot himself when my son was 18 months old.  He is still living and looks like a monster.  We've been divorced for 4 yrs.  He seen his dad beat up on his mom more than once.  I'm ready for my son to get better.

[tango381]

the human mind is programed to recieve a specific frequency, like a t.v. signal,there are other channels,or dimensions but most people can recieve only one.Some people can recieve more than one.I know what she is going through, i hear voices and mumbling also.I sleep with a radio as to not have to hear it.Do not acknowledge it,pay it no mind,because when you do you are empowering it. you should seek help from your church.and keep in mind there are millions of people that are dealing with these type problems.

[momluv64]

My son has been having anxiety and obsesses about certain topics. He told me he hears himself screaming words and notes in his head! I think he may have OCD. The Dr. diagnosed him with ADHD. The meds are making him and the voices worse! He has real phobias as well...what does he have. Or maybe OCD with something else?