Hearing Voices: stories from the coalfaceHearing Voices: stories from the coalface
All In The Mind
Mel was dux of her high school with bright prospects. At 25, she needs 24-hour family care, persecuted by a violent voice in her head who she calls Ron. Journalist Tom Tilley takes us to meet Mel and her family for a rare, raw and intimate insight into the experience of hearing voices; and reports on current uncertainty over causes and treatments.
30:17•17 Oct 2009
Hearing Voices: Mel, Kat and the Battle Inside Their Minds
Episode Overview
- Hearing voices can range from one-off experiences to relentless, destructive commands that make everyday life feel impossible.
- Current treatments, especially antipsychotic medications, can reduce hallucinations but often leave many people still hearing distressing voices.
- Experts present contrasting views: one focuses on brain chemistry and circuitry, while another emphasises trauma, conflict and meaning behind the voices.
- The Hearing Voices Network offers peer groups where people share experiences, negotiate with their voices and swap coping strategies without focusing on labels.
- Music, distraction, and directly engaging with voices can help some people reduce their power and feel less isolated.
“It just showed me that I'm not the only one that hears voices and I'm not alone.”
Get ready to be moved by real-life accounts of what it’s like to share your head with a voice that won’t leave you alone. This episode of *All In The Mind* follows Mel, once dux of her high school, who now needs round-the-clock care while a violent voice she calls Ron tells her to harm herself and others. As she says bleakly, "I just want to die.
I want it to be over." Journalist Tom Tilley sits with Mel and her parents, Bruce and Faye, in their Sydney home, capturing the strain on a family living with constant crisis. You’ll hear about years of hospital stays, heavy medication, shifting diagnoses, and a father’s fear of sending his daughter back to an acute ward. Their story is frank, full of strong language and distress, and offers a rare look at the day-to-day reality of severe voice hearing.
The episode doesn’t stop at Mel’s experience. Psychiatrist Professor Vaughan Carr outlines a brain-based, dopamine-focused view of auditory hallucinations, while counsellor and former psychiatric nurse John Watkins questions whether medication alone is more "band-aid" than solution. Both perspectives highlight just how uncertain current treatments can be. Things take a different turn with Kat, a 19-year-old from Perth, who hears several voices including the dark, suicidal Pandora and the playful Katrina.
After a suicide attempt and hospitalisation, Kat finds support with the Hearing Voices Network, learning strategies such as talking with her voices and using music to push back. For her, songs that speak of hope and endurance "kind of put them in their place" and remind her she isn’t alone. This is intense, raw listening aimed at anyone curious about psychosis, mental health labels, and new ways of living with distressing inner experiences.
If you or someone you love hears voices, could these stories help you feel less alone and spark new questions for your own path?
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