"Hearing voices when no one is there can be a symptom of mental illness," writes Martin Johnston in The New Zealand Herald, "yet a study of the phenomenon found nearly half the people who heard voices said their hallucinations were mostly friendly or helpful." University of Auckland researcher Vanessa Beaven used questionnaires to poll 154 people who hear voices, and interviewed 50 of them for her doctoral thesis. She is using her work to help promote World Hearing Voices Day on Sept. 14. Some of her findings:
- The voices were mostly friendly or helpful for 48 per cent of respondents. Positive voice content including heading advice, encouragement, comforting words, and giggling.
- Voices of deceased people were the most common; others included parts of the self, gods and aliens.
- Around 25 per cent of those surveyed heard voices talking or arguing with each other
via The Toronto Globe and Mail, September 8, 2006
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