# what is the belief that other people can hear your thoughts



## beangreens (Mar 11, 2009)

what is the belief that other people can hear your thoughts and how do you overcome it.


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## Medline (Sep 23, 2008)

Psychosis... one needs Antipsychotics.


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## beangreens (Mar 11, 2009)

Medline said:


> Psychosis... one needs Antipsychotics.


is it still psychosis if people really can hear my thoughts?? If so whats the difference between them.


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## Medline (Sep 23, 2008)

They can't!


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## euphoria (Jan 21, 2009)

Yeah they definitely can't. Take our word for it .


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## Drella (Dec 4, 2004)

It's called thought broadcasting, and it's not indicative of a psychotic disorder (various things have to be going on for that). It's most likely just a part of your anxiety (and it's not uncommon), and antipsychotics are most definitely not required or even recommended for it. CBT is effective for alleviating thought broadcasting beliefs (as well as anxiety and a lot of other things), so I recommend looking into it.


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## CopadoMexicano (Aug 21, 2004)

hmm I remember thought broadcasting I still have problems thinking people can see my thoughts could be metaphysical ability/.


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## Medline (Sep 23, 2008)

You sure this is no symptom of a severe mental disorder if he really is sure that people can "hear" his thoughts"? Just "normal", non-paranoid anxiety.


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## Drella (Dec 4, 2004)

Medline said:


> You sure this is no symptom of a severe mental disorder if he really is sure that people can "hear" his thoughts"? Just "normal", non-paranoid anxiety.


No, it's not a psychotic disorder. No doctor would prescribe antipsychotics for thought broadcasting. The medication has really terrible side effects and thinking someone can hear your thoughts is not enough to warrant their administration. It's a pretty common side effect of anxiety. A lot of people with depression have depression with psychotic features, and both are treated concurrently with antidepressants (with alleviation of depression, comes allievation of the psychotic symptoms). Thought broadcasting beliefs occur comorbid with mood disorders, and aren't enough to qualify for diagnosis of a mental disorder in and of themselves. And no sensible doctor will prescribe antipsychotics for this; rightfully so.


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## Medline (Sep 23, 2008)

Ok, something new I learned.


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## John_in_SF (Mar 1, 2009)

Thought broadcasting is a symptom of schizophrenia, but doesn't justify a diagnosis all by itself.

If you just _feel_ like everyone can read your thoughts, that's plain old anxiety. If you really believe it, then you are deluded and one step closer to psychosis. If you believe it and don't find it at all bizarre, then psychosis becomes even more likely. Psychosis means that you have lost contact with some or all of reality.

If people _really_ can hear your thoughts, you are a scientific marvel and should be making more money than Oprah.


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## Jrock (Dec 16, 2008)

Medline said:


> You sure this is no symptom of a severe mental disorder if he really is sure that people can "hear" his thoughts"? Just "normal", non-paranoid anxiety.


If some hot girl started talking to you....I bet I could read your thought


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## Medline (Sep 23, 2008)

Wikipedia


> In psychiatry, *thought broadcasting* is the delusion that one is capable of "inserting" thoughts into other individual's minds, or that others can perceive them (telepathy). This is one of the first rank symptoms of *schizophrenia*.


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## Medline (Sep 23, 2008)

I think if one is afraid that others could read his thoughts but somehow knows they can't then it's "just" anxiety. If the person is absolutely sure they can read his thoughts no matter what then that does sound paranoid to me.


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## UltraShy (Nov 8, 2003)

Medline said:


> You sure this is no symptom of a severe mental disorder if he really is sure that people can "hear" his thoughts"? Just "normal", non-paranoid anxiety.


Paranoia -- basically anxiety where you don't rationally realize that your fears have no basis in reality. Such as seriously believing that others can read your thoughts.

Anxiety -- much the same, except one suffering from anxiety is actually attached to reality and rationally knows that their fears lack a rational foundation. Unfortunately, anxiety isn't rational and merely knowing it makes no sense doesn't make it go away.


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## UltraShy (Nov 8, 2003)

Drella said:


> No, it's not a psychotic disorder. No doctor would prescribe antipsychotics for thought broadcasting.


Yet my GP prescribed me two different antipsychotics when he believed my only problems were SA, OCD, and insomnia.

Consider how commonly the antipsychotic Seroquel is used to treat insomnia. Docs will try to treat just about everything with antipsychotics today. Haven't you seen the frequent TV ads for Abilify in which they say "Two out of three patients being treated for depression still have depressive symptoms. Talk to your doctor about adding Abilify." (And then they go on to list how it can kill you and stuff as required by the FDA.:lol


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## Drella (Dec 4, 2004)

Yeah, low doses of atypical antipsychotics can be prescribed for insomnia, because their side effects include pretty pronounced sedation. There are so many other alternatives and, given the side effects, I think they should be prescribed as an absolute last resort. In a lot of cases, that may be what occurs; I just know that I wouldn't want to be on an antipsychotic unless absolutely necessary (though atypical antipsychotics have less severe side effects). 


Medline said:


> I think if one is afraid that others could read his thoughts but somehow knows they can't then it's "just" anxiety. If the person is absolutely sure they can read his thoughts no matter what then that does sound paranoid to me.


Exactly, it is paranoid, not really psychotic. Trust me, if all you have is thought broadcasting, there's no way you're schizophrenic. And thought broadcasting isn't even a hallmark of the disorder; it occurs in many other common syndromes. For schizophrenia, you have to have at least 2 of the following: delusions, hallucinations, disorganized speech, grossly disorganized/catatonic behavior, and negative symptoms (alogia, avolition, affective flattening).

I had thought broadcasting beliefs several years ago; it was because of my depression and anxiety. I genuinely believed people could hear my thoughts; it was so bad that I would actually change what I was thinking about so that they wouldn't know my true thoughts. I look back now and think I must've been f*cking insane, but it seemed logical at that point. I don't have a psychotic disorder in remission; my anxiety and depression were so severe that they brought on psychotic features. For instance, severe major depressive disorder with psychotic features includes, most typically, delusions and/or hallucinations or, less typically, thought insertion, persecutory delusions, or delusions of thought broadcasting.


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## Medline (Sep 23, 2008)

I do trust you.


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## arhmt9 (Mar 8, 2009)

Drella said:


> For instance, severe major depressive disorder with psychotic features includes, most typically, delusions and/or hallucinations or, less typically, thought insertion, persecutory delusions, or delusions of thought broadcasting.


Wow! That is really interesting. It reminds me of about 10 years ago when I had really bad anxiety and depression and wasn't being treated for it. If the weather was bad I would think that I was reason for it. For example if it was raining and the sky was really dark I would think that God thought I was such a bad person and hated me so much and that was why he was making the weather bad which is an example of a persecutory delusion(Delusion of guilt or sin (or delusion of self-accusation): This is a false feeling of remorse or guilt of delusional intensity. A person may, for example, believe that he or she has committed some horrible crime and should be punished severely. Another example is a person who is convinced that he or she is responsible for some disaster (such as fire, flood, or earthquake) with which there can be no possible connection. )

I knew it wasn't rational thinking at the time and that is why I eventually sought out therapy. I knew I had some issues and seriously needed therapy. But it goes to show how much of an effect depression and anxiety can have on ones thoughts. Thankfully I got therapy and got an AD's and no longer think that way:b


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## CopadoMexicano (Aug 21, 2004)

If people hearing my thoughts is a subjective experience so why does the objective world seem like they can interpret my thoughts?


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## euphoria (Jan 21, 2009)

MavenMI6Agent009 said:


> If people hearing my thoughts is a subjective experience so why does the objective world seem like they can interpret my thoughts?


Because in psychotic disorders, your perceptual abilities; the very way in which you determine things as "objective", are broken. Your brain misinterprets and even falsifies perceptual experiences. They seem real because your brain is generating the same "this is real" signals you would have felt pre-psychosis.

People can *not* read your thoughts. Whether or not you come out of this psychosis depends on how effectively you can override the false perceptions with common sense, and think "is that really likely to be true?". Intelligence plays a major role in the progression of such disorders for many.


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## CopadoMexicano (Aug 21, 2004)

euphoria said:


> Because in schizophreniform disorders, your perceptual abilities; the very way in which you determine things as "objective", are broken. Your brain misinterprets and even falsifies perceptual experiences.
> 
> People can *not* read your thoughts. Whether or not you come out of this psychosis depends on how effectively you can override the false perceptions with common sense, and think "is that really likely to be true?". Intelligence plays a major role in the progression of such disorders for many.


hmm. I think im in a psychiatric line because if people cant read each others thoughts or hear them which I know is not true Im convinced they can. kind of like a telepathic-metaphysical mix with anxiety.


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## Little Willow (Oct 26, 2008)

Having anxiety about someone being able to hear your thoughts doesn't mean you have a psychotic disorder. It's not uncommon in severe anxiety disorders (I've done it since I was a little girl), and it is called broadcasting. Although many patients with schizophrenia exhibit broadcasting symptoms, it DOES NOT mean that you are schizophrenic. Don't worry. It's relatively normal for those with severe anxiety. Talk to your doc about it if you're worried.


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## euphoria (Jan 21, 2009)

Little Willow said:


> Having anxiety about someone being able to hear your thoughts doesn't mean you have a psychotic disorder. It's not uncommon in severe anxiety disorders (I've done it since I was a little girl), and it is called broadcasting. Although many patients with schizophrenia exhibit broadcasting symptoms, it DOES NOT mean that you are schizophrenic. Don't worry. It's relatively normal for those with severe anxiety. Talk to your doc about it if you're worried.


It's not necessarily an indicator of schizophrenia, but it is by definition psychosis and warrants psychiatric analysis for the various disorders that such symptoms can arise from. There could be many explanations for it.


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## Medline (Sep 23, 2008)

Having anxiety that people can hear your thoughts is one thing. But being absolutely sure that they can they do it it is a different story - IMHO psychotic.


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## StPatrick317 (Dec 4, 2008)

Yes, those are more on the psychotic spectrum of anxiety, not just social anxiety. That is definitely different.


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## caithiggs (Jan 11, 2009)

I have always felt like people could read my thoughts. Although, usually when I think "what if someone's reading my thoughts right now?" I am alone, and feel like it's someone I can't see. Not to sound insane there for a second, these are my inner thoughts, I'm pretty well adjusted. But it's that feeling that I have, I know it's illogical. It's more of a paranoia that people are judging you, I guess we have to fictionalize that there are people reading our thoughts when there is no actual stimulus of judgement there. 

But to make myself sound even crazier. When I smoke pot I feel like I can read other people's thoughts. Though I can't make it out exactly, and I get ultra paranoid. But I feel like I can "tune in". It's totally nuts. I also have other strange delusions while high. I wonder what that means? Like maybe I'm sensitive to psychosis or something.


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## Halfie (Dec 29, 2007)

Do people who believe in thought broadcasting tend to be more open to supernatural phenomena in general? I would have to be quite disturbed to be able to put aside my deep, long-time skepticism about things like that.


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## KurtG85 (Sep 19, 2008)

Many excellent posts in here and I can definitely relate first hand to this kind of 'semi-psychosis'. 

(to the above post):

I'd say its a very safe and almost a common sense bet to say yes. I was HYPER religious before starting my first med (adderall) at 12 or 13 years old (planned on becoming a benedictine monk up until around then) and bizarrely I found that with the help of meds I was suddenly able to look at things a LOT more objectively instead of being so ruled by my emotions and searching for abstract reasoning for unsettling or disturbing emotions. Trying meds really awakened me to the fact that my thoughts and feelings are physical (chemical) in nature and not spiritual. If I had never had any experience with meds I may still be searching for a spiritual answer to my suffering. I have since evolved (no pun intended) into an agnostic bordering on atheist. 

Euphoria made an excellent point which I agree with that intelligence often is the factor which determines whether you will go 'over that edge' to the point where you really start buying into false delusions. I definitely have experienced and even very rarely while medicated sometimes still do experience certain delusions although never about 'thought reading'. My 'psychotic like' symptoms were usually persecutory, much more rarely grandiose. 

In some ways I feel like certain delusions may be 'learned'. For example, growing up I was often very nervous or angry and I'm sure this was one of the reasons I was socially inept. However, I'm sure there were times when I was young that I decided to either 'fake' or 'try' to appear happy so I could get along better with others. Of course, most people, even very young children can see through these 'fake' displays by means of body language or whatever. A young child may form the irrational conclusion that others can 'see through' their act because they can read their thoughts in such a situation (especially when they combine other far out religious beliefs they were taught with their observations). I remember specifically that as a young child I would often make jokes or intelligent observations quietly to my parents while other people were around and it seemed like they would ALWAYS say whatever I told them aloud to their friends right in front of me, get their friends to laugh or their friends would compliment them on whatever observation, and they would never give me any credit whatsoever. This led me to the assumption that my parents were seriously just trying to make me feel god awful. For the longest time as a young child I honestly thought that was a plan they had or something... why else would they do it? These sort of childhood experiences easily carry over into adult life. I guess my point is just to support the view that psychosis is not always cut and dry. 

Another quick example: for a huge amount of time all during my mothers pregnancy with me she was sobbing (for reasons I won't go into). An easy association for a young child or maybe even a newborn to make is that this sobbing is their fault. Growing up, I was around a LOT of sobbing and I always felt like whatever its context was that it was directed at me... essentially a learned delusion which, even though I know now is irrational, still holds a sub-conscious emotional root.

I think heavy duty emotion usually outweighs logic. The irony is that most people have not experienced this kind of 'real' emotion (emotion in its most intense form) which is capable of overcoming logic (ie: staying alive is a good goal to have) so they just can't understand. Drowning in a sea of this kind of emotion blocks out ones objectivity and ability to reason. Like grasping for anything that floats to keep from drowning; people in this state grasp onto whatever ideas give them at least some kind of reasoning for what they are feeling. I think this is what is going on in psychotic depression. 

It may not really be intelligence which allows one to 'stay afloat' in this situation. Intelligence is such a vague descriptor. Its probably just some other processing unit of the brain which determines whether or not someone will fully become a slave to their delusions. I often wonder whether this is the bigger factor or whether the amount of raw emotion they are dealing with is the bigger factor.


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## Halfie (Dec 29, 2007)

That's interesting. All of my friends (well, a certain group of them) and I have done some experimenting with hallucinogens, and one friend in particular had a very bad trip and for months afterwards believed he was in contact with a God-like alien race, and the universe (and everybody else in it) was nothing more than an illusion they created to deceive him and make him look stupid. He stopped talking to everybody, lost his girlfriend, and dropped out of school. The rest of us tripped without incident.

He's also the only one of us who had been even slightly religious and open to the concept of the supernatural. So, we wondered if that had something to do with it. When one of us thinks we're being contacted by God, we just laugh it off. It never even occurs to us that that is what's really happening. But if you're the type of person that takes things like that seriously to begin with, it seems like you're more vulnerable to developing psychotic beliefs based on that.


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## Medline (Sep 23, 2008)

Your friend would have needed medication (antipsychotics...) ASAP after the bad trip.


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## euphoria (Jan 21, 2009)

Halfie said:


> That's interesting. All of my friends (well, a certain group of them) and I have done some experimenting with hallucinogens, and one friend in particular had a very bad trip and for months afterwards believed he was in contact with a God-like alien race, and the universe (and everybody else in it) was nothing more than an illusion they created to deceive him and make him look stupid. He stopped talking to everybody, lost his girlfriend, and dropped out of school. The rest of us tripped without incident.
> 
> He's also the only one of us who had been even slightly religious and open to the concept of the supernatural. So, we wondered if that had something to do with it. When one of us thinks we're being contacted by God, we just laugh it off. It never even occurs to us that that is what's really happening. But if you're the type of person that takes things like that seriously to begin with, it seems like you're more vulnerable to developing psychotic beliefs based on that.


Yeah it sounds like he had all the "ingredients" of schizophrenia/psychosis, and the trip was just a trigger.


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## omgreally (Aug 6, 2010)

*what about...*

Ok I know this thread is old but I figured i'd jump on the bandwagon. I'm a reasonably intelligent person. I had an experience with a legal hallucinogen that seemed to alter my perspective. Basically I started noticing my thoughts connecting w/ other peoples actions. In particular if I thought something that was ego based, someone near by would touch their nose. If I thought something based on something I was "seeing" someone would touch their eye. Initially I though I was losing my damn mind. Could people hear my thoughts or was I some how noticing some sort of connection I had never noticed before. This has gone on for over a year. I even have put it to the test and seen it happen more often than not. I'd say about 85-90% of the time. I have also had WAY more experiences in the last year where someone actually said what I was thinking, then I've ever had before. Granted if I was just thinking people could hear my thoughts it'd be one thing, but I know I'm not imagining it when someone touches their nose, etc. I'm having a hard time understanding how it could all just be coincidence. This hallucinogen also caused an audible voice in my head. It's very hard to hear but it's there, all the time. 90% of the time I don't even notice but when I go to sleep at night or I'm alone somewhere quiet, I hear it. MOst of the time it's just repeating back what I'm thinking in the form of a question and then it usually says something else. I can only think it might be my subconscious or something like that, I do my best to just blow it off. I have NO desire to get on any type of medication unless absolutely necessary. I beleive the voice is a result of doing the substance, and obviously so is this other "condition" but how is it possible that with every thought I'm able to see an immediate reaction. I can go 10 minutes without thinking anything and no one near me touches their face, the minute a thought comes, someone touches. WTF?

sorry to ramble just had to get some sort of feedback.


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## abrakus (Apr 19, 2011)

People can totally hear what you thinking. Like in that episode of family guy where peter is trying to listen to people inside of a building from a van parked out side and he turns up the listening device so he can hear better then he starts to hear quagmires thoughts. thats funny. if it bothers you, you should practice not thinking.


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## kev (Jan 28, 2005)

abrakus said:


> People can totally hear what you thinking. Like in that episode of family guy where peter is trying to listen to people inside of a building from a van parked out side and he turns up the listening device so he can hear better then he starts to hear quagmires thoughts. thats funny. if it bothers you, you should practice not thinking.


yeah, that was a funny episode... not sure reverse psychology is the best approach here though

Eh, I met one guy a while back who was very spiritual/out there. He was very insightful and went out of his way to help those who he could sense were suffering. I told him about my experiences with hearing voices and he mentioned the possibility that maybe I had a gift that I didn't know how to control - that maybe I really could sense what people were thinking. In the end, I ended up disagreeing with him but he had a valid point- people that are labeled insane in Western cultures might be considered spiritual/gifted in different cultures. It is a matter of perspective.

But anyways, his doctor had labeled him with "psychosis" and wanted to put him on antipsychotics (he had some odd beliefs about ghosts and demons, etc. which might be the reason). He never took them of course, and I don't blame him in the slightest thing. Unlike me, this guy really did have a gift for helping others and antipsychotics would have killed his spiritual side - it would have been a crime against humanity to force him to take pills just for being a little different.

Not sure if this relates at all to the original post. Bottom line, it's only a problem if you think it's a problem. It could just be severe anxiety or you could really be broadcasting your thoughts to other people on a metaphysical level or something - eh, I don't actually believe in that sort of thing, but who knows?

People with psychosis usually are very adamant in their beliefs/delusions. You seem a little skeptical (you use the word "belief" in your original post) so I'm going to go with extreme anxiety.

Edit: People with thought broadcasting often actually hear their thoughts out loud. This is a more clear-cut form of psychosis.


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## Ramondo (Feb 16, 2011)

Drella said:


> I look back now and think I must've been f*cking insane, but it seemed logical at that point. I don't have a psychotic disorder in remission; my anxiety and depression were so severe that they brought on psychotic features. For instance, severe major depressive disorder with psychotic features includes, most typically, delusions and/or hallucinations or, less typically, thought insertion, persecutory delusions, or delusions of thought broadcasting.


Well, you can't have been both psychotic and non-psychotic at the same time. First you say "Exactly, it is paranoid, not really psychotic," and now you say that when you had it your were psychotic.

The reality is that thought broadcasting is a sign of psychosis. It's a delusion, and it can occur in psychotic depression, schizophrenia, drug-induced psychosis, and any other psychotic disorder.

"Thought broadcasting is a positive symptom of schizophrenia in the diagnostic process undertaken by mental health professionals.[1] Thought broadcasting has been suggested as one of the so-called "first rank symptoms" (Schneider's first-rank symptoms) believed to distinguish schizophrenia from other psychotic disorders."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thought_broadcasting

http://medical-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/Thought+broadcast


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## dublede (Jun 1, 2013)

*HELP*

I am hearing other peoples voices in my head and they can hear my thoughts too. These are not random people, they are my friends. I went out to visit them in CA and that is when it started. This is some sort of sick prank, and its driving me crazy.

Please let me know how this is possible.

Thanks


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## Mayaham (Jun 17, 2015)

I have the same belief and it's absolutely crippling. For some reason my whole life I never realized that this was possible and all of a sudden about three months ago I started slowing 'realizing' that it was true that people could hear my thoughts. I had social anxiety before but it went away as soon as I discovered this. I know I don't have schizophrenia. I do not hear voices and I do not hallucinate. I believe that this must be a secret and that's why everyone always replies to people who wrote similar things with that they must have schizophrenia or something. Honestly I hope I do because I have no idea how I'm supposed to prevent myself from thinking and feeling. Ever since I started believing that people could hear my thoughts I've had a panic attack, and it has effected the way I communicate with others, just recently I've been developing a little depression. I honestly believe this because I know other animals have a similar way of communicating. I feel like I will make myself crazier by trying to convince myself it's not true. I need a real answer desperately. I want to numb my thoughts I don't know if I'm supposed to change my state of mind or if I'm truly psychotic. Someone please help me.


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## CosmicLow (Jun 2, 2013)

i have cannabis induced psychosis and i felt like people can read my mind or they can sense how ****ty i am feeling at the moment and it scared the hell out of me. but then one day frustrated and with some little confidence i started abusing people in my mind and noticed that they don't know **** about what i am thinking and i practiced it for like 2 months and eventually got rid of this awful feeling. Also i don't abuse people in my mind now because i realized the reality.


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## Learydp01 (May 2, 2013)

It IS a symptom of schizophrenia. I know it sounds like an overreaction, that it's just normal anxiety, but often times, it isn't. I live with a schizophrenic family member, I know first hand what it's like.

Is it a guarantee that it's schizophrenia? No, but I'd keep an eye on it. If it gets worse over time, you should talk to a doctor.

It should also be mentioned that schizophrenia is not just the stereotypical voices, crazy thoughts and hallucinations that it's perceived to be. It's not always like the movie 'A beautiful mind." Some people have it much milder than others. 

There are also two types of symptoms of schizophrenia, positive and negative, it's sort of like the equivalent of hyperactive vs. inattentive ADHD. 

It's very hard to convince a schizophrenic person that they are schizophrenic. The delusions can be so real that they don't trust doctors. I'm sure it is misdiagnosed from time to time, though, and I don't blame people for wanting to stay away from antipsychotics.


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