For Voice-Hearers

This page is intended to provide helpful resources for people who hear voices, see visions, or have other unusual sensory experiences or beliefs. It’s organized by topic and will be updated periodically. If we missed a helpful resource, or if something seems out of date, let us know at admin@bchvn.ca.

Strategies for coping with distressing voices:

• Understanding Voices coping strategy toolkit
• List of coping strategies from Hearing Voices Network Aotearoa New Zealand
• Better Sleep for Voice-Hearers guide
• Self-help guide to talking with voices
• The Voice Inside: A Practical Guide to Coping With Voices

Hearing Voices networks and related resources:

• Intervoice – International Hearing Voices network, includes a list of regional/national networks around the world
• English Hearing Voices Network – one of the most active networks and has some helpful resources and articles
• US Hearing Voices Network
• International Society for Psychological and Social Approaches to Psychosis
• Understanding Voices (UK-focused)

Peer support for mental/emotional distress in BC:

• Kaleidoscope is a peer-run mental health support society that hosts virtual support groups open to the general public, as well as groups specifically for university students.
• Mood Disorders Association of BC has a list of peer support groups around BC.
• The Early Psychosis Peer Recovery Network of BC organizes a monthly peer support group on Zoom.
• Trans Lifeline is a peer-run crisis line for transgender, non-binary, and Two-Spirit people. They will not call police or an ambulance without your consent.
• PACT is a peer-assisted crisis response service offered by CMHA. Currently, it is only available on the North Shore.
• Looking Glass hosts anonymous peer support chats for people struggling with body image or eating disorders.
• Spotlight on Mental Health features a range of peer-led and peer support projects in and around Vancouver.
• Just Mental Health maintains a list of civilian mental health crisis response programs and related resources from around the world, including peer support and mutual aid.

Personal experiences, documentaries and interviews:

These videos and recordings reflect a range of different experiences with hearing voices, seeing visions, and other unusual perceptions or beliefs.

• Mad Pride: The Fight to Reclaim Mental Health is a short Vice documentary about Mad Pride and hearing voices in Aotearea New Zealand. It also discusses a Māori understanding of the experience.
• Madness Radio’s interview with researcher Nev Jones discusses her personal experiences with psychosis, perspectives on research, and the many ways people’s experiences can vary.
• Beyond Possible: How the Hearing Voices Approach Transforms Lives is a 22 minute documentary describing firsthand accounts of hearing voices and the Hearing Voices Movement.
• Surviving Schizophrenia is a 28 minute documentary following three experts in mental health around the world as they discuss their experiences of recovery.
• The UK mental health charity Mind has several videos about personal experiences with hearing voices, including Hearing voices and prison | David’s story and Hearing voices and hallucinations | Juno’s story.
• Intervoice has a list of social media cards for World Hearing Voices Day with quotes from people who hear voices describing a range of personal experiences.
• Voice Collective has created A Little Insight, a short film by young people who hear voices about their experiences.
• Hearing Voices Others Can’t: How A Growing Movement Fights Mental Health Stigma is a short NBC News documentary about the Hearing Voices Movement.
• Sick or Gifted? Bridging the Connection Between Mental Health Issues and Spirituality was an ISPS-US keynote address by Gogo Ekhaya Esima discussing mental health issues from a spiritual perspective.
• Radiolab’s Voices in Your Head podcast episode discusses the topic of hearing voices in relation to the psychology of inner speech.

Other resources:

I want to learn more about the local context of the Hearing Voices Movement, consumer/survivor movement, or Mad Pride in BC.

• “No Pill for This Ill: Our Community Vision for Mental Health” is a report by the Carnegie Community Action Project discussing mental health and social (in)justice in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside.
• Mental Patients’ Association is a short documentary discussing the history of the MPA Society in Vancouver.
• The Inmates Are Running the Asylum: Stories From the MPA is another short documentary about the MPA. It was created with support from Gallery Gachet. You can read more about the research project that led to the creation of the documentary here.

I want to learn more about medication or alternatives to medication.

The information below discusses positive and negative aspects of antipsychotic medication. It’s meant to represent a range of different experiences with and feelings about medication, while still being informative. The BCHVN encourages people who hear voices to use whichever tools they find helpful, which may or may not include medication.

• The UK mental health charity Mind has a guide to antipsychotic medications here. It discusses how they work, how they can help, alternatives to medication, side effects, and advice for people who are coming off antipsychotic medication.
• Fireweed collective has published a harm reduction guide for people who want to come off of psychiatric medication. You can download it for free in multiple languages (or purchase a hard copy) here.
• The Centre for Addiction and Mental Health has a detailed page about antipsychotic medication here, including possible benefits, side effects, interactions with other medications/substances you might use, and safety.
• Here is a presentation by critical psychiatrist Dr. Joanna Moncrieff provided by the UBC Therapeutics Initiative discussing different psychiatric medications, how they can be helpful or harmful, and new ways of thinking about medication.

I had a negative treatment experience or am currently an involuntary patient, and I want to learn more about my rights in BC.

• Health Justice has a list of resources for when you have had a negative experience under the Mental Health Act or are currently an involuntary patient, including information about how to make a complaint.
• Here is a website explaining your rights under BC’s Mental Health act, including a printable wallet card.
• Here is a plain language guide to BC’s Mental Health Act.
• Nidus provides information about how to create a representation agreement. A representation agreement gives you control over who is involved in decisions about your care in the future if you experience illness or disability and are considered incapable. For instance, a representative could be a partner, family member, or friend. It’s important to know that in BC, your representative does not have the power to consent to or refuse treatment on your behalf when you are involuntarily committed under the Mental Health Act.

General community resources in BC:

• BC 211 allows you to search for community services and resources like shelters, medical care, financial assistance, and crisis support in your area.
• Healing in Colour can help you search for a therapist who is Black, Indigenous, or a person of colour, or to find mental health resources specific to the experience of being racialized, Indigenous, or an immigrant or refugee.