Treatments for hearing voices

If your voices are upsetting you, scaring you or stopping you from living the way you want, there is help.

I was seen by the GP, then referred to a Community Mental Health Team, and the doctor explained I was experiencing psychosis. They gave me CBT for almost a year.

How to get treatment for hearing voices

The first place to go is normally your GP.

You may feel worried about what they’ll say or do when you tell them you’re hearing voices. You may be unsure of what to tell them. Our pages on seeking help for a mental health problem can help you get ready for your appointment.

Your GP should always check if you could be hearing voices for a physical reason. They should do this before they prescribe any medication or refer you to a specialist mental health team.

For example, they should check that:

• You don't have a physical health problem causing you to hear voices
• The voices aren’t a side effect of any medication

Different doctors may have different ideas on what is helpful. But what you want matters.

If you’re not happy with your doctor, see our pages on what to do if your GP doesn’t help.

Getting a diagnosis if you're hearing voices

You might be wondering whether you need a diagnosis to get help with hearing voices. And what it's like getting a diagnosis. Here is some information that might help:

Do I need a diagnosis to get treatment for hearing voices?

No, you should not have to wait for a diagnosis to get support.

Not everyone who hears voices will get a formal diagnosis. And if you do get a diagnosis, this should only be after a psychiatrist has listened in detail to your experiences.

There is no physical test for mental health problems. A diagnosis is just a way of describing your problems that can help you get the right support.

What is it like getting a diagnosis?

You might find getting a diagnosis is a positive experience because it:

• Helps you make sense of your experiences
• Might get you support more quickly when you’re unwell

But you may also find that getting a diagnosis is challenging because:

• You may not agree with using medical language to understand your voices. For example, seeing your voices as something to be 'treated' might make you feel less confident about managing your voices yourself.
• You might feel powerless if doctors talk about your experiences as if you might never recover.
• Friends, family and your community may have unhelpful assumptions about what your diagnosis means.

Remember that your voices and experiences can change over time. As can your diagnosis and how you feel about it.

Professionals may also think differently about how best to support you. And they might make different recommendations about which diagnosis is the best for you.

Getting help early if you hear voices

If this is your first experience of hearing voices, you may be offered support from a specialist mental health team called an early intervention team (EIT).

These are teams that specialise in helping you if you’re:

• Showing signs you might develop psychosis
• Having your first experience of psychosis

Many people have unhelpful ideas about what psychosis means. They may think it means someone is dangerous. But really, it's just when you experience reality differently to those around you. Hearing voices is a type of psychosis.

Early intervention teams (EITs) should see you very soon after you ask for help. This will depend on how busy services are, but they should be aiming for around 2 weeks.

Not everyone is able to get support from early intervention teams (EITs) though. You may be referred to other specialist teams, like a community mental health team (CMHT) instead.

Research shows that it’s usually easier to manage upsetting voices if you get help early. It may also make it less likely you’ll need crisis support in the future. 

Our pages on psychosis have more information on early intervention teams.

Types of treatment for hearing voices

The type of treatment you get for hearing voices will depend on your specific experiences and what is available in your area.

Talking therapies, medication and other therapies, such as arts and creative therapies can all play a part.

Talking therapies for hearing voices

There are lots of different types of counselling and talking therapies. What you’re offered depends on where you live and what your doctor thinks might be helpful to you.

Whichever therapy you’re offered, it will be a space to explore difficult feelings and experiences with a trained professional.

A therapist may be able to help you:

• Explore why the voices say what they say
• Think about what triggers your voices or make them harder to cope with
• Find new ways of coping with them
• Learn to manage your voices

Your therapist may focus on one type of counselling or therapy, or choose parts of different types to suit your specific needs. They should decide this once they get to know you, the challenges you’re facing and your goals for treatment.

See our pages on talking therapies for more information.

Medication for hearing voices

If your voices are very troubling and you’ve been referred to a psychiatrist, they may prescribe an antipsychotic drug.

Antipsychotics may:

• Stop or reduce how often you hear the voices
• Make the voices less frightening and more manageable
• Make you feel less bothered by the voices, even though you can still hear them
• Make the voices quieter and less intrusive so you feel calmer and less distracted

You may find that you take medication only in the short term, while you learn other ways of coping with the voices. Or you may find it helpful longer term.

See our pages on antipsychotics for more information about antipsychotic medication for hearing voices.

It helped that I was very involved in my care and did my own research.

Other therapies for hearing voices

You may also be offered other treatments, like arts and creative therapies. And there is ongoing research into new types of therapy for hearing voices. But we don’t know much about these yet.

It’s quite unusual for people to get new or alternative therapies, as they aren’t yet offered on the NHS. But the Understanding Voices website has more information if you’re interested in therapies that might be available in the future.

For more information on treatments for specific mental health problems that can involve hearing voices, see our pages on treatments for:

• Psychosis
• Schizophrenia
• Severe depression
• Postpartum psychosis
• Borderline personality disorder (BPD)
• Bipolar disorder

Video: Hearing voices and prison

Watch David talk about his experience of hearing voices in prison and getting treatment.

I went into the hospital. They tried out different medication until they got it right. The staff were kind.

Crisis treatment for hearing voices

You may need help from crisis services if you feel:

• Very unwell
• Unable to keep yourself safe
• Your voices are becoming very distressing and hard to cope with
• Your regular treatment isn't helping

Crisis services may include:

• Emergency support, like going to A&E or hospital
• Crisis resolution and home treatment teams (CRHTT)

See our pages on crisis services for more information on where to get help in a crisis.