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I live in a very old and very poorly ventilated house without the luxury of central air conditioning. Recently on an extremely hot night I went to bed with several ceiling and floor fans running, as well as a small window air conditioner. Add to that the bane of my existence- a very loud tinnitus. As I lay in my bed ruminating on prayers, thoughts, ideas, I thought I was beginning to hear whispering. As the turbulent air buffeted my ear drums and the tinnitus added it's own special evil din I began to focus on what I began to think were voices. "Voices", thought I, "hey now, I'm not interested in hearing spirits or voices or whatever...". I started to listen intently and realized my brain was attempting to create coherent sound out of the auditory chaos that was a result of loud fans, motors and that's right, f'ing tinnitus. I quickly stopped paying attention to the noise, readjusted my head on the pillow and lo, the "voices" were gone. It's amazing how the brain works to make sense of the world around it; now this experience makes me wonder if the auditory hallucinations of schizophrenics are assembled in the same manner.

I live in a very old and very poorly ventilated house without the luxury of central air conditioning. Recently on an extremely hot night I went to bed with several ceiling and floor fans running, as well as a small window air conditioner. Add to that the bane of my existence- a very loud tinnitus. As I lay in my bed ruminating on prayers, thoughts, ideas, I thought I was beginning to hear whispering. As the turbulent air buffeted my ear drums and the tinnitus added it's own special evil din I began to focus on what I began to think were voices. "Voices", thought I, "hey now, I'm not interested in hearing spirits or voices or whatever...". I started to listen intently and realized my brain was attempting to create coherent sound out of the auditory chaos that was a result of loud fans, motors and that's right, *f'ing tinnitus*. I quickly stopped paying attention to the noise, readjusted my head on the pillow and lo, the "voices" were gone. It's amazing how the brain works to make sense of the world around it; now this experience makes me wonder if the auditory hallucinations of schizophrenics are assembled in the same manner.

6 comments

[–] Owlchemy 0 points (+0|-0)

Good thought, and you may be right. I've had the same experiences of my lifetime. Those barely audible sounds that appear to be speech, or even music, yet you can never zero in on it. It always does drive ya batty at first, trying to decipher the indecipherable.

[–] [Deleted] 1 points (+1|-0)

Like when I was a kid in the 60's and people told me they received music on their mercury amalgam tooth fillings! It's an unsettling experience.

[–] Owlchemy 0 points (+0|-0)

Yes it is ... and I remember those days, too. People picking up radio via fillings. How the world has changed.