The most helpful thing I have found is to listen to my voices, to stop and listen as normally they’re saying something which is the correct thing to do but I don’t want to do.

At the moment I am trying to learn to dialogue with my voices. My belief is when I or another person speaks to my voices their reply can’t come from me speaking as their voices don’t sound like me so I write down questions and then answer by writing back. I find when my voice get a chance to say what they need to that they are calmer and more caring towards me.

I used lucid dreaming (the act of becoming consciously aware in a dream) to find my voices and ask them what they represent, why I hear them etc.

Recently at my work’s Christmas party (which was large and busy and very noisy) I discovered that I could soothe both myself and my voices by focusing right in on what they are saying. It did mean that I missed a bit of the conversation between people on my table, but it was ultimately beneficial. By listening to them and what they needed I was able to work out why I was so stressed and in turn helped myself to feel calmer. My voices got less intrusive and stopped telling me that I had to hurt myself or someone else, and I was then able to refocus on the room and what other people were talking about. It didn’t take too long and I don’t think people really noticed me listening and reassuring my voices as I can now talk to them in my head.