Wednesday 25 November 2009
Our guest speaker was Bruce Roberts from the Hearing Voices Network. Bruce was introduced by Darrell Slater.In 1987 Professor Marius Romme, a highly respected Dutch psychiatrist, hosted a TV program in which he asked for responses from people who were hearing voices. He received 750 responses and so began the first self help group. From this first group the network has spread to 14 countries including Australia where the first self help group was established in 2008.
The role of the self-help group is to provide a framework that enables people who hear distressing voices to move towards recovery.The aim is to show that hearing voices is a real experience and may not always be a symptom of mental illness. Additionally to educate society about the meaning of hearing voices , to develop coping strategies for voice hearers and promote solutions, also to develop alliances with similar organisations throughout the world.
What is a ‘network‘? It is a consolidation of numerous self-help groups and affiliated members supported by a management committee. Members include voice hearers, carers, friends, and service providers.
What are hearing voices? It constitutes a range of experiences referred to as ‘Hallucinations‘. They can be both auditory and visual. There are many different ways to hear voices. They can be experienced in the head, from outside the head or even in the body. There can be more than one voice. The voice can talk to you or about you.
Hearing Voice Groups are a social environment that provide acceptance and a sense that one is not alone. They provide a safe place to talk about the visions and voices and an opportunity to learn what the voices mean.
Each self-help group operates within strict guidelines.. They are self-help groups and not clinical groups. There is an acceptance that voices and visions are real experiences. There is no assumption of illness and members are fully respectful of each other. Every effort is made to work out problems collectively. It is emphasised that the groups are self-help groups and not therapy groups. Group members are not subject to referral or risk assessment and group members decide on the level of confidentiality.
Bruce advised that 4% of the adult population were sufferers but only 30% sought treatment from Mental Health Services. He also said that the onset of hearing voices can be brought on by a traumatic experience such as the loss of a close relative or friend or a relationship breakdown.
It would be fair to say that this address by Bruce was a learning experience for the majority of club members. After questions Bruce was thanked by PP Peter Foss.