Learning from the Voices in My Head (TED Books)
The world breaks everyone and afterward many are strong at the broken places. — Ernest Hemingway
Eleanor Longden • Learning from the Voices in My Head (TED Books)
Ten years after the voices first came, I graduated in psychology with the highest classification score the university had
Eleanor Longden • Learning from the Voices in My Head (TED Books)
An important question in mental health shouldn’t be “What’s wrong with you?” but, rather, “What’s happened to you?”
Eleanor Longden • Learning from the Voices in My Head (TED Books)
In fact, one of my voices dictated the answers during an exam, which technically, possibly counts as cheating.
Eleanor Longden • Learning from the Voices in My Head (TED Books)
Optimism is the madness of insisting all is well when we are wretched. — Voltaire
Eleanor Longden • Learning from the Voices in My Head (TED Books)
13 percent of the general population — that is, people who’ve never used psychiatric services — may hear voices at some point in their lives.7
Eleanor Longden • Learning from the Voices in My Head (TED Books)
And what’s more, I would miss the voices if they ever went. In that respect, I should maybe consider insuring them, because if they do ever go, I’d be out of a job.
Eleanor Longden • Learning from the Voices in My Head (TED Books)
fellowship. From being a person who wanted to die rather than live with their voices, I can now say with true sincerity that I am proud to be a voice hearer.
Eleanor Longden • Learning from the Voices in My Head (TED Books)
Voice hearing was reported by such luminaries as Socrates, the “father of reason,” as well as Virginia Woolf, Carl Jung, Robert Schumann, Winston Churchill, and Emmanuel Swedenborg. Joan of Arc liberated France under the guidance of voices, and Mahatma Gandhi likewise inspired millions in the pursuit of dignity and freedom.