Voices

[sorely_tempted]

I’m gonna start off by saying that I don’t think I’m crazy in any way, nor do I think this is particularly demonic or anything. I just had no idea where to put it.

Every action I do is followed by voices (usually mine) in my head, discussing and arguing over it. If I sin, they can yell at me for days at a time. I always figured it was conscience and stuff, or simply the way I think, but did anyone else have any other ideas?

 

[Trishie]

Please may I ask if you’ve checked out with a doctor to see if there are any physical or emotional causes for this. It’s a bit more than most of us experience. The voices yelling at you for days for having sinned, particularly, isn’t usual.

Do you confess when it’s serious, and forgive yourself once you accepted that you’re sorry you’ve done wrong? But ist isn’t usual to berate ourselves like that, not for long anyway. It’s possible you’re overly scrupulous? As others sometimes do, I confess to sometimes saying to myself when I’ve messed up, “I’m stupid. I’m horrible” which I shouldn’t say anyway and it’s unhealthy to do so, but it isn’t out of my control.

Conscience isn’t a voice in our heads, not in the sense you seem to describe it, it’s realization that one has sinned, and regret, and asking pardon, and then we accept pardon (unless scrupulous).

 

[Shin]

Could be physiological, a mental disturbance or habit of your own, could be spiritual and demons, only time and growth in discernment.

You will have to figure it out ultimately, through both studying exactly what and how the spiritual interacts with the mind through studying what the saints say about it, and through learning how the mind works in other ways.

The spiritual interacts with and influences our mental habits, so being exclusive and saying it’s only one thing entirely generally is incorrect.

 

[Shin]

I’m going to add that the Philokalia can help you understand the spiritual side of this…

Our souls consist of different faculties, we have our will, we have our imagination, we have our incensive power, we have our memory, we have our five senses…

If you keep watch over yourself as well as study will will gain an idea as to what is made up of what, and what influences what.