Peter Bullimore: Recovery from Voices, Paranoia Abuse
First Aired: 12-24-2005 -- 3 comments | Add comment
Peter Bullimore, of England’s Hearing Voices Network, on his experiences with madness diagnosed as paranoid schizophrenia, including violence and extreme deterioration.
Peter discusses sexual abuse and how he worked with his voices to recover and become one of the world’s leading psychiatric survivor activists. He also tells the story of how he got the Paranoia Network of support groups started.
http://www.psychminded.co.uk/news/news2005/sept05/recoveryposition.htm
Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 24:03 — 33.1MB)
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- Show topics:
- Activism
- International
- Psychiatric Abuse
Creative Commons 2.5 copyright
Hi,
I’ve been hearing voices for ten years (they only became derogary and cruel three years ago), and I have found a great deal of comfort from realising that I am not alone. It is stories like yours that give me hope. I was severely traumatised at the age of fourteen and I think that the voices are a response to this. I am thirty one now, and I realise that I have my whole life ahead if I develop coping stragegies for coping with these experiences.
I have found medications to be entirely unhelpful. They made me gain three stone (when I was previously suffering from an eating disorder), and I still heard the voices. I am trying to now embrace alternative stragies.
Thank you for your story of hope.
Hi Peter,
I’m from Australia and I’ve just listened to you’re story via podcast. I am astounded at the journey you’ve undergone and recovered from.
I am a voice hearer. I become ill in maybe 1994 and was fortunate enough to string together some strategies that allowed me to recover from my condition. I have never been assessed by a mental health service “thank god or what ever it is” Voice Hearer’s Network is very new in Australia and only recently have I been made aware of the work that is going on around self help voice hearing groups.
For years I have been searching within and out for answers and better ways of understanding what happens to me. I;d never met anyone like me before that has effected a recovery from such a condition.
I was sent an email from a friend who heard a radio program talking of hearing voices network. She promptly sent me a link to the organisation and I didn’t overlook it. I found out they were about to run a facilitator training course on running groups and I had to attend.
I was able to hear Jackie Dillon speak about her experiences and her recovery. For the first time here was living proof that recovery can be sought and I have a home, framework and insight into things that I struggle with today in my life. The flow on has been tremendous from there I’ve learnt of a movement of people that get me from a place that no one else has ever really been able to, as I’ve never been officially called Schizophrenic, but there has never been a category that my experiences have belonged. It’s like I’ve been in limbo for many years just picking up new ideas and ways of seeing things along the way and trying not to make excuses and adjust and adapt. I can’t believe I’ve never found this work before.
Thank you for telling you’re story because I’m able to relate to the hardship and struggle of survival and draw strength.
In some way this movement has been able to validate and account for the seriousness of the journey I’ve undertaken alone, I can’t begin to tell you how relieving that is. I’m am now in talks with Sandi Noble at Hearing Voices Network Victoria on how I can contribute to spreading the word and facilitating groups down here. Regards Jason Williams P.s. I feel like there needs to be a secret handshake, signal or something.
Hi Jason
Thank you for your kind comments i am pleased my journey to recovery helped you make sense of your experiences, if i can be of any help please let me know as i now teach on the subject worldwide
Best Wishes
Peter Bullimore