[greatthanks]

> "The screaming, fighting ... [they say] jump in front of the train," one US participant said.

> The voices upset them because they violate their sense of personal control, the researchers said.

The voice is not just upsetting b/c they conflict with expectations of how the mind works but those expectations will directly affect what the voice will say and how b/c the voice is part of that person.

Personally, I always wondered why nobody wondered why those "voices" tend to be destructive (at least in our western hemisphere). Now my question is partly answered with the information that this observation is not globally valid.

[astazangasta]

According to what I have read (not directly experienced), most schizophrenics experience a split - they see the world as divided into 'good' and 'evil' forces, which might manifest as spirits or voices or whatever, and might be embodied in the form of demons or the CIA or communists on the one hand, or angels/guardians on the other. I have been really into this interview with John Weir Perry, a fascinating psychologist who had some radical notions about what he called the 'renewal process' based on his work with patients in San Francisco: http://global-vision.org/papers/JWP.pdf