Hearing Voices, Living Fully

by Claire Bien

When Claire Bien first began hearing voices, they were infrequent, benign and seemingly just curious about her life and the world around her. But the more attention Claire paid, the more frequently they began to speak, and the darker their intentions became...

Despite escalating paranoia, an initial diagnosis of Schizophreniform Disorder and taking medication with debilitating side effects, Claire learned to face her demons and manage her condition without the need for long-term medication. In this gripping memoir, Claire recounts with eloquence her most troubled times. She explains how she managed to regain control over her mind and her life even while intermittently hearing voices, through self-guided and professional therapy and with the support of family and friends. Challenging a purely medical understanding of hearing voices, Claire advocates for an end to the stigma of those who experience auditory verbal hallucinations, and a change of thinking from the professionals who treat the condition.

Genres: Mental Health, Psychology

272 pages, Paperback

Published June 21, 2016

Reviews

[Nikki in Niagara · Rating 5 out of 5]

One cannot begin to review a person's memoir and give it a rating, especially one as intimate as Claire Bien's story of living with schizophrenia. I have personal experience with the topic of this book but won't go into any further details. At various points, I found Claire's story provocative, inspiring and scary. She tells us first hand what it is like to live with hearing voices, both good and evil. Claire had two major psychotic events which landed her in the hospital, has lived a life filled with psychiatric care but has chosen to handle her disease without medications. This memoir tells how she conquered the voices and learned to live with them while not relying on medication. She explicitly states, though, that the non-medication route is categorically not for everybody but that it can indeed work for many. This book has ultimately given me major incite into what one person's life is like living with hearing voices and shown me many avenues to explore about this condition. I do find the non-medication route to be one I am leery of and even after her last chapter describing her rational thoughts now on her current state of living with her full potential, I do hesitate to wonder what her life would have been like had she had access to the medications available today rather than the ones she experienced in the early eighties. This book has left me with a sense of wanting to read other personal stories, which I've been hesitant to do before, and also leaves me with a desire to write, myself. I will be reflecting on her story and accomplishments for some time to come. Put aside any misconceptions you may have and read Claire's memoir to find out how one person can survive and even thrive whilst hearing voices within their own mind.

[Karen Prive · Rating 3 out of 5]

Claire Bien grew up in a loving home, and lived a fairly normal life. At age 31 she experienced her first psychotic break and was subsequently diagnosed with schizophrenia. Hearing Voices, Living Fully is her account of recovery from the illness.

Schizophrenia may well be the most feared of all mental illness, with many folks believing that such a diagnosis is a doomsday sentence. In fact for many it is - but not all. Bien's onset was relatively benign but treated with Haldol, an old-school antipsychotic that left her feeling numbed and disenchanted with life. With the help of an understanding psychiatrist, she slowly weaned herself off the medication. Soon her voices came back - with more sinister intent. She again tried a low dose of Haldol and therapy, while throwing herself into work, raising her son and participating in her faith community. This time she again weaned off, and learned to live with her voices, which eventually quieted into some delusional thoughts.

The memoir is written from a place of hope - not that those so afflicted should all give up their medications, but rather that medication need not be the only approach used in the treatment of schizophrenia, AND, that this diagnosis need not necessarily be a crippling experience. In fact, in the final chapter she cites the experiences of others who have good lives in spite of having schizophrenia.

While I'm not diagnosed with schizophrenia, I do hear voices and have hallucinations with my depression. Her description of these types of experiences resonated with me - although they were emotionally muted. Also, her ex-husband's recollections of his perceptions were very similar to what my husband has mentions about how I present when my depression begins to take over. Bien accurately - but gently - presents what it is like to have a foot in reality while another foot is in an alternate universe.

However, many of the resources and interventions Bien claims to have used are not fully explained. She writes a lot about therapy, but doesn't really delve much into her therapeutic experiences. She mentions the Hearing Voices Network (an organization for voice hearers and people who experience other non-consensus phenomena) as being pivotal to her recovery, but she fails to describe how they helped or how to find them. I also wish she delved more into the emotional experience of hearing voices - she writes well, but it seemed to come from a detached perspective. I wanted to know if she felt shame, sadness or confusion about her experiences - there just wasn't a lot of depth to some parts of her story.

[Lauryn · Rating 3 out of 5]

It’s a memoir so there is quite a bit of back story before getting into the nitty gritty (about her first hearing voices/her experience hearing voices). The author repeated herself multiple times throughout the book—to the point where it likely could have been about 25 pages shorter if all the repeated information was removed. She also has limited medical knowledge which makes me a bit worried for others who may read this book and not understand some of the medial information presented is incorrect. BUT it is an easy/quick/interesting read, reduces stigma surrounding auditory hallucinations, and it is fascinating to hear about her experience with auditory hallucinations (especially considering they manifested late(r) into her life). Another plus is that the author (primarily) lived in CT—specifically New Haven—so it’s fun to know exactly where she is talking about when she references locations

[Francis · Rating 5 out of 5]

I thought this was a very thoughtful book about a woman who has a form of schizophrenia. The book started of telling the reader that she grew up pretty normal with no abuse or anything like that, but she wasn't perfect. When the voices started to enter her when she was 31 they were not that bad. But when she started to get paranoid and the voices got demonic she needed be hospitalize twice. But she managed to find a way to live with the voices and make the bad ones less with guardian angel voices. She also used logic and found ways to react to make the voices less powerful. She managed to get some pretty good jobs through all this even though she got divorced twice. Her Husband Bill was really trying to help her I still don't understand why they got divorce. with some intervention and creativity she managed to live are life despite the voices.

[Nancy · Rating 2 out of 5]

Insightful Book

I decided to read this book because I hear voices myself and have had hallucinations and worse experiences than her. I was looking for any guidance or strategies on living with the voices. She does mention learning to understand the voices but that’s about it. It is a good memoir of the authors experiences, personal findings and is insightful but would have been more helpful if it offered logical concrete methods of overcoming and living with voices.

[Mary · Rating 3 out of 5]

a bit unfocused, but helpful final chapter

[Jane Barber · Rating 4 out of 5]

Brave. Eye opening. Very personal.

[Kimberley · Rating 2 out of 5]

Somewhat interesting to hear her perspective on her voices, but the writing is pretty repetitive and this-then-that fact after fact rather than a well-written narrative.

[Hester Marian · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read a lot of mental health memoirs and this book kept my attention and helped me to gain new insight into psychosis and schizophrenia.

[Rae Simpson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Minuteman. Forward by Larry Davidson. Memoir. Success story of learning to cope without medication. Facilitates in HVN.

[Ruth Gibian · Rating 3 out of 5]

Claire Bien had several episodes of hearing voices and intrusive thoughts, what she came to understand as psychotic experiences. The memoir is about her experiences, particularly her experiences coming back to the world and coping with voices without the use of medication. While her insights are very interesting, especially because of her frankness and willingness to show what others are not, the writing is pretty dry. I love a good memoir, and I only really stuck with this one as a way to better understand some of the work that I do. I kept wishing it was more compellingly written, because she seems like a very nice and thoughtful person, but it was written without any dramatic tension or ear for vivid prose.

[Pam Thomas · Rating 5 out of 5]

I can relate to this book which allows the reader a birds eye view of how you feel when you are dependant on sleeping pills and tranquilisers because you suffer from a mental illness and have to live and manage your life at the same time. I have friends who exist down the same road. The book is a challenging read because we are allowed into the authors world and can glean insight into her experiences as and when they occur, ho you get labelled and packaged because of psychotic symptoms and how love and support of her family and friends helped the forge the road to recovery.

[Linden · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was a very personal memoir of a woman who started hearing voices when she was 31. I would have preferred less of her personal life story and self- diagnosing, but the topic was interesting enough for me to finish reading the book.