E103 · Sensory experience, body & daily living
Hearing or sensing things that other people do not
What might be happening when a young person hears, sees or senses something that other people do not appear to experience?
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Overview
A young person may hear a voice, their name or another sound; see something; feel a presence; or experience another sensation that is not shared by people nearby. It may be frightening, confusing, neutral, comforting, brief or longstanding.
This entry begins with the experience. It does not assume psychosis, dangerousness, trauma, imagination, dishonesty or any single cause. Similar descriptions can arise around sleep, stress, grief, physical illness, medicines or substances, sensory or neurological differences, dissociation, cultural or spiritual meaning, and mental-health difficulties.
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What this might look like
A young person may:
- hear their name, simple sounds, one voice or several voices;
- experience a voice as inside their head or through their ears;
- see shapes, figures, people or movement that others do not report seeing;
- feel touch, movement or a presence without an obvious external source;
- talk back, become distracted, frightened or withdrawn;
- be unsure whether it was a thought, memory, dream or something heard;
- notice it mainly when falling asleep, waking, exhausted, unwell or under stress;
- want to understand a neutral or comforting experience without wanting it removed.
Do not automatically confuse this with difficulty hearing external speech, sound sensitivity, imaginative play, intrusive thoughts or lying.
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Developmental expression
Context should inform curiosity, not dismiss the account. These stages offer possible contexts rather than explanations or diagnoses.
At this stage
Early childhood
Young children may use imaginative or concrete language and find it hard to distinguish dreaming, imagining, remembering and perceiving. Listen to what they describe without automatically dismissing it as play.
Early childhood
Young children may use imaginative or concrete language and find it hard to distinguish dreaming, imagining, remembering and perceiving. Listen to what they describe without automatically dismissing it as play.
Middle childhood
Children may hide the experience because they fear disbelief or stigma. Offer a calm, private conversation with a trusted adult and ask what the experience is like and how it affects them.
Early adolescence
A young person may worry about what disclosure will mean and how peers or adults will respond. Explain what happens next, including when safety concerns require information to be shared.
Later adolescence
Personal, cultural or spiritual explanations may be important to the young person's understanding. Explore meaning and wishes alongside sleep, distress and everyday functioning, involving them in decisions about support or professional assessment.
Choose each stage to see how the presentation and surrounding expectations may change over time.
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Strengths and differences
Some young people live well with occasional or non-distressing experiences and develop thoughtful ways of understanding them. The outcome is not automatically elimination. Support may focus on safety, sleep, distress, choice, participation and the young person’s own goals.
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Top tips for support
- Stay calm and listen. Thank the young person for telling you.
- Do not argue about whether it is real. Ask what it is like, what it means to them and what support would help.
- Check impact and safety. Ask whether it is frightening, affecting sleep or daily life, or telling them to do anything.
- Notice context. Record timing, sleep, illness, stress, medicines or substances, recent loss and changes from usual functioning.
- Offer practical containment. A trusted adult, quieter space, grounding and predictable contact may help.
- Seek professional assessment when experiences recur, worsen, cause distress or interfere with everyday life.
- Act urgently when someone cannot keep themselves or another person safe, or there is sudden severe confusion or physical illness.
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Things needing careful planning
Clarify, without interrogation:
- what is heard, seen or sensed and how often;
- whether the young person is awake, falling asleep or waking;
- emotional tone and the young person’s own explanation;
- whether there are instructions, threats or pressure to act;
- ability to ignore or resist unwanted instructions;
- recent sleep loss, fever, head injury, seizures, medication change or substance use;
- sudden changes in speech, behaviour, orientation or usual activity;
- cultural, spiritual and bereavement meanings.
Do not promise secrecy where safety may require information to be shared. Explain what happens next and involve the young person wherever possible.
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Practical support principles
- Begin with experience, meaning, impact and wishes.
- Keep possible explanations open until appropriately assessed.
- Separate unusual experience from automatic danger or diagnosis.
- Provide proportionate safety and health routes without panic.
- Preserve dignity, culture, trust and agency.
From understanding to support
Phoenix Atlas connections
Possible supports after formulation include A003 Co-regulation, A002 Emotion Coaching, A006 Visual and anticipatory supports and WAL-001 De-escalation during acute distress. Atlas approaches do not replace medical or specialist mental-health assessment.
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Evidence and cautions
Oxford Health CAMHS notes that hearing voices can take several forms and does not necessarily mean a person has a mental-health problem. Childline recommends warm, curious support and access to trusted adults, specialist support and a doctor where helpful. Phoenix Encyclopaedia therefore provides a neutral experiential home with explicit health and safety boundaries.
In England, urgent mental-health help is available through NHS 111 or an urgent GP appointment. Call 999 or go to A&E when someone’s life is at risk or they cannot keep themselves or another person safe.
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Public evidence sources
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Possible explanatory lenses
Sleep-transition experiences; stress and sleep deprivation; grief; trauma and dissociation; physical illness; neurological or sensory processes; medicines or substances; intrusive thoughts; psychosis-related experiences; anxiety or mood; developmental imagination; cultural and spiritual meaning.
About this entry’s source
Open Beta · read the evidence notes and limitations
Source status describes the underlying material. The current site edition is Open Beta; the evidence notes and limitations remain part of the entry.