Hearing voices: A study on exchanges of experiences in a virtual environment

Abstract

Through studying exchanges of experiences among people who hear voices in a virtual environment, this paper explored the ways in which these people create strategies for sharing their experiences in a group, thereby searching for an alternative to psychiatric knowledge regarding verbal auditory hallucination. It described the creation of the Intervoice network and its migration to the virtual environment. Use of netnography demonstrated that this environment is appropriate for exploring exchanges of experiences between people who hear voices and emphasizing the relationship with their use of medication and the ways in which they deal with the voices. This study also observed how people who hear voices use the virtual environment to create social bonds and a new way of existing in the world.