Nikita was 15 when things started to fall apart. She stopped trusting people. At times, she didn’t want to be here anymore. When she initially reached out for help, she was dismissed, judged and left to figure it out on her own. 

That changed when her sister helped her get in touch with the Hearing Voices service run by Change Mental Health in Tayside. It wasn’t medication or a diagnosis that helped Nikita rebuild her life, it was someone finally asking: what happened to you? 

Childhood trauma and the start of voice-hearing 

Nikita grew up in Perth. She knew her mum, but not her dad. She describes a childhood filled with confusion and pain: “I’ve been lied to my whole life. Let down. Hurt. Used.” Things got worse in her teens. “From 15 to now, it just went downhill.” 

She experienced depression, isolation and began hearing voices. 

While voice-hearing is often associated with schizophrenia or psychosis, research shows it’s much more complex. People who have experienced trauma, especially in childhood, are far more likely to hear voices and experience psychosis later in life. For some, it’s a way the mind tries to protect itself, express what couldn’t be said or hold onto painful memories. 

The Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACE) study, among others, shows strong links between trauma and later diagnoses like bipolar, complex PTSD and psychosis. But this connection is often overlooked in mainstream services. 

Nikita describes the first experience of voices as terrifying, like hearing someone speak beside her when no one was there. “I had no clue what was happening to me. I’d ask people, ‘Did you hear that?’ and they’d think I was under the influence of drugs. I hated it. I didn’t want to live anymore because of the voices. It was very, very hard. 

“From others, all I heard was ‘She needs to be locked up for life’ or ‘get professional help.’ But even when you do get help, they say, ‘It’s just your thoughts.’ They don’t see what’s behind it.” 

the wrong kind of help 

Nikita was eventually diagnosed with bipolar and depression. She went through psychological and psychiatric services, but they never asked what had happened to her. 

“I asked my psychiatrist, ‘What should I do about the flashbacks?’ And I was told, ‘Just move on.’ The problem is that this is all I’ve been doing for years, putting things under the rug and leaving them, so none of it was dealt with, but now it’s all coming back.” 

Terry, an Outreach Worker with the Hearing Voices service at Change Mental Health who supports Nikita, says her experience reflects what many others bring with them. 

“We started working together in October 2024. At first it was phone calls, just building that early connection. Like many people who come to us, she was nervous. There had been a lot of clinical input before, but not much space to talk about what she’d actually been through. And that’s what we often see, people arriving with the walls up and rightly so. They’ve been through things. They’ve been hurt. You don’t rush that. You build trust first.”

finding the right support 

It was Nikita’s older sister who first contacted the Hearing Voices service. Things had reached a crisis point, Nikita had a breakdown and damaged her flat. “I was in a really bad place. It was like a dark hole. When I tried to climb up, I kept slipping down over and over again. And I really felt like I would stay in this hole for the rest of my life and not get the freedom,” she said. 

Her sister didn’t know what was happening, but once she understood, she stepped in to help. Soon after, Nikita got a message from Terry. 

Nikita said: “At first it was all phone calls. I prefer face-to-face. But she sounded nice. I thought, ‘I like this person.’ Then I met her and thought, ‘Yes. I do like her.’” 

That connection helped Nikita feel safe. 

“Working with Terry gave me ideas of how to live with the voices. She told me not to ignore them. Everyone else said ignore them, but you can’t. It’s like having people around you all the time. So, she said, ‘Talk to them.’” 

learning to live with voices 

Nikita had always been afraid of the voices. At first, she didn’t understand what they were or why they were there. They scared her. 

“I was terrified. I would ask them, ‘Why are you doing this to me?’ And they’d say the universe sent them. I didn’t know what to think.” 

Through conversations with Terry, she began to build a different relationship with them. 

“Now I talk to them. Sometimes they shout at me to say something and I say, ‘I’m thinking of a nicer way to say it!’ and they calm down.” 

Not all the voices are kind, but they aren’t random. They often appear when Nikita feels nervous. 

“Sometimes they’re angry, but I know now that they’re trying to protect me. Like when I’m going to the shop and one of the voices says, ‘Stay in, it’s not safe.’ I say, ‘I know you’re looking out for me, but I need to go today.’ And it helps.” 

Terry explains why that matters. 

“Voices sometimes come with messages. Nikita’s voices are often helpful, so when she feels that they’re rude or a certain way towards her, she just asks them ‘Why are you being like that?’ and most of the time it’s just protection. They’re trying to protect her, keep her safe and maybe stay indoors so nobody will bully or hurt her. In those moments, she can say to the voice ‘I know that you’re trying to protect me. That is helpful, but I really do need to get out of the house today and get some shopping. Could you help me get out, and then we’ll come back?’” 

She adds: “It’s literally how you would speak to anybody who is worried about you.”” 

everyday healing 

At home, Nikita has a whiteboard filled with affirmations: . 

“I am beautiful. I am brave. I am kind. I believe in my dreams.” 

These daily reminders, combined with routine and small acts of self-care, have become part of how she stays grounded. 

“I used to just stay in my flat. Curtains shut. Didn’t go out. Now I cook, clean and spend time with my family. I didn’t used to speak. Now I say what I think.” 

The voices haven’t gone away, but the relationship with them has changed.