should I tell professionals that one of my voices now has a name.
 

Sorry to make another thread, seem to make none for ages and then suddenly 3 in a few days, apologies.

basically about a month ago the voice I hear that isn't the police suddenly had the name Malcolm.
I am not sure how he got the name, he didn't tell me, at least I don't remember him telling me, but I also didn't think 'right I better name him and go through a list of names' just one day he didn't have a name, then he is suddenly Malcolm.

Voices I have had before haven't lasted as long continually and have never had a name before (they have tended to be more genderless and sort of like the bullies from school) but Malcolm is definitely male and not the bullies from school.

My CC is coming over tomorrow morning, Malcolm will probably come up in the conversation, but I am scared and feel weird to tell her his name. He has been called Malcolm for about a month and in that time I have seen a lot of professionals as I was sectioned for 6 days, plus now under the crisis team, saw my psych and GP and CC, but have told no one his name, except my 2 closest friends.

Is it important that I tell them he now has a name, it feels like he is here to stay now that he has a name, as I say none of my voices have had a name before. I also feel like he isn't just a voice but is with me 24/7.
Like when I had a MRI scan yesterday the banging to me was him knocking to come in and I kind of have conversations with him.
I am very confused by it all to be honest and scared.

is it a good idea to tell them? plus any other advice on stuff in this post would be appreciated.
thank you.

I think it sounds like a good idea to tell them and talk about it. I know it won't be easy but it sounds like you have a lot of questions about what is going on right now and it might be reassuring to talk about it and have someone listen. I guess you have to consider how comfortable you feel to do that.

I hope you're okay x

Yes I have a lot of stuff to ask and I agree and think talking would hopefully help, I just get very awkward, especially when talking about stuff I haven't talked about before.
thank you.

I just saw your thread and hope things went ok. Did you talk about Malcolm with your CC?

And I wanted to add, that you already talked about this before with your 2 friends. I sometimes 'practise' with a friend to talk about something before talking about this with my therapist... because I feel like I have to test if I'm stable enough to talk about certain things in a nontherapy setting.

when I told my 2 friends it was via facebook or text, so not said out loud. I didn't tell my CC about Malcolm yesterday, we talked about some other things that had happened recently which she had read about, although I did tell her about searching my flat at odd hours for people and searching the corridor and I said my head was noisy, which I kind of hoped she would pick up on and I could mention Malcolm, but that didn't happen.

However, today I talked about Malcolm out loud for the first time, I went to a hearing voices network group and when asked what voices I have, said one who talks to me telling me to do stuff and I said he has recently acquired a name, Malcolm, and I said I also have the police talking to me.

I see my GP tomorrow and hopefully in the brief time I have to get through everything I can talk about Malcolm, or at least let her know his name and say it out loud to a professional.

well done for saying it out loud at the network goup!
Hope the GP appointment goes well tomorrow.

I talked about Malcolm out loud with my GP, but never said his name, I was too distressed to think properly and I kept just saying 'it is him, the man'

How did it go with the GP?
I'm sorry to hear it was distressing x

I think my GP could see how distressed I was, I told her about the thoughts and visions I have been having and how Malcolm said they are all my fault, all the people dying (although never said his name) I said my head was very noisy and hectic, she said she could see that, I told her I couldn't get the thoughts of the police and cameras and spies out of my head.

I have a team meeting with the crisis team on Monday, with their psych, so might get an opportunity to talk about Malcolm a bit more there, and try to say his name to a professional. I just feel kind of stupid saying it out loud, don't know why, just do, I guess I am worried they will laugh.

if it is so hard for you to say his name, then maybe telling them that he has a name could be a start?

That is a good idea Laura, thank you, shall try.

I saw a psych as part of the crisis team today and I talked to her about Malcolm and I said his name at least once and also said I had heard voices before, but they had never had a name before and never been this intense and continuous.

Well done on mentioning it.

Did they suggest anything?

well done!

Now I'm curious about their reaction and what they said about this.

thank you both.

To be honest she didn't say much, other than saying it sounds distressing and how do I keep distracted. However, I will probably only see her this one time and have only met her once before briefly. I hope that when I see my regular psych I can talk about Malcolm in some more detail with her.

Hopefully your regular psych will be a little more helpful. I hope you didn't feel dismissed by the psych yesterday, you did a hard thing which you should be proud of.

thank you Becca

sorry to bump this, but wanted to say that today I walked into town with my support worker I have recently been allocated and he was asking about quite a bit of stuff and asked about what voices I hear, so I said I have one main one called Malcolm and the support worker then talking to me about him was using his name and it didn't feel too weird.

That sounds quite positive! Well done!

Are you going to see the support worker quite regularly, or is they something to be decided? (Hope that's not too nosey I was just wondering as it looks like this is someone you get on with)

thank you. I will be seeing him quite regularly, but he only works with people short term. But hopefully by opening up to him I can open up to other professionals.