How do I manage if I am hearing voices?

You might find these tips useful if you are hearing voices that are troubling you and you are ‘in the moment.’ 

For more information on longer term care, see our page on Hearing voices.

Here are 10 tips on how to manage hearing voices:

• Talk to someone you trust: Sharing your experience can provide relief and support.
• If you need urgent help: Call NHS 111, option 2, where you can access urgent mental health support services. Or use the NHS 111 website.   For more urgent mental health help and support options, click here. 
• Other professional support options are contact your GP or your local NHS early intervention team, who can help if you are hearing voices for the first time. Search ‘[the area you live in] NHS early intervention team’ on the internet.
• Challenge the voices: You do not have to do what they say, or believe them, even if that is hard.
• Distract yourself from the voices by doing something you enjoy, like exercising, gardening, or a hobby.
• Find what works for you: Ignore the voices; focus on the voices you like; only try to listen at set times; shout at them; block them out with music.
• Be creative: It can help to make sense of your experiences by doing things like painting, writing or drawing about them.
• Try relaxation techniques like mindfulness , grounding or deep breathing exercises, to reduce stress.
• Call a helpline: Contact the Samaritans on 116 123 or others for emotional support. See ‘How can I get emotional support?’ below.
• Keep a diary: Track when and what the voices say to identify patterns and triggers.

These tips might help you manage and cope with hearing voices better.

See our webpage on Hearing voices for more detailed advice and information.

You can watch this Rethink Mental Illness video -  Living with hearing voices - Ashley's Story

How can I get emotional support? 

If you want to talk to trained listeners about how you are feeling you can contact:

• Samaritans
• Sane Line
• The National Suicide Prevention Helpline
• Support Line
• CALM
• Papyrus UK. For young people. 
• Silverline. For people over 55. 

Do you have accessibility tools for this information?

There is an accessibility function on this webpage called Recite. 

You can learn more on our Accessible advice page.

                                                        
Can you help us and leave a Google review?

Leaving a review of your experience with Rethink will be a big help to us. You can leave a review here. Thank you in advance for taking the time to help!

How do I know I can trust this information?  

We are a trusted information creator as we are accredited by the Patient Information Forum (PIF) This short video explains why PIF accreditation is important.

Did this help?

We would love to know if this information helped you or if you found any issues with this page. You can email us at feedback@rethink.org 

Have you used AI to create this content?

Some content on this page has been created or edited using generative artificial intelligence (AI) tools. All this content has been manually reviewed and edited by a trained member of our Advice and Information team. This is to ensure accuracy and compliance with our information procedures.

© Rethink Mental Illness 2025

Last updated April 2025
Next update April 2026, subject to any changes

Version number 1