大象传媒

Rachel Waddingham is a training consultant and a trustee of the National Hearing Voices network - she was diagnosed with schizophrenia and lives with hearing 13 voices, without medication.

Voices in people's heads are more varied and complex than previously thought, according to research by Durham and Stanford universities, published in The Lancet Psychiatry on 11 March.

Auditory hallucinations are a common feature of many psychiatric disorders, such as psychosis, schizophrenia and bipolar disorder, but the study found that people without psychiatric conditions also experience them.

The majority of voice-hearers hear multiple voices with distinct character-like qualities, with many also experiencing physical effects on their bodies.