Son hears voices

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My son is 12 years old and within the past year has began to hear voices like other kids praying to the devil ect. My biggest fear has always been that he is schizophrenic. Having worked on a psychiatric unit for 30 yrs, I know there is nothing more debilitating than this disorder. Have any of you parents had any similar experiences with your child? Please let me know. Paul

I haven't had any experiences in this area so keep that in mind.

Are you sure he is actually hearing voices or do you think it could be some kind of exercise of imagination? If your family is religious; Is your family church very focused on the evils of the devil? It is possible he is having social issues with the kids in school and then hypothesizing they are in league with the devil, if it this sort of thing is a frequent motif of your family church's liturgy. I am probably not expressing this right but if he hates the kids at school because they bully him, he might imagine they are doing something like that in order to explain in his own mind why they are such bad people.

If that is the case, and he is not actually hearing voices, then maybe you can get him to tell you about the kids in school and what they are actually doing (bullying or whatever) and address it on that front, while also letting him know that being a bully does not mean someone is in league with the devil.

Wow, what a thoughtful reply. I think this may be the case and I will pursue it-thanks tons- Paul

That's intrusive thinking and that's also because he's generally scared of religion.