A PSYCHOANALYTIC READING OF VOICE HEARERS AND ETHICAL LISTENING

Abstract

This article proposes an analysis of the experience of hearing voices from a psychoanalytic perspective. This approach differs from the traditional psychiatric approach, which tends to classify such phenomena as hallucinations associated with psychosis, as it considers the voices as significant manifestations of the unconscious. Through theoretical references from Freud and Lacan, the place of auditory hallucination in the psychic economy is discussed, exploring the concept of foreclosure and the relationship between the subject and the other. The social and religious stigma surrounding voice hearers, often considered "possessed," "demonic," or "mad," is also discussed, reinforcing the subjective exclusion of these individuals. The article aims to contribute to a more involved and ethical clinical listening, valuing the subjective meaning of the voices and their insertion in the symbolic chain of the subject. Methodologically, it was developed through the reading of articles and books that address the topic, and its construction was based on the knowledge presented in these sources.