The Silent Voice in Psychiatry

The silent voice in psychiatry

What do you associate with the words silence and silence? Pathetic, like for the main character in a film, but everyone has associations. Now let’s imagine a situation where the person standing next to you cannot speak. At the same time, his articulation is completely preserved



Silent voice in psychiatry is a rare phenomenon that occurs in a small group of patients with severe forms of depression. This symptom is characterized by quiet, almost whispered speech with preserved articulation, which is accompanied by a pronounced depressed mood and a lack of desire to communicate with other people.

A silent voice may be one of the manifestations of apathy - a condition in which a person does not show any activity and is not interested in the world around him. As a result, he is unable to express his thoughts and feelings through speech, which leads to poor communication skills and social isolation.

The main cause of the silent voice is depression - a condition characterized by emotional decline, loss of interest in life, lack of motivation and confidence in the future. Depressed patients often feel so empty that they simply cannot find the strength to communicate with other people and express their thoughts.

This condition can make it very difficult to communicate and interact with loved ones, colleagues, and even a doctor who is trying to establish contact for diagnosis. In some cases, the silent voice goes unnoticed or undervalued.

One sign of serious mental illness, including depressive disorders, may be auditory symptoms, including soft speech, a monotone voice, and a muffled tone of voice. A silent voice is one of the most striking and pronounced auditory symptoms of depression, which helps determine the severity and presence of complications.

The first signs of this type in a patient are complaints of lack of strength for normal daily activities. The mood becomes even more pessimistic. Communication with loved ones decreases, both from the onset of the disease and during the treatment process. Emotional changes are veiled, hidden from the environment - melancholy and fear of hopelessness are revealed only by the mood during a conversation. There is no desire to change life, to work on oneself, perhaps this is just a mask of depression.

Another characteristic symptom of the disease is the “silent voice” hallucination, when the patient feels as if someone is quietly talking right in his head. This voice seems to be as vulnerable, compassionate, loving and welcoming as possible.



Soundless voice (aphonia) is a quiet, often dull, rather than voiced and non-speech sound that occurs with neuritis or paresis of the larynx and pharynx. The sound is weak, too quiet and distorted, and speech deteriorates with short and longer loads. Thus, the patient is unable to adequately pronounce even the simplest phrases. The patient's speech is quiet, sometimes strangled, like a whisper. During an attack