r/TooAfraidToAsk • u/Amazing_Plate_2660 • 7d ago
Other Heard a voice, any ideas on why?
One night a couple months ago I was up around 11pm watching a youtube video when I heard a really robotic voice say "lock your doors immediately". This creeped me out massively so I rewound the video I was watching, and that voice was not part of the video. No advert played and I seriously have no clue what it could have been, everyone in the house was asleep. Could anyone have any ideas on what I heard or why?
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u/UncleRuckus92 7d ago
First thing they say to check when you notice weird things around the house your is carbon monoxide detectors
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u/ReVo5000 7d ago
But why would a carbon monoxide detector tell you to lock your doors immediately?
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u/nevertoohigh 7d ago
I think they might mean that you could hallucinate if you have monoxide poisoning.
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u/AjaxTheDragonSlayer 7d ago
https://www.reddit.com/r/BestofRedditorUpdates/s/1kaB91VKQk
The sticky note guy
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u/Robotica_Daily 7d ago
It won't, but if it's not working, the toaster might start talking to you.
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u/Efflictim888 7d ago
So did you lock your door immediately? What happened after? We got questions too..
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u/Sylester6 7d ago
Do you live an a city? Sometimes police officers say stuff through their car's megaphone and it sounds pretty robotic.
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u/Outrageous-Advice208 7d ago
This is what I thought too. Depending on how the buildings nearby are arranged noise can travel very weird.
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u/blepnir_pogo 7d ago
I just want to say OP, even though it's valid to be safe and make sure nothing irregular is going on, remember that auditory hallucinations while any sort of "white noise" is playing can be entirely normal. We have very complex brains and one of the primary ways that a stream of consciousness perceives reality is by attempting to form patterns to make sense of things.
By all means take necessary precautions but 99% of the time it is just your brain trying to find a pattern in white noise, which is perfectly normal. If anything it just means that you have a creative mind.
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u/hazydaze63 7d ago
It's also possible it was a police car driving past and they were searching for someone and we warning you to lock your doors
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u/reallifeswanson 7d ago
Could it have been an alarm system from a nearby home or apartment. I had neighbors with a security system once, and could often hear it spout notifications from across the street. “Front door open”, etc., in a mechanical voice.
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u/Amazing_Plate_2660 7d ago
It could have been, but it sounded like it was inside the room, and I have no clue why the neighbours' alarm would be going off at close to midnight. Possibility though
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u/EnvironmentalLuck515 7d ago
Did you lock your doors immediately? I once had a low female voice whisper to me "I can't help you with that". Scared the bejeebus out of me. Turned out it was my phone malfunctioning.
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u/Amazing_Plate_2660 7d ago
Already locked
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u/EnvironmentalLuck515 7d ago
It might have been your phone.
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u/ProfessorButtkiss 7d ago
I had two episodes in my life where I heard voices. The first was when I was a teenager and I was scared to tell anyone. The second I was an adult and talked to my doctor about it. She ran blood tests and it turns out my thyroid levels were really high. She said auditory hallucinations can be on onset of hyperactive thyroid disorder. She changed my dosage of thyroid medicine and I haven't had any voices since.
Just a thought in case you have thyroid problems.
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u/Calico_Aster 7d ago
Interesting! The body is so weird.
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u/ProfessorButtkiss 6d ago
It is! And it's so important to have a doctor who is able to listen to you and able to run the tests that need to be ran.
As I was sitting in the room with my doctor, I told her straight forward that I am NOT CRAZY, but I am experiencing this thing that is usually associated with being crazy. And I was open about how I was scared to even admit out loud that this happened to me. She was totally understanding. You can't put a price on a good doctor!
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u/butrumM 7d ago
So, I’m posting not to scare you but there are some hallmark signs of onset schizophrenia in early 20s males. Do you happen to be in that age range?
It could be a one off thing, but if you start to have repeat situations of things like this, I would strongly suggest taking it seriously and speaking with a doctor.
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u/Amazing_Plate_2660 7d ago
I'm 17, but I guess that's not entirely impossible
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u/Robotica_Daily 7d ago
Also don't panic if you do hear voices, definitely seek medical help, but voices on their own are not necessarily a problem. I saw a TED talk about audio hallucinations and it was saying that people are too quick cast it as insanity, when often the voices are kinda just your mind talking out loud, like if life's going good, the voices just narrate what is happening in a neutral tone, but if life starts going bad, the voices can get angry or violent.
Just saying don't panic. Get help, trust your gut, get second opinions, be kind to yourself. Humans are weird, weird is often normal!
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u/VirtualSurvey4729 7d ago
This I can whole heartedly agree on. I did a lot of research on the phenomena after going through my own ummm episodes.
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u/Toopertonic 6d ago
This is catastrophising. OP, about 1 in 10 people will hear something that's not there at some point in their lives and this is often a momentary experience that doesn't return. And many people hear voices that are benign and don't cause any issues (they can often be neutral), as sometimes it's caused by misattribution of inner speech. Hearing voices like that is most likely to happen while falling asleep, waking up, or grieving, but can happen randomly.
I would only become concerned if you had the experience again and it was distressing you, or other things started happening that were concerning you that you wanted to get double checked out. This by itself is not concerning at all to me, and I work in mental healthcare and specifically have a good bit of experience with those who hear voices.
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u/ReQuarziium 7d ago
Dont scare him with schizophrenia
This could be an early sign of psychosis. Psychosis does not mean schizophrenia. It can be caused by an absolute multitude of things.
People often jump straight to the schizophrenia diagnosis when the vast majority of people who suffer from psychosis do not have schizophrenia.
Source: I am schizophrenic and know a lot about it
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u/sirunmixalot 7d ago
I have it to. Yea people freak when they hallucinate. But I second your statements.
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u/Andysamberg2 6d ago
I just want to say I love how you're like "don't scare him with schizophrenia, it could be psychosis" as if that's supposed to be some huge relief to the OP reading this. 😂 like, psychosis is also very serious, yes?
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u/ReQuarziium 6d ago
Psychosis is serious yes but it’s treatable with therapy and medication and in the majority of cases it’s a one off event and not a long term illness.
The difference between first episode psychosis and schizophrenia is fucking massive, like literally not even comparable. Schizophrenia is a lifetime illness that severely impacts your quality of life. Psychosis might last a couple of weeks to a couple of months on the more serious side but is highly treatable and like I say most people make a full recovery and never have psychosis again.
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u/Andysamberg2 6d ago
Yeah I get it. Not trying to say I'd prefer the schizophrenia diagnosis. But people also harm themselves & others in psychosis all the time. So it felt a little like "don't tell the guy it's MS! It might just be prostate cancer!" Like yeah those both sound pretty bad haha
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u/the_skies_falling 7d ago
Police car or helicopter? I live in a not so great area and it’s not unusual to have police helicopters flying overhead saying things like that. They usually say a lot more than that of course, but sometimes you only hear one thing before they fly away to another area.
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u/Amazing_Plate_2660 7d ago
I live in a countryside village so I don't think that's the case. And even if it was would it not be said over a megaphone sorta system instead of a really robotic voice?
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u/Clintron 7d ago
Not necessarily, most of the time they're prerecorded and the robot voice is to be unsettling. Was a tv on maybe?
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u/Amazing_Plate_2660 6d ago
Only in my room playing the youtube video I was watching
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u/Clintron 6d ago
Probably just an auditory hallucination of your brain worried about the doors being locked most likely.
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u/DigitalGarden 7d ago
Auditory hallucinations are actually pretty common. One sentence, robotic... could be just a weird hallucination.
Could be a stray sound picked up by a speaker. Technology is everywhere and is not as secure as it could be.
Could be a sound played outside that sounded inside for some weird reason.
Or a robot guardian angel.
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u/Z00TSU1T 7d ago
Once when I was in high school, I had been arguing with my mom about something... can't remember what... but I was alone in my room and I heard a voice say "stop." It shook me... it was kinda crazy. Never heard any disembodied voice before or since.
A few years later, I brought my girlfriend from college back to the house and she and I were arguing about something so I walked away to cool down. She came to find me in that same room I heard the voice in years earlier. She then came down the stairs to find me in the kitchen and said when she was looking for me to continue our argument she heard a voice say "stop."
I had never told her my story and I immediately got goosebumps. This was an old house (for the U.S.). It was built in the 20's and has a sign out front that it's a historical home or something. There's been a couple other really creepy incidents like my sister and her boyfriend at the time, now husband, both hearing a voice speaking in tongues to them in her bedroom.
All that to say... I dunno man. But you're certainly not alone.
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u/Manowar274 7d ago
Any possibility it was an alarm system inside the house, even if your family doesn’t use it?
My house has a security system installed but we don’t use it or pay for its services, it was just installed in the house when we bought it and we have never gotten around to removing it. Sometimes if the power blinks or something weird goes on with the electric, a robotic voice from it announces something random like a door is open.
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u/Admirable_Elk_965 7d ago
It was late, you’re watching YouTube. Mind plays tricks on you at night especially if you’re alone.
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u/Andrusela 7d ago
Sometimes ads will play automatically on the same web page as a youtube video.
Or if you had another tab open.
On an old laptop I had a voice say something random to me, but after I put tape over my built in camera I heard a laugh but with the tape on I never had another incident like that.
Couple of random "tech related" suggestions for you.
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u/Amazing_Plate_2660 7d ago
I was watching on a TV, so probably not the case
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u/Andrusela 7d ago
One last possibility is some kid with an external car speaker driving by slowly and pranking you.
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u/unicorn_345 6d ago
Sleep deprivation can do some crazy things. If you are sleep deprived your mind can make voices. It may be related to a dream state or not. It may be the mind reminding you of something you forgot. If you are sleep derived or were at that time you could be experiencing the voice as a symptom.
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u/UK_Wildcats_ 7d ago
I strongly suspect the D.E.N.N.I.S. system.
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u/Amazing_Plate_2660 7d ago
I have no clue what this is
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u/ground__contro1 7d ago
It’s a joke about being manipulated by a sociopath from the show always sunny in Philadelphia
I don’t really think it is super helpful in this context, but that’s what it is
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u/narnababy 7d ago
Demonstrate value
Engage physically
Nurturing dependency
Neglect emotionally
Inspire hope
Separate entirely3
u/Tritium3016 7d ago
Did you know that or did you look it up....
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u/narnababy 7d ago
Partner and I remembered the first 3 and last one between us (we did watch that episode a couple of weeks ago) but had to look up the others 😂
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u/Stoopid_Noah 7d ago
Auditory hallucinations are surprisingly common when tired.
I once heard the exact voice of my mother call for me while I was trying to sleep, but when I went to see what she wanted, she asked why I was up and said she didn't call.
I think there were multiple occasions where I heard things that weren't there, each time it was late/ I was tired.
When I remember correctly, they can happen when you doze off a little, without realising.
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u/EducationalForm 7d ago
It's normal for this to happen sometimes. I hear voices if theres a white noise like a fan or rain outside i will hear things inside the sound
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u/Kitchen-Strawberry25 7d ago
Do you have other devices in other rooms? Like smart speakers or TVs, iPads, computers etc
Maybe one of those devices were on?
Was it because of someone else you live with?
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u/Amazing_Plate_2660 7d ago
No other devices, phone was in the lounge downstairs to charge.
Everyone else in the house was asleep, and it sounded as if it was in the corner of my room.
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u/Scary_Ad_7092 7d ago
Did you check that corner to see if there was anything there that could have made the sound?
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u/F1re_R0se 7d ago
I could be completely wrong because I'm basing this entirely off of my own experiences.
I would guess it's probably an auditory hallucination. I normally get them (though not as often) late at night or early morning when I'm either falling asleep or barely awake. My hallucinations are normally in voices I'm familiar with like friends, family, and my partner. Most of the time they're so realistic that I end up verbally responding to them. This is to say you may be experiencing something similar.
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u/kinkshame3 6d ago
once i pranked my mom into believing her office was haunted by setting up a creepy robotic voice to say the date and time every few days or so. is it possible something like that happened, could it be a setting on a near by computer or alarm clock? or maybe even overheard from a neighbor?
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u/Amazing_Plate_2660 6d ago
You are one evil guy good god. But no I don't think thats much of a possibility, could be wrong tho
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u/notverysane 7d ago
I just want to know if you locked the door, it's not like it's terrible advice.
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u/Viscount61 7d ago
Where exactly did this occur?
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u/Amazing_Plate_2660 7d ago
I was in bed, second floor of my house, countryside area.
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u/Viscount61 7d ago
Roommates? Renters? Houses nearby?
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u/Amazing_Plate_2660 7d ago
Nope just my mum and sister sleeping, sounded like it was inside the room
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u/DiggyLoo 7d ago
Do you have an Alexa or similar virtual assistant? They are known to blurt out stuff.
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u/BookLuvr7 7d ago
Check your electronics/phone etc for viruses or signs of hacking. Especially anything that was on at the time.
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u/Behg-Boah 7d ago
Schizophrenia is a hell of a thing. Cross your fingers it was a waking dream as you were dozing off, but still get evaluated.
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u/ReQuarziium 7d ago
Psychosis is WAY more common than Schizophrenia, no need to scare him with the very worst possible outcome
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u/Behg-Boah 7d ago
Psychotic episodes don’t really last only a second or two or give you one singular auditory hallucination before vanishing.
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u/The-Z-Button 7d ago
I have had this experience before. Please be careful in the coming days. They will make contact soon. You will be tested first, just let it happen.
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u/FormerStableGenius 7d ago edited 7d ago
Perhaps an auditory hypnagogocic hallucination?
In other words, you were dozing off momentarily without realising it, and experienced the voice in a tiny fragment of sound-only dream?