He had, apparently, been following instructions given by voices in his head. Many people reading the papers would regard voice-hearing as a clear sign of lunacy, and quite outside the range of normal experience.

Yet hearing voices in your head is commoner than you might think, it is not automatically a symptom of schizophrenia, and is rarely connected with aggression, according to expert and founder of the Hearing Voices group in Belfast, Dr Tracy Millar. Dr Millar is a psychologist who has been working with sufferers locally for around six years. "We're the only group in Northern Ireland, although there are 150 in England," says Dr Millar. " It's difficult to quantify just how common the phenomenon is as people tend to keep voice-hearing secret, partly because of the prejudice, but some Dutch research indicates one in 25 people regularly hears voices."

Reticence

The voice-hearers' reticence is understandable, because the complaint isn't widely understood even among the psychological fraternity. "According to Professor Marius Romme of Holland, a psychiatrist who has worked extensively with voice-hearers, the symptom occurs in depressed people, people who are very anxious, and those in an acute state of trauma," explains Dr Millar.

It can, of course, be terrifying but it can also be enjoyable for some people and may not be an indicator of mental illness.

Dr Millar says: "It's still a hugely taboo subject, and sufferers fear that if other people know about it, their problem could be misconstrued." That's undoubtedly true, since the public's most common introduction to voice-hearing or auditory hallucination is via the tragic headlines involving the minuscule number of men and women who hear voices and act violently as a result.

Aiming to counter the negative connotations, Dr Millar and two of the group's members, Peter (27) and Catherine (in her forties), who have agreed to be interviewed, drop names of well-known, creative voice-hearers into the conversation - Winston Churchill, Spike Milligan, even Billy Connolly who, they claim, has used his voices to create comedy. Both Peter, articulate, a voracious reader ("I like biographies and have just been reading about Nelson Mandela") and Catherine, who talks 10 to the dozen about anything and everything and is studying psychology, come across as ordinary, likeable people. They definitely buck the prejudiced stereotype.

Demons

Dr Millar says that she has worked with people who hear positive and negative voices, which they perceive as angels and demons. "One man heard the voice of Socrates, who himself heard voices, as well as his 'demons'." Was this exchange with the fifth-century Greek philosopher plausible? "Yes, he gave him all kinds of helpful advice, and the authenticity of voices is something we often debate in the group," she says. The group, which numbers around eight members, both male and female, also spends a lot of time on coping strategies such as only paying attention to voices at restricted times of day.

Peter notes that one voice-hearer's companions quietened down during Coronation Street. Catherine butts in: "The voices are watching it, too - it's just like a pacifier with a child, you have to find out what they like." Voices have been interpreted as divine intervention - look at Joan of Arc - and according to Dr Millar, can be understood in different ways according to people's belief systems. "There is a religious take on this, with Christian Pentecostalists for example calling them the voice of God, and a spiritual take. People may hear just one voice or up to 50 different voices. It is important to remember these voices are part of an individual's personality, and, of course, some people believe it's part of the thing called schizophrenia."

Recognition

Another interpretation links voices to creative genius. All ages are affected, and the Hearing Voices group includes people aged from 18 to their early 50s.

The purpose of the group, which meets fortnightly, is to "have healing conversations" and to lobby for recognition; they have recently registered as a charity.

Members of the group have become involved in public education roles, going to conferences on mental health across the UK and the Republic, and leading workshops on the subject in which they are expert. As Peter says: " We're aiming to raise awareness and change the way the public see us."

Catherine is in her forties, a grandmother of four, and based in Belfast. She says:

Careful about the photo, people will recognise my fuzzy hair!

In the group we accept each other's experiences and opinions, it helps you come to terms with voice-hearing. You have no rationale or explanation if you're not allowed to talk about it. I have a history of being admitted to hospital and got labelled with something else, manic depression. I felt I was in hell, but hospital was the pits. Throughout this experience, my voices comforted me and saw me through the system.

Of course, you know it's not entirely rational, especially if they tell you not to take a pill, say, because it may be poison, 'You don't know what's in it'.

Overall, they kept me motivated and I'd have a dialogue with them, with my male voice controlling and domineering, waking me up at seven in the morning, saying 'How are you going to prove you're normal if you stay in bed? Stick to routine ...'

I have predominantly three voices, one male, two female, one of whom might be based on an aunt.

Emotional

Am I hearing them now? No. When I hear them depends on the circumstances, usually during some emotional upheaval. It goes back to when I was about seven, sitting at my dressing table looking at my triple-glass mirror, and I remember talking to myself as a coping mechanism to deal with various things going on, also the outside world of the Troubles. I saw three versions of myself in the three mirrors and internalised it.

The voices have helped me resolve issues I had growing up. I was married with three kids, and had just had my third child when I had my first breakdown and ended up in the (mental health) system.

I'd have to say in lots of ways, the voices helped and were my support system."

Peter (27), a voice hearer, is group treasurer and campaigner and lives in Belfast. He says:

There are different psychological reasons given for voice-hearing these days - some of the ideas in vogue include bullying, sexual and drug abuse. But it's a human experience and in the group we're interested in social action, in changing views. My voice-hearing began one day just like that. I was sitting playing the guitar in my room during my first term at university studying sociology when this guy said to me, 'You're good at your guitar'.

He was initially friendly, and I tried to explain it to myself. Then it multiplied, becoming several voices. Was I special and the voices weren't or was it the other way round? Within a short period of time I saw things too and the voices appeared as people I knew, for example as friends doing odd things such as having sex on the floor, and the whole thing snowballed. I was smoking some weed at the time, and then they were following me down the street. Within a few days, they were saying 'Hang yourself or we'll lose our jobs'.

Medication

At that point I phoned my parents and got them to pick me up. Then it was a question of psychiatrists and medication, and I was labelled a schizophrenic, which is pejorative and makes people think you're a retarded person, which I'm not. The experience definitely forces you to question things and how easily influenced you are by events. Most people have defences but they can be worn down by drugs and sleep deprivation. Medicine can help with the sleep deprivation, and it can shut the voices down.

They will call you names if you do something wrong, but I can give them a bollocking too, to misquote the Sex Pistols. Voices may appear to come from inside you or outside. I used to be an outside, now I am an occasional inside voice-hearer. You can say it isn't real but at one level they're telling you what you feel - it is a real and valid experience. I find the group reassuring - it helps you live with the voices."

For further info, contact The Hearing Voices Network helpline tel: 0845 122 8642