Thought broadcasting

In psychiatry, thought broadcasting is the belief that others can hear or are aware of an individual's thoughts. The person experiencing this symptom can also think that their thoughts are being broadcast through different media, such as the television or the radio. Different people can experience thought broadcasting in different ways. Thought broadcasting is most commonly found among people that have schizophrenia, schizoaffective disorder, or bipolar disorder. People with thought broadcasting rarely admit to having this symptom or to the severity of the symptom. Thought broadcasting is treated with the use of an atypical antipsychotic and in certain cases cognitive behavioral therapy. Thought broadcasting is considered a form of obsessive–compulsive disorder (OCD) and has multiple accepted definitions based on the many ways it can present itself. The first definition is that the person may hear their thoughts out loud and believe that others can hear the thoughts too. This definition relies on the fact that the thoughts are audible, through auditory hallucinations, in order for other people to hear them. The second definition consists of the individual believing that others can hear their thoughts with no associated auditory hallucinations and no real explanation of how others can hear the thoughts. The thoughts are said to be leaving the person's head silently, and the way their thoughts are known by others is unknown to the patient. A third possible definition is that the person believes that others are able to control or think with them and can hear their thoughts that way. The thoughts do not become audible to the patient since there are no auditory hallucinations. An example of thought broadcasting would be if a student is sitting in class and is thinking about what they may have planned for the upcoming weekend. They may start to believe that their teacher can hear their plans, and that the teacher knows that they are not paying attention to the lecture being given.