You are assessing a patient for auditory hallucinations. Before revealing the answer, decide what you would ask.

Ask directly whether the patient ever hears sounds or voices that other people cannot hear, and ask them to describe the experience's perceptual quality specifically — does it sound like a real external sound or voice, as clear and forceful as anyone speaking in the room, or does it feel more like an inner experience. Ask where the sound seems to come from, since being experienced as coming from outside the head is characteristic. Establish the content, ranging from simple unformed sounds to fully formed words or conversations, and ask specifically about the emotional tone of the content, since it is often, though not always, unpleasant, critical, or threatening. Confirm that no conscious effort is involved in producing the experience, which helps distinguish it from a thought the patient is voluntarily generating.