Imagine that the moment a thought formed in your head, it was simultaneously broadcast on a radio station that everyone within ten metres could hear. Now imagine you couldn't turn the radio off. That is roughly what people describe when they talk about thought broadcasting — one of the more striking and isolating experiences of psychosis.
Thought broadcasting is the fixed belief that one's own thoughts are being transmitted out of one's head and heard by others, often through a specific imagined mechanism such as radio waves, telepathy, or the internet.
Where it sits in the diagnostic picture
Thought broadcasting is one of the classic Schneiderian first-rank symptoms, a list compiled by the German psychiatrist Kurt Schneider in the 1950s as particularly suggestive of schizophrenia. The current DSM-5-TR no longer treats first-rank symptoms as required for diagnosis but recognises thought broadcasting, thought insertion, and thought withdrawal as types of bizarre delusions.
What it feels like
Descriptions from patients and memoirs include:
- "I have to keep my mind blank in shops because everyone hears what I'm thinking"
- "My thoughts are going out on the broadcast and the news anchor was reading them last night"
- "There's a humming when I think anything important — it's the sound of it transmitting"
- "I can't be near my children because they will hear the bad thoughts"
Why does it happen?
Researchers believe thought broadcasting reflects two converging disturbances. First, a breakdown in the brain's ability to distinguish self-generated mental content from external input. Second, hyperactive salience attribution, in which the experience of thinking becomes charged with significance and attached to events in the environment. The result is the conviction that thinking is no longer private. The NIMH describes related self-monitoring disturbances as part of the broader symptom picture of schizophrenia.
The behavioural cost
Thought broadcasting reshapes daily life. People may:
- Stop talking on the phone or near other people
- Wear hats, scarves, or homemade devices believed to block the transmission
- Stop reading or watching TV because thoughts about the content will broadcast
- Avoid intimacy because private thoughts will be exposed
- Move frequently to escape the perceived audience
- Develop secondary persecutory beliefs — believing the recipients are enemies
A loved one is becoming severely isolated, refusing food, or expressing thoughts of self-harm related to shame about thoughts being broadcast — call 988, your local emergency number, or seek psychiatric care urgently.
Distinguishing from related experiences
- Mind-reading delusions — the belief that others can access one's thoughts (closely related; see our piece on mind reading)
- Thought insertion — thoughts feel placed by another agent
- Thought withdrawal — thoughts feel taken away
- Auditory hallucinations of one's own thoughts — hearing one's thoughts spoken aloud (sometimes called Gedankenlautwerden) — overlapping but technically distinct
Treatment
Antipsychotic medication
The standard first-line approach. Thought broadcasting typically reduces alongside other positive symptoms over weeks. Persistent thought broadcasting after two adequate antipsychotic trials is one of the situations where clozapine is considered.
CBT for psychosis
CBTp can help with several aspects: gently testing the belief through behavioural experiments (e.g., thinking a specific phrase silently and seeing whether anyone reacts), normalising the underlying experience of thought-self disturbance, and reducing distress and isolation even when belief intensity remains. NICE guidance supports CBTp for persistent delusions.
Family education
Family members benefit from understanding why the person is suddenly silent, withdrawn, or wearing strange clothing. Family psychoeducation reduces relapse rates and improves outcomes.
What helps in the moment
- Quiet space, low stimulation
- Brief, calm sentences — the person may already feel "loud"
- Avoid whispering or stepping away to talk privately, which can feed the belief
- Help the person make a small decision to anchor agency (a sip of water, a chair to sit in)
For more on related symptoms, see thought insertion, thought withdrawal, and Schneiderian first-rank symptoms.
This article is for educational purposes only and is not medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always consult a qualified mental health professional. If you or someone you know is in crisis, call or text 988 in the US, or your local emergency number.