Mine would never accept the notion of her addictive voices (yes plural) being rats. She loves those voices. They are her closest & most comfortable friends for many many years. She is still being seduced today by her inner addictive voices. They are talking to her & she is responding.
I think she would say I became the rat. Rat face, rat voice, rat words which she does not want to hear. She never wanted to hear the truth from me.
I like this rat analogy very much though. Makes sense to me. Never heard it before.
BTW 2020 is the Chinese year of the rat.