Sometimes I hear things. It’s amusing most of the time. I have noticed that the little voices behind me usually say what I want to hear rather than what I need to hear. I generally dismiss them as being full of crap and go on with my life. The people in the mirror are full of crap, too. I’ll talk back to them, though. Sometimes my wife catches me, she would like for me to take something like risperdal or haldol but they make you sleep 10 or 12 hours a day or give you the shakes. I can’t get anything done like that. I tell her that if I concede that they are not real, it’s not a problem. Any opinions?
Do you always know they are hallucinations? Can you always ignore them? Are you able to take care of yourself? Can you hold a job? Do you understand that it’s not really socially acceptable to speak to people only you can see? If the answer to these questions is yes, then I think you’re okay. My old psychiatrist told me once about the way he handled patients who hallucinate. He just told them not to acknowledge the hallucinations. Works like a charm.
My mother occasionally hallucinates. She’s an intelligent, sucessful psychiatric nurse. In every other aspect of her life, she’s perfectly healthy, but sometimes she sees people peering at her from behind doorframes and stuff. She told me she just doesn’t pay attention to them.
Every so often, I hear laughter, or a distant radio, or someone calling my name. Or I’ll see movement out of the corner of my eye. It tends to go with my stress levels - if I’m really under pressure, I might have a full-on visual hallucination, but it’s generally just static. It seems to me that as long as you’re aware that you’re hearing things/seeing things, you’re probably okay. It’s when you start to lose your sense of what’s real and what isn’t that you’re in trouble. I’m not a medical professional, however, so take it with a grain of salt.
I think I’ve hallucinated twice in my life. (I say ‘think’ because there might have been other explanations for them)
Once when I was staying at a friends house. It was late and I was in the spare bedroom. I was absent mindedly looking at my arm on my lap. I folded the quilt over it, and it appeared to be still visible, but in ‘ghost’ form (white, slightly transparent, and glowing).
The second time, I was on holiday with the same friend. I saw the reflection of a fire in a field in the window of the caravan. I got up to investigate. No sign of a fire anywhere.
Other than those I never hallucinate. But because of a recent interest in schizophrenia I almost believe I might one day start hearing and/or seeing things. I almost believe it is like there’s a switch in the mind, that if you concentrate hard enough you might activate in ability to create hallucinations.
Definetly read up on ‘Schizophrenia’
and then go watch the movie: ‘A Beauitful Mind’
By watching that movie, It may help you deal with the situation…
I’ve always thought there were “gates” in people’s brains. Some people have most of the gates closed, and some people have most of the gates open. I equate intelligence with open gates, although it’s not a firm relationship, most intelligent people have more open gates, but having many open gates doesn’t necessarily make you intelligent. I also believe taking hallucinogenic drugs opens ALL the gates for at least a glimpse of what’s on the other side.
There are gates that stay closed, these gates make us sane. There are gates that stay open, these gates allow us to function on a day to day basis. Some people have the math gate open, some people have the math gate closed. Some people have the artistic gate open, some people have the artistic gate closed. Now we really need to take this analogy one step further and say that gates can be partially open. So some people have their math gate partially open.
So to me, when you hear voices or see hallucinations, that’s just another gate in your brain that has been opened. For most people this gate opens and closes periodically and doesn’t cause anyone any harm. If this gate were to stay open permanently, I belive you would be categorized as schizophrenic.
When I was living with my ex, and life was hell, I started having daily “problems” I guess, when I would start hearing a constant humming, and than screaming and yelling in my head. Literally. I assume that stress was the problem, and I found that when the major stressors in my life (the guy) went away, and I took some time to correct my diet and start exercising, the problem went away. It was quite upsetting at the time.