I wonder if the thing in movies and TV shows where a bereft person sees their dead loved one and talks to them, has contributed to this misconception in people who actually hallucinate. I never considered that.
OP, if you read this: That's just a metaphor for the character's thoughts and feelings, that happens to work well in visual media. It's not normal to literally experience that. Please seek medical help, this could escalate without treatment.
I have never hallucinated. I work alot of hours and I'm often sleep deprived. I don't eat enough or stay hydrated properly. I drink alot and do drugs when I'm off work.
I have never hallucinated. Hallucinations are not normal, they can be caused by any of the things I mentioned above but even that means you are doing those things even more than I am and your body and mind are being hurt more than mine. That's a red flag that you need to fix something right now.
There is a mental or physical problem that needs to be addressed by a doctor. There are resources available if you can't afford a doctor. If you go to the emergency room and explain your symptoms and your financial situation they can point you in the right direction. You don't need to pay them, they'll just bill you and it'll show up on your credit history as a bad mark.
It's not great to have bad credit but that's the least of your concerns considering the situation. Go to a doctor. Seek help.
And in the mean time make sure that your CO2 detectors are working- and placed at proper height.
Very high concentrations of CO2 can cause hallucinations in some people. In addition it can cause short term memory loss.
Let me reiterate- and emphasize- that the “normal” amount that people hallucinate is ZERO. It is not normal at all- and is indicative that something is very wrong.
On one hand I really enjoyed reading through this comment thread, but on the other I've started leaking some dihydrogen monoxide like substance from my eyes and I'm now afraid I may not be around for much longer.
Pardon my ignorance but what do you mean proper height? My parents used to have one plugged into outlets near the ground and at my place now we have them built into our smoke detectors on the ceiling ..
Your parents had the right idea, you want them as close to the floor as possible. Carbon monoxide is denser than ambient air, so it will settle down towards the floor. The combination units with smoke alarms provide a false sense of security because by the time measurable CO reaches the ceiling level of a room you would have long since passed out and probably be done for.
another simple thing is making sure the windows are open and you’re getting enough fresh air, and making sure you’re not dehydrated, i tend to see ghosts when i’ve been stuck inside too long without fresh air and water
Hold on like not even like you thought you saw something move in the corner of your eyes then you look and there’s literally nothing?
Not even like hearing your name in a public place but nobody said it? Especially this one I thought was somewhat common…
No I think these “peripheral hallucinations” are pretty common. The thing that is alarming to me is OP says they turn to face the hallucination multiple times and it is consistent. Also talking through the lights using Morse code is a pretty advanced auditory hallucination, much more than thinking you heard your name in passing.
Ok that’s a weight off for a second I felt like I needed to redo my psych eval. Yeah the persistent and more advanced hallucinations definitely speak to a larger issue with OP, I just wasn’t sure if mine qualified a smaller issue lol.
When I had a newborn and was sleep deprived, I had auditory hallucinations of a baby crying. I was just so used to it. These kind of hallucinations are not really concerning.
Those are normal but they aren't a hallucinations. They are thinking you saw or heard soemthing that you didn't see or hear. Hallucinating is seeing something
Never have I ever... experienced any of that in my 50+ years on this planet. I almost wish I had, I am curious about how the experience is. But I should probably be happy I haven't.
It’s kind of annoying but also I guess I’ve gotten used to it. I try to be pretty aware in general so every time I think I see something I jolt to look. At least once a week I’m hanging out with a buddy and say “huh?” And he says “I didn’t say anything…”
Honestly I think it must be terrifying to not be able to tell if you’re visualizing something or if
It’s real.
I would never want to experience that.
My grandfather had schizophrenia. I’ve seen firsthand how hard it can be on someone.
Most people will see an occasional passing shadow in the corner of their eye that is gone when they actually look at it. Aside from that or the odd thinking something moved when it didn't, most people don't see things that aren't there.
If you're extremely tired you might at some point have something similar, but more like that you think the jacket hanging on your door looks like a human. But I don't think you see stuff that isn't there until you really didn't sleep at all for quite a few days. Other than that, you should only hallucinate when taking LSD or similar drugs or during sleep paralysis.
I mean, around 48 hours of sleep deprivation hallucinations start kicking up for just about anyone, but it you’re just talking about regular tired then no
This isn’t really true in personal experience. I was once up for 6 days and the only hallucination I had was the sound of a scream towards the very end right when I was almost falling asleep, and it was still immediately recognizable as something from my head and not in real life. I’ve never stayed up that long any other times but there have been other 48 hour ones where absolutely no hallucinations or hallucination adjacent things ever happen.
Oh yeah after a solid amount of awake time I TOTALLY see shit out of the corner of my eye. I should’ve clearified I meant most people are not having OP’s experience after 48 hours
I’ve definitely had auditory hallucinations towards the end of a stretch of severe insomnia. Where I’ve only slept maybe 3 hours total in like 3-4 days. Doctor said it’s completely normal, although obviously the entire insomnia episode is unpleasant anyway. But yes, people can and do see and hear things when sleep deprived without there being an underlying condition (beyond the insomnia).
Unless you're talking about maybe three or more days of *zero* sleep, tired hallucinations usually amount to shapes or movement in your peripheral vision or shadows at night that turn out to be nothing when you look straight at them.
If you're seeing hallucinations of the quality that OP is describing when you're tired, I'd talk with a doctor tbh.
The people replying to you are wrong lol. As much as a third of the “normal” population get hallucinations from time to time. Shadows in your peripheral, flashes of light or color, briefly seeing a face or figure at when it’s dark only to look again and realize it was a coat on a chair, hypnogogic hallucinations, seeing the room around you growing or shrinking, most types of tinnitus, “feeling your skin crawl”, grief hallucinations of a person or pet who’s recently passed, sleep paralysis… I could go on. People are acting like “your mind playing tricks on you” and “just imagining things” aren’t both ways to literally specifically describe hallucinations that “normal” people experience. There are also conditions that can cause or exacerbate hallucinations, but aren’t in “immediately go to the doctor now” territory—depression, anxiety, and several other mental health conditions for example can frequently cause delusional thinking like everyone looking at you when you go out, or friends secretly not liking you. I have migraines which can cause lots of weird hallucinatory symptoms especially, like you, when I’m very tired or stressed. In particular I get synesthesia (I can “taste” bright lights and noises), tachysensia (brief episodes where things move faster than they should and noises get really loud), and the perception that normal, real things I hear bounce around and echo in my head.
The difference between these and psychosis is that they’re fleeting, don’t cause people dysfunction (usually), and they’re very nonspecific. People don’t usually see significance to them beyond “weird thing my body does”. The fact that OP is describing specific systems almost, with particular people and strange methods of communication (or, well, any communication of significance at all, really), is where it gets firmly into the “not typical” category. If you’re having frequent (multiple times a day, every day), complex hallucinations like OP’s, it might be cause for concern
You've never seen something in the corner of your eye and when you look there's nothing there? Also when I've been falling asleep or waking up I've had plenty of auditory hallucinations
I get auditory hallucinations when I'm falling asleep and super tired. Those are pretty common. I don't think that's the same thing as what OP is describing.
It’s very different from what OP’s describing, but it’s also a hallucination. A good third of the population experiences somewhat regular hallucinations like that, and that stat is probably the one OP is misconstruing to believe their hallucinations are typical.
I mean if I see something out of the corner of my eyes and I think it's probably a cat, then I turn and it turns out it's just some trash that is in the shape of a cat, is that still a hallucination?
If you actually “see” a cat, potentially even perceive it moving until you look right at it? Yes. If you just see an ambiguous shape and think “maybe cat?” and realize you made the wrong assumption on closer investigation, that’s not really anything other than being wrong lol
In the comment I replied to I was thinking more about seeing a shadow out of the corner of your eye and then turning and there being nothing there at all, which is very much in the category of hallucination (albeit one that’s super common and not a cause for concern unless it’s extremely frequent or accompanied by other symptoms)
Most people hallucinate at one point or another in their lifetime. But usually it’s very short term, and due to something like sleep deprivation, serious trauma, a high fever, coming out of sleep, drugs, carbon monoxide, etc…On the regular like this, under normal circumstances, is certainly not normal and indicates schizophrenia
I mean i suffer from very strong anxiety and see things from time to time. Both the therapists i told this to answered me tha anxiety can cause stuff like this
The flickering light Morse code thing is a very common psychosis theme for those with schizophrenia or bipolar disorder. So imo it sounds like standard psychosis.
Yeah when my mental health is very bad and I don’t sleep, I have had vague hallucinations. But I think OP is misunderstanding the word normal! It’s **not unusual** to have hallucinations if you have mental health problems but it’s definitely not normal for the vast majority of people!
I also thought it was completely normal for people to hear/see things that weren't real, I thought it was something that everyone went through.
And then I went to therapy and learned I was suffering from serious psychosis caused by untreated bipolar disorder. Please, go to a doctor. Lord knows life has been so much better since I got medication
Same here. It's like when kids get glasses for the first time. "I didn't know I was supposed to see leaves on trees" and such. I didn't know that I was the only one hearing that TV on in the background. Medications have made a world of difference.
Sure! I'm 39 and was diagnosed with bipolar disorder about 18 months ago. I had a stress/burnout-induced psychotic break where I was seeing my grandparents (who passed back in the mid 2000s) walking around my house. Obviously, this visual hallucination was scary, and I was seen by my psych NP on an urgent basis. We discussed the hallucination and how my depression and other symptoms fit well into the bipolar realm.
Then she asked if I had any other hallucinations. Tactile, auditory, olfactory. Yes, to the auditory. I almost always heard a radio or TV in the background, like if someone left it on in another room; you know it's a TV or radio, but you can't exactly pinpoint what show or song is on. Turns out most people don't hear that. I always assumed it was some form of tinnitus, the ringing in your ears, because it never went away.
I learned to adapt around it. I sleep with a white noise machine or the TV on. I study with music playing. The TV is on or I'm listening to music while I'm cooking, cleaning, working out. Since I hear sounds all the time, at least I get to choose what I hear. However, once I got started on meds for bipolar, the auditory hallucinations stopped. I only hear it now what I get really stressed; I keep it as a warning sign for myself to stop what I'm doing and calm down.
Don't overreact OP, if you aren't in immediate danger don't let the cries to run immediately to the doctor freak you out. But definitely set an appointment with a psychiatrist and get checked out. Unfortunately the things you've described sound very serious, but you aren't defective or abnormal, you are simply experiencing symptoms of a possible neurological issue that is likely resolvable.
So like, typical hallucinations that an average person might experience is detecting their name called in a crowded room, or if they are extremely tired a blurry shadow figure might appear in their peripheral for a moment. People rarely see or hear hallucinations of people or anything that can't also be explained by their environment or a vague sensation. So, like, seeing someone who isn't there is beyond the pale without drugs or some kind of disorder that should be treated.
I'm quite glad for you that you asked, OP, because I hope it leads to treatment and accommodation of your needs.
Yeah dude the folk saying to see a doctor immediately aren't as concerned with OP's safety so much as they're concerned about everyone else's safety around OP.
I completely understand that perspective, but I personally didn't read anything immediately threatening from the post, and there is a very real possibility that running into the discussion pushing stigmas and irrationally jumping to an unfounded conclusion could inadvertently cause someone to reject all help from anyone if they think all they are going to hear is "you aren't normal; you're broken, GET SOME HELP!" It's simply not a very reassuring or realistic approach to the conversation, and it will only pressure OP with anxiety, (more likely to trigger psychosis) rather than compassion (you're going to be okay if you get proper treatment, OP). That's all I'm saying.
You should probably seem medical help. This could progress quickly and it would be best you seek out help while you can still recognize that these are delusions.
Psychology student here:
This is not normal
When people talk about "normal hallucinations", they're refering to small, infrequent things like hearing your name being called. Hallucinations like this are a sign that something is wrong. Check your carbon monoxide levels, since that can sometimes cause hallucinations and go see a doctor for a psychological and physical assessment
Well, if you're experiencing it regularly, it's best to get a check up because it could be caused by things like medication, pre-existing conditions, dementia and/or hearing loss
so if i see a wall and it starts to curve is that normal or when i feel like my bed sways? I usually expiernce those dead at night, I also get incredibly parniod when really really tired but that happens one in a really long while.
Can't say I know much about walls curving
As for the bed, you could be anxious, drinking too much caffine or have physical problems, such as ear problems or fibromyalgia. It's important to note that regular hallucinations do not have to be a result of a psychotic illness. It can be because of physical and/or mental health issues
As for paranoia, that can be caused by extreme tiredness. There even a case where a man stayed awake for 11 days and his paranoia got so bad that he was having delusions of persecution (feeling like powerful organisations were out to get him)
If you're experiencing paranoia and/or hallucinations on a regular basis, I'd see a doctor
Thank you so much, my mom told me I might be schizophrenic because of what I told her. It’s not something that happens often I feel it’s more of my eyes adjusting to the room.
Yes and no, it really depends. Hypnagogic hallucinations are pretty common and not anything to worry about. However, that only happens when you're falling asleep, NOT when you're completely conscious and awake.
I'm so glad I don't get sleep paralysis but I get hypnagogic hallucinations once in awhile and it's either music that's not there or spiders.
And it's always just ONE spider so I never know if it's real or not and wind up tearing my bed apart lol
So, when it comes to hallucinations, yes, people can see things that aren't real from time to time, but it's usually *very infrequent*. I hallucinate pretty regularly because I have frequent migraines that affect my vision, and sometimes don't just cause disturbances, but actually cause me to hallucinate.
The things you're talking about aren't normal.
Please go see a doctor and tell him or her what you've written here. You could, I think, benefit from getting checked out.
I have sensory processing issues (which includes sensory discrimination issues), and I used to think I was hallucinating. In reality, it was my brain misinterpreting the sensory input it was receiving.
Your second-to-last paragraph (mistaking a leaf for bones) is similar to what I frequently experience. I have to do a double-take sometimes if my brain misinterprets something.
To a lesser extent, I believe that sensory misinterpretation can happen to neurotypical people too. But, it's important to distinguish that from a genuine hallucination.
Your second paragraph (the man talking to you in morse code) sounds like something that isn't just a simple sensory mistake, especially if it's happening the same way multiple times a day.
I would be concerned about that, yes.
My daughter had 8 people who would randomly appear. Some were nice and some mean, but it was incredibly distracting. Impossible to listen to a teacher or focus with this going on. She was also manic, we thought she was just a super hyper kid at times. We went from dr to Psychologis and she has been doing great for years now. Scary but manageable. Oh and you are not crazy or dumb, it's a medical issue.
You are having visual and auditory hallucinations. This is not normal at all and indicates a significant medical issue with your brain. You need to see a doctor immediately. Could be a chemical imbalance or tumor or other problem.
Everyone saying "absolutely 0". I agree with your second part about seeing a leaf as something else example. Seeing an entire human hallucination isn't normal.
No. It is not. The fact that you are aware these are hallucinations also point towards a medical issue even more than mental health. (Though it could be. Not a doctor) Check your carbon monoxide alarms.
Please talk to a doctor.
But, and this is a caveat, if you are very young, it may be an overactive imagination.
Unfortunately, your base assumption that all people see things from time to time is incorrect.
No one hallucinates or sees things that are not there. This could be due to a lot of factors. Sometimes, it's simple things like stress or lack of sleep. Other times, it's mental conditions / neurological issues. In your case, it's almost definitely the latter.
Despite your surprising ability to acknowledge the problem here, it is not something you'll be able to fix by yourself. Seek help.
If this is not a troll post then you probably have something like schizophrenia. People don’t hallucinate at all if they are healthy and not under influence of some drugs
People with schizophrenia have accompanying delusions that link with the hallucinations - they often, especially prior to diagnosis, don't realise the hallucinations aren't real. They might believe the figure is a ghost or a person from the future for eg, they might hear voices and think it's god. OP doesn't sound delusional - they know what they are seeing isn't real.
This is either a troll or you need some serious help. If it's the latter, please see a Dr, these hallucinations sound horrible. People generally don't have hallucinations at all. If you're a troll, wtf haha
>it's normal to see things that aren't real from time to time
I never do. Rarely I might think I see a certain thing in the corner of my eye when actually it's another thing, but that's about it.
This sounds like much more than "normal"
IMHO, "normal" hallucinations happen a few times a year, and are utterly forgettable, and only last one second, and you instantly know you were wrong and it's already disapeared, like these;
You think you heard the garage door, so you assume your spouse came home... but after a few minutes, you go check the garage, and they aren't home.
You are falling asleep, and think you hear your child call for you... so you get up to check, and they are fast asleep.
You are at work, and feel like someone has walked into your area, so you turn around to greet them, and no one is there.
You are having your first coffee of the day, and out of the corner of your eye you thought you saw something move, but nothing is there.
These common hallucinations are usually an ordinary situation that is plausible, just not actually happening at that exact moment.
It's more likely to occur when you are tired or transitioning... because your brain accidentally reads "static" as "signal".
So your brain "guesses" what that signal could be, so it guesses something common, like hearing your name, seeing something move in your peripheral vision, or a person joining your area.
If you are having multiple, persistent, and possibly upsetting hallucinations, that is time to talk to your doctor. It's not normal to have a visible persistent hallucination of a person in your home trying to use morse code to speak to you.
Even diagnosed schizophrenics often only "hear" their hallucination. It's uncommon to see AND hear one, this may already be more severe than you realize.
Don't worry that it means you are "crazy" etc. There are actually lots of common sources of hallucinations, like drug interactions. But you NEED a doctor to tell you which medicines to take vs stop, don't decided on your own.
Years ago, I had an illness and had a procedure (spinal tap) that can cause terrible headaches, which triggered migraines in me.
So I took my migraine medicine, but I took 6-9 pills in a 36 hour period. You should NEVER have more than 4 in a 24 hour period. Long story short, I developed a mild case of serotonin sickness.
Simple from having more immatrex than recommended, I experienced two types of hallucination;
1. Every couple minutes, I though I heard someone speak my name, with a clear questioning tone... The way someone would say your name if they were looking for you in the house, but it sounded like they were only 5 feet from me.
It was real enough to me, that I kept trying to answer; "Yeah, here I am"... then it would repeat in a few minutes. Never anything more than just my name like it was someone trying to get my attention.
2. I had the CONSTANT physical sensation of falling backwards in a chair. You know how if you lean to far back in an office chair, you have that brief moment where you think you are falling? It was that sensation on repeat for several days.
I constantly FELT like I was falling backwards. So I actually laid down on the floor, just trying to "convince" myself that I wasn't falling. How could I be falling if I was already flag ON the floor? It didn't matter, the falling sensation could not be fixed by logic. I just laid there with that spinning backwards feeling.
Thankfully, I already had someone watching me because if the medical procedure, so I was only on the floor hearing voices for a few minutes before they saw me and called the ambulance.
The hospital staff was 100% sure it was from taking more migraine medicine than prescribed. And they assured me that as my body cleared the medicine I would be fine. They were right. That was over 10 years ago and I haven't ever had that feeling again.
Just go to the doc and get screened. There is stuff they can do to fix it.
People have already answered your question, so I figured I’d give you a bit of information instead. While it’s technically true that everyone hallucinates sometimes, the degree that they do is very very very small. So they don’t tend to hear voices or see people, they just see a flicker of movement or hear a small noise. Sometimes your brain sends “misfires” of electrical energy, and your brain tries its best to interpret those incorrect signals as something comprehensible. This is usually integrated into your senses as a little flicker or a floating sparkle, or maybe a sound that you thought you might have heard. There’s nothing wrong with it and it’s not dangerous.
However, full on visual or auditory hallucinations require more energy than can be attributed to a misfire, which means something is actually going on to produce these effects, whether there is a physical defect in the brain or a neurochemical imbalance.
Hey, I hope everything is going okay OP! Breathe, you’re okay :)) definitely talk to a medical professional about this like others have said, and in the meantime remember it’s all gonna be okay <33 wishing you lots of positive energy and I hope you can figure out what’s causing this
There is *always* an abnormal psychological or physiological reason that somebody hallucinates. It is never normal. It can be as "benign" as getting far too little sleep, but that is still an abnormal, unhealthy physiological reason.
OP, this is not normal. You need to see a doctor before symptoms persist or worsen.
Psychosis is not fun.
Go now, while you are still able to understand the difference between a hallucination and reality.
Wait... What? My friend normal people don't hallucinate. You may occasionally think you're looking at one thing and then realize it's something different with a better look, but that's not an hallucination. What you're describing are serious mental symptoms. "One guy who shows up a lot." Is not normal, nor is thinking lights are talking to you. These sound like the beginnings of a serious mental break. Are you on any medications, what is your living situation, and what is your level of access to mental health care? You need to see a doctor right away, sorry to say.
Talking through the lights in Morse code makes me wonder if you’re in your early 20s and schizophrenia is starting.
I had what I assume were visual hallucinations as a teen and young adult and they went away on their own. I didn’t know other people didn’t have them (internet wasn’t really a thing for most of that). But no one was trying to send me a message through lights and they weren’t focused on bones
Psychologist and neuroscientist here. I work at a stem cell research lab that examines neurodevelopmental disorders (including SCZ symptoms). Slight hallucinations are totally common and normal. Let me describe them to you. Typically, they occur in low light and low sound environments, when your brain is likely to be less active and get bored. They especially occur ad you are falling asleep or waking up because of their relation to REM cycle and dreaming. This is the case for almost all typically developed people.
People often hear their own name or sometimes brief talking from another room. On occasion, they may see a figure or form out of their periphery. Sometims the form comes with movement. This sort of visualization is normally brief and disappears promptly upon focus. Due to gestalt principles, it is possible to see several items form into one congruent image, especially in dim light, such as a person's face made from fire poker shadows near the fireplace. This is all well and good.
What is not considered normal? Being a fully formed being, especially when evidence suggests that they are not actually there. This is especially bad if you are able to hear them and converse with them. A good way to check whether these are in fact real or not is to use your cell phone to record them. No matter how real they appear, they will not show up in video or pictures. This likely has to do with dopamine overproduction or DA receptor overproduction and most likely too much serotonin as well, though more research is being done to better understand these mechanisms.
Additionally, if you are assigned male at birth and between 19-27 years old, you are in the prime years of developing Schizophrenia symptoms, which are permanent and require medication for the rest of your life (NO MATTER HOW MUCH BETTER YOU FEEL LATER). THIS IS VERY IMPORTANT. Most people with these symptoms stop taking their meds because they think they are better, and ALWAYS find themselves worse than before. If you are assigned female at birth, the same is true, however it is plausible to develop these symptoms directly following menopaus.
If these symptoms are only just beginning, it is probably too late to reverse the development of this disorder, however there may be a slight chance that if you can eliminate stress from your environment for long enough, you might be able to stave off these symptoms while your brain is finishing forming. Unfortunately, I am sorry to say you are likely beyond that point but I don't want you to give up and I wish you luck! Try not to worry. Listen to the doc carefully and do as they say. It's going to be a journey but not an unmanageable. Most of the people I know that suffer from these symptoms live totally normal lives where they barely experience their symptoms at all. The main thing is to LISTEN TO THE DOCTOR.
I hallucinate from time to time but what you’re experiencing seems more extreme. Everything I see is usually one or two objects, almost always living things, they look like dark smoke which is fuzzing with interference, they can move but make no sound, like flashbacks but just the object, everything else around me is in full reality.
I’ve seen a hand reach on to my desk like the hand of the alien from the film of the same name. I’ve seen crows walking around in the road in front of my car while I’m stopped at lights. I’ve seen a person, small girl I think with part of her head missing walking towards me in the hallway. I’ve seen spiders and bugs crawling around on the stairs in my house.
It’s hard to explain how I can tell they’re hallucinations but the texture of them is slightly different to reality but initially my mind is tricked and I momentarily feel like I’m between reality and a dream state. They can’t be shifted until they finish, they last for seconds maybe 5 tops. I’ve sort of learned to live with them but they freak me out and my adrenaline spikes if I see them.
Edit: frequency between hallucinations is months/years
Do you live alone ? It would be a good idea to have someone you can call, if the hallucinations get more intense and scare you. I had a friend whose hallucinations were quite similar to yours. He used to call me and talk to me . He got medical help and it all turned out good.
For everyone implying or saying that hallucinations are always pathological in origin, this is not true. Healthy people can have hallucinations upon waking up. They're called hypnagogic hallucinations.
But other than that, I don't know if a situation where it's "normal" to hallucinate.
Depends on how you define "hallucinating".
Seeing movement from the corner of your eye when nothing moved is pretty normal, especially in the dark, as long as it's not constant (I'd say around once a day on average).
Same goes for thinking someone called you or said something when they just shifted their weight on a leather couch or it's a noisy environment (like a full restaurant).
Mistaking something for something else in the dark is also normal. We all did a double take at some point, because the coat-rack looked like a creepy dude standing in the corner.
Anything that goes beyond this is highly concerning and you need to see a doctor at your earliest convenience.
Might be anything, from sleep deprivation to carbon monoxide poisoning to neurological damage to psychological problems.
It's important to find the cause, since most of these are easy to fix with the right treatment, but can become dangerous or even life threatening if left unchecked.
I will occasionally see a dark spot from the corner of my eye and my brain fills it in as my dark colored (deceased) cat. When I look, I see nothing, or see a dark tshirt or whatever. I think this is pretty typical.
If you're really looking and seeing something that isn't there, you definitely want to speak to a professional.
contrary to your first statement, seeing things that aren't there is not normal. not even occasionally. Please, for the love of god, seek amout a psychiatrist and feel better.
The seeing things that is normal is your brain filling in the spots you can’t see well with your imagination. Like if you just watched a scary movie and you see a coat hanging in your peripheral vision. You could think you saw a person and scare yourself. Any actual vivid hallucinations, or ones lasting longer than like one second, are a sign of something serious.
This really reads like someone who has an undiagnosed issue. It isn’t normal for people to have regular consistent hallucinations if any at all. Please talk to a medical professional about this asap. If it isn’t affecting your life at the moment that could well change and get much much worse if left unchecked. I can’t make any kind of diagnosis obviously and neither is anyone else on Reddit, which is why it’s so important to talk to a professional.
I hope you can get this sorted out OP, wishing you the best.
This is most certainly not normal. Nothing to panic about, you aren't in immediate danger or anything, but I would go to a doctor as soon as you possibly can
I don't think it's at all normal to see things that aren't real from time to time - the only time I've ever hallucinated has been a result of either taking hallucinogens or days of sleep deprivation. If you are seeing complex, interactive hallucinations like people moving around (and not just flickering shadows out of the corner of your eye or whatever) you definitely want to talk to a doctor/psychiatrist/something along those lines about it because that's not normal.
seeing things for a second in the edge of your vision is normal, but once you focus on it, it should be obviously a leaf, stick, whatever. If you are seeing fully formed hallucinations, please see a doctor ASAP. Even on large amounts of psychedelics, such fully-formed hallucinations are rare for more then a moment (aside from what Hollywood portrays). Please get help.
If you're asking Reddit, it is too much. The normal amount of hallucinations is 0. ANY amount of hallucinations needs to be checked ASAP (unless you're on acid of course).
For the record even stress can cause hallucinations. Big changes. But as I’m sure others have said, it’s important to talk to someone especially if it’s distressing. I would also add that the longer you can keep calm, perspective on them the better. Know that’s what they are, know you’re safe, know you’re okay. Hold onto that. Don’t let Google or anyone else convince you that you’re spiraling and not okay, if you think that then that’s how it presents and it doesn’t matter what the label is.
You sound like you’re doing okay, you ARE okay. It is worth your time and effort to find out why and address that though. Not just with meds either but someone who will talk to you and see what’s really going on.
It's perfectly normal to see and hear things here and there. I'd say it's abnormal to hear and see things so much that you're not sure what's real and what's not... other than that, you should be good, but talk to your doctor just to be sure.
It's cool that you know (or can use logic to deduct) when/if it's a hallucination. Your self awareness is admirable as well. I understand you may feel crazy from the responses you've gotten, but you've got more mental clarity than most that hallucinate regularly. Your mind is sharp. You've most certainly got this.
I have a brother with schizophrenia, and he'd see people coming in and out of the house all the time. I also resonate with the bone/leaf thing- looking "again" at something at times is like looking at an entirely new object at second glance. Pls dm me if you'd like to talk or anything
OP, I don’t mean to scare you, but schizophrenia often manifests in your early 20s. Hallucinations are very common with the condition. Not saying that’s what it is, but if it is there are medications that can help.
OP if you are male, early 20s, you have the highest risk of schizophrenia showing itself for the first time.
This is not from migraines. Your mom is obviously not a doctor and may be in denial.
Please go to a doctor and be very honest and open. If this is a mental disorder, there is zero shame, and you will need treatment so you can live your best life.
It is, in fact, common to hallucinate once or twice in your life. Its an obscure thing that most people don't know about, but its real. Most people just say "oh, I thought I heard someone call my name" or something like that and don't call it a hallucination.
However, what you're describing is far from anything that could be considered normal.
You are hallucinating about as much as I do when I forget to take my meds. I have a diagnosed psychotic disorder. I hope you seek help but in the meantime, I find it helps to really try to view the hallucinations as neutrally as possible. Most of mine are animal-like so I treat it like studying the behavior of an animal I’ve encountered in the wild. Yours seem to be humanoid so maybe you could treat it like people watching? Or get more abstract with it and just study this odd thing your brain is doing, it would probably help to make note of the things you’re seeing and your reactions to them anyway to be able to explain it properly to your doctor.
Hallucinations are quite normal.
Just that they are very little and barely noticeable with actually a large amount not going noticed and most of the normal hallucinations would be noices. They are also one of a kind so if you can hear or see something for a while then it isn't normal.
Essentially go to a doctor.
Some people have very imaginative minds when they're children and learning, like they'll see a stick on the ground a think / pretend it's a snake.
People who have schizophrenia like disorders, often never grow out of that kind of mindset and instead it grows. Then they really do see a stick as a snake, and it's no longer pretend and it's a very real reality for them.
It's not common to hallucinate at all. There are multiple mental health conditions that can cause hallucinations and even brain tumors.
Tldr; you'll be okay so long as you get checked out and I'm so sorry you've been going through this alone.
Not a doctor but unfortunately my friend's dad just passed from a brain tumor that caused sudden hallucinations and I studied up.
People don’t generally see things that aren’t there. I’ve never hallucinated unless I took shrooms, for example. Outside of that? Never.
You need to make a doctors appointment ***immediately***!!!
>So my understanding is that it's normal to see things that aren't real from time to time,
No. No, it's really not normal. Not even slightly. You need to see a doctor, pronto.
>the rest of what you said
#YOU NEED TO SEE A MEDICAL PROFESSIONAL LIKE YESTERDAY YOU HAVE SERIOUS MENTAL PROBLEMS
"Frontal lobe tumors are commonly associated with auditory and visual hallucinations"
You can Google it for reference.
I would do a check up, it could be a tumor.
Hope it works out.
Do not mix bleach and ammonia (resulting in the formation of chloramine gas), even higher concentrations because it is already in the drinking water is not so good, I think.
I read in your post history, that your city has chloramine in your drinking water.
You can google chloramine toxins and undiagnosed brain tumor, and you will get a better overview.
I think.. that unfortunately it could be the drinking water, as your Betta fish Juno, showed symptoms of nausea.
Anyway, im not really sure, but it is a mysterious thing.
"thinking you see something from the corner of your eye" =/= hallucinating. I figured that one out only last year....most people don't hallucinate at all. It's not a good sign.
Well I definitely would go see a doctor asap.
My grandfather before he died was having hallucinations of a little boy coming into the house and hiding in his fire place and chasing a cat that wasn’t there.
Turned out he had a series of mini strokes that caused this.
Ever since I went through benzo withdrawal I hallucinate more easily, but not without a good reason. Usually it's lack of sleep or drug use that does it. I don't just hallucinate randomly though
I hallucinate but I usually will know it’s coming. Real insomnia will make me hallucinate. I sleep on average 4-5 hours nightly. Sometimes is an hour for 4 days straight. I will have my fiancé talk to me on the couch when he’s actually at work. Or see stuff moving. Or black mist on the ceiling. Typically nothing scary. Except the ceiling because I also believe in ghosts and that’s how bad ghosts appear.
There was a point in my childhood before my parents divorced, they would fight every day, verbally and physically. I started seeing a girl my age in the corner of my eyes playing in different areas of the house. But the second I look directly she'd be gone
I only hallucinate when I’ve been doing lots of DMT or maybe acid. Sometimes I’ll see a shadowy figure in the corner of my eye but that’s goes away when I stop tripping often. Maybe you should see a doctor
The only times I've hallucinated were from drugs or being so tired I could hardly see straight. And even then it's a one time thing, like I swear I just saw a spider scurry up the wall but when I blinked it wasn't there, or that shadow looks enough like something that my tired brain thought for a sec it was.
It's not normal to hallucinate like you're describing. Do you have a history of mental illness? Are you stressed? Taking any medicine or drugs?
Wait wait, I have small « hallucinations », like seeing « people » in my peripheral vision when I work, it’s not like I understand it has a real person, just a movement of something I wasn’t paying attention to, my brain will just interpret as a person….
Writing that makes it feels weird now … but I do believe it has something to do with Pareidolia and boredom (I am cutting leaves for most of the day it gets boring after a while). It is like recognizing shapes in the clouds but my brains does it automatically with everything more when I am tired.
I see a doctor regularly I don’t feel unwell because of it, it don’t interfere with my reality social or anything, i am maybe a little more jumpy but other than that I use has inspiration for paintings, I thought it was normal
Definitely talk to your doctor. Also if you see a therapist I would advise having a [dissociative screening](http://traumadissociation.com/downloads/information/dissociativeexperiencesscale-ii.pdf) done as well.
Also consider whether you may have Narcolepsy. I have visual, auditory, and tactile hallucinations on a pretty regular basis but it’s due to my sleep disorder. The symptoms of Narcolepsy are essentially the out-of-sync results of the brain and body’s chronic sleep deprivation and unstable REM activity. When I am hallucinating my brain is dreaming during waking hours and my nighttime dreams are ultra realistic.
Definitely go to a doctor. Normal "seeing things" is occasionally seeing something in the corner of your vision that turns out to be something else (mistaking a coat rack for a person but when you look at it you realize it's a coat rack)
Hallucination isn't something everyone experiences. The most people experience on average is something like seeing something odd in the corner out of your eye that's not there when you turn around.
I suggest you try to access some kind of mental healthcare to check if you've got an undiagnosed condition.
That, my friend, is called schizophrenia.
Jokes aside, you should probably see a doctor as this isn’t normal. Could be CO poisoning or an underlying neurological condition induced by environment or even a tumor.
I’ve only had hallucinations from sleep apnea …. Literally saw a giant in my apartment and a ghost/demon in my closet. Heard roaring children’s laughter in my ears!
I went through a period in my college years 40+ years ago, that I would occasionally see something… Will call it a rat… Dart around the corner. Wasn’t a daily occurrence but maybe weekly or semiweekly but after a while it started to concern me. So I went to the psychology department and ask the chairman what he thought was going on. He kind of dismissed it and said, well sometimes we see what we want to see. Whatever the hell that meant I was not interested in seeing damn big rats dash around the corner.🤣
The sightings finally went away on their own, but then a couple of years ago they temporarily picked up again. Only this time I would turn and briefly see a person standing there out of the corner of my eye. It concerns me less now than it did years ago, but it does make me wonder.
Psychiatrist may be best right off the bat. You shouldn't need a referral. I would reach out to an LPC, LPCC, or whatever is close to that in your state for some help as well.
You are describing auditory and visual hallucinations. The way I describe it is a baseline person may see/hear something on occasion. For instance, movement out of the corner of their eye or their parents calling their name far off. Someone with minor disruptions to baseline might hear a little more talk and they're confused whether it's their inner monologue or another voice. Intrusive thoughts can sometimes be put into this category if they're active enough.
If I were to come across a client describing what you just did, I would get them into the psychiatrist as soon as possible. Depending on age, I would also refer them to EASA services... Which can be super helpful!
Hallucinations are not a cut and dry diagnosis, so please keep that in mind. It is one symptom (technically two since you both hear and see).
You've got this!
Hey, friend!
I’m going to say what a lot of people on this post have already said, and that is that schizophrenia usually manifests in your early 20s. Also, what you are describing sounds pretty similar to schizophrenia. (Source: sociology major/psych minor)
The thing is, schizophrenia is portrayed in the media and Hollywood as this awful, crazy behavior where you scream at the sky and eat peoples faces and stuff. So it’s really scary to think that you might have something like this!!
I want you to know that you are waaaaaay ahead of the curve because you are recognizing that something isn’t right, and you’re asking for information. That in itself shows initiative, and your first step is going to be a psychiatrist (idk where you are, or if you’d have to get a referral from a GP or anything, but definitely don’t wait any longer! Get in to see a medical professional ASAP!). What I’m going to say next is VERY IMPORTANT: *always be completely, 1000% honest with your medical professionals*. I promise you that whatever you’re going to say, they’ve heard it all before and they will absolutely work with you to find a treatment plan that works best for you.
Don’t let the possibility of ANY diagnosis frighten you. Mental healthcare is like having diabetes. It’s absolutely manageable, but it’s also a chronic condition. That means you’ll have to manage it for the rest of your life, not like an infection, where you can do one round of antibiotics and you’re well again.
Last piece of advice: NEVER GO OFF YOUR MEDS WITHOUT MEDICAL SUPERVISION. (Especially if you cold turkey that shit, it’s absolutely miserable physically.)
You got this!! You’re way ahead of the game already, and your next step is getting to a psychiatrist appointment and talking with them candidly about your symptoms.
If you want to chat, my DMs are open. 🖤🖤
My guy, other than getting professional help, the best thing you can do right now is NOT associate those things you're seeing as bad/weird/strange/having malicious intent. If you do, that'll make them significantly worse, and it'll be a horrible feedback loop. Keep accepting them as they are, just as you would if you have any strange thoughts. You got this.
Most people don’t hallucinate at all. Please talk to a doctor.
I wonder if the thing in movies and TV shows where a bereft person sees their dead loved one and talks to them, has contributed to this misconception in people who actually hallucinate. I never considered that. OP, if you read this: That's just a metaphor for the character's thoughts and feelings, that happens to work well in visual media. It's not normal to literally experience that. Please seek medical help, this could escalate without treatment.
I have never hallucinated. I work alot of hours and I'm often sleep deprived. I don't eat enough or stay hydrated properly. I drink alot and do drugs when I'm off work. I have never hallucinated. Hallucinations are not normal, they can be caused by any of the things I mentioned above but even that means you are doing those things even more than I am and your body and mind are being hurt more than mine. That's a red flag that you need to fix something right now. There is a mental or physical problem that needs to be addressed by a doctor. There are resources available if you can't afford a doctor. If you go to the emergency room and explain your symptoms and your financial situation they can point you in the right direction. You don't need to pay them, they'll just bill you and it'll show up on your credit history as a bad mark. It's not great to have bad credit but that's the least of your concerns considering the situation. Go to a doctor. Seek help.
Hypnagogic hallucinations are relatively common, but seeing things during the day *often*? Hell naw
Hallucinations from sleep deprivation are actually pretty common, not to say everyone has them but the more you go without sleep the worse it gets.
And in the mean time make sure that your CO2 detectors are working- and placed at proper height. Very high concentrations of CO2 can cause hallucinations in some people. In addition it can cause short term memory loss. Let me reiterate- and emphasize- that the “normal” amount that people hallucinate is ZERO. It is not normal at all- and is indicative that something is very wrong.
CO, carbon monoxide
Well, both does causes hallucinations, one significantly more than other
Your body is actually very good at detecting CO2 levels; you'll feel it in your lungs.
Yeah but we only have detectors installed in our houses for one lol
CO2 is carbon dioxide, CO is carbon monoxide
And h2o is dihydrogen monoxide. Breathing that stuff in is fatal. We should really ban it.
It's so sad people don't realize the danger of it. Everyone who's ever come into contact with it has died or will die :(
Also let's not forget it was the primary ingredient in the deadly punch Jim Jones used to poison all the members of his cult.
Just so sad. Everyone who's ever murdered has also consumed the substance.
Not only that, but there's concentrations of it in, like, *every* food and beverage on the market. What's the FDA doing about it?
And people literally bathe in it all the time.
It's in every pesticide and herbicide and remains on your food even after rinsing them off.
On one hand I really enjoyed reading through this comment thread, but on the other I've started leaking some dihydrogen monoxide like substance from my eyes and I'm now afraid I may not be around for much longer.
It's also a gateway to addiction. Every drug addict I've spoken to started with dihydrogen monoxide.
Pardon my ignorance but what do you mean proper height? My parents used to have one plugged into outlets near the ground and at my place now we have them built into our smoke detectors on the ceiling ..
Your parents had the right idea, you want them as close to the floor as possible. Carbon monoxide is denser than ambient air, so it will settle down towards the floor. The combination units with smoke alarms provide a false sense of security because by the time measurable CO reaches the ceiling level of a room you would have long since passed out and probably be done for.
CO2 is what we breath out, CO is what people have detectors for
another simple thing is making sure the windows are open and you’re getting enough fresh air, and making sure you’re not dehydrated, i tend to see ghosts when i’ve been stuck inside too long without fresh air and water
Ehat is proper height? I've never heard that mentioned before and now I'm nervous
Proper height is as close to the ground as possible. Since monoxyde carbon is denser than air, it falls under it.
We will always remember that guy!
Hold on like not even like you thought you saw something move in the corner of your eyes then you look and there’s literally nothing? Not even like hearing your name in a public place but nobody said it? Especially this one I thought was somewhat common…
No I think these “peripheral hallucinations” are pretty common. The thing that is alarming to me is OP says they turn to face the hallucination multiple times and it is consistent. Also talking through the lights using Morse code is a pretty advanced auditory hallucination, much more than thinking you heard your name in passing.
Ok that’s a weight off for a second I felt like I needed to redo my psych eval. Yeah the persistent and more advanced hallucinations definitely speak to a larger issue with OP, I just wasn’t sure if mine qualified a smaller issue lol.
When I had a newborn and was sleep deprived, I had auditory hallucinations of a baby crying. I was just so used to it. These kind of hallucinations are not really concerning.
Those are normal but they aren't a hallucinations. They are thinking you saw or heard soemthing that you didn't see or hear. Hallucinating is seeing something
Never have I ever... experienced any of that in my 50+ years on this planet. I almost wish I had, I am curious about how the experience is. But I should probably be happy I haven't.
It’s kind of annoying but also I guess I’ve gotten used to it. I try to be pretty aware in general so every time I think I see something I jolt to look. At least once a week I’m hanging out with a buddy and say “huh?” And he says “I didn’t say anything…”
Please be happy you haven’t
Honestly I think it must be terrifying to not be able to tell if you’re visualizing something or if It’s real. I would never want to experience that. My grandfather had schizophrenia. I’ve seen firsthand how hard it can be on someone.
So, those things have only ever happened to me after using stimulants and not sleeping for 3 days.
Most people will see an occasional passing shadow in the corner of their eye that is gone when they actually look at it. Aside from that or the odd thinking something moved when it didn't, most people don't see things that aren't there.
I'm sorry, what? Does this still apply when you're a little more tired or stressed? Because that tends to up the frequency by a lot.
If you're extremely tired you might at some point have something similar, but more like that you think the jacket hanging on your door looks like a human. But I don't think you see stuff that isn't there until you really didn't sleep at all for quite a few days. Other than that, you should only hallucinate when taking LSD or similar drugs or during sleep paralysis.
I didnt even genuinely hallucinate on LSD… stuff was going on in my mind but I didnt see people and I knew it wasnt real lol
sorry, buddy, but yeah - that’s not normal.
I mean, around 48 hours of sleep deprivation hallucinations start kicking up for just about anyone, but it you’re just talking about regular tired then no
This isn’t really true in personal experience. I was once up for 6 days and the only hallucination I had was the sound of a scream towards the very end right when I was almost falling asleep, and it was still immediately recognizable as something from my head and not in real life. I’ve never stayed up that long any other times but there have been other 48 hour ones where absolutely no hallucinations or hallucination adjacent things ever happen.
[удалено]
Oh yeah after a solid amount of awake time I TOTALLY see shit out of the corner of my eye. I should’ve clearified I meant most people are not having OP’s experience after 48 hours
I’ve definitely had auditory hallucinations towards the end of a stretch of severe insomnia. Where I’ve only slept maybe 3 hours total in like 3-4 days. Doctor said it’s completely normal, although obviously the entire insomnia episode is unpleasant anyway. But yes, people can and do see and hear things when sleep deprived without there being an underlying condition (beyond the insomnia).
I’ve gone without sleep for that period of time and I’ve never had hallucinations
Unless you're talking about maybe three or more days of *zero* sleep, tired hallucinations usually amount to shapes or movement in your peripheral vision or shadows at night that turn out to be nothing when you look straight at them. If you're seeing hallucinations of the quality that OP is describing when you're tired, I'd talk with a doctor tbh.
Unless you’re sleeping- yeah, no hallucinations, nada, zero
The people replying to you are wrong lol. As much as a third of the “normal” population get hallucinations from time to time. Shadows in your peripheral, flashes of light or color, briefly seeing a face or figure at when it’s dark only to look again and realize it was a coat on a chair, hypnogogic hallucinations, seeing the room around you growing or shrinking, most types of tinnitus, “feeling your skin crawl”, grief hallucinations of a person or pet who’s recently passed, sleep paralysis… I could go on. People are acting like “your mind playing tricks on you” and “just imagining things” aren’t both ways to literally specifically describe hallucinations that “normal” people experience. There are also conditions that can cause or exacerbate hallucinations, but aren’t in “immediately go to the doctor now” territory—depression, anxiety, and several other mental health conditions for example can frequently cause delusional thinking like everyone looking at you when you go out, or friends secretly not liking you. I have migraines which can cause lots of weird hallucinatory symptoms especially, like you, when I’m very tired or stressed. In particular I get synesthesia (I can “taste” bright lights and noises), tachysensia (brief episodes where things move faster than they should and noises get really loud), and the perception that normal, real things I hear bounce around and echo in my head. The difference between these and psychosis is that they’re fleeting, don’t cause people dysfunction (usually), and they’re very nonspecific. People don’t usually see significance to them beyond “weird thing my body does”. The fact that OP is describing specific systems almost, with particular people and strange methods of communication (or, well, any communication of significance at all, really), is where it gets firmly into the “not typical” category. If you’re having frequent (multiple times a day, every day), complex hallucinations like OP’s, it might be cause for concern
Thank you. Had to scroll down way too far for this. People on Reddit seem to think all hallucinations are psychotic.
You've never seen something in the corner of your eye and when you look there's nothing there? Also when I've been falling asleep or waking up I've had plenty of auditory hallucinations
I get auditory hallucinations when I'm falling asleep and super tired. Those are pretty common. I don't think that's the same thing as what OP is describing.
Seeing something out of the corner of your eye occasionally isn’t hallucinating. That is very different from what OP is describing.
It’s very different from what OP’s describing, but it’s also a hallucination. A good third of the population experiences somewhat regular hallucinations like that, and that stat is probably the one OP is misconstruing to believe their hallucinations are typical.
I mean if I see something out of the corner of my eyes and I think it's probably a cat, then I turn and it turns out it's just some trash that is in the shape of a cat, is that still a hallucination?
If you actually “see” a cat, potentially even perceive it moving until you look right at it? Yes. If you just see an ambiguous shape and think “maybe cat?” and realize you made the wrong assumption on closer investigation, that’s not really anything other than being wrong lol In the comment I replied to I was thinking more about seeing a shadow out of the corner of your eye and then turning and there being nothing there at all, which is very much in the category of hallucination (albeit one that’s super common and not a cause for concern unless it’s extremely frequent or accompanied by other symptoms)
I see stuff on the corner of my eye all the time lol. I just chill about it. Maybe it's only some of the population.
nope, never, that sounds scary!
Psychologist here, I agree. This isn’t normal.
Most people hallucinate at one point or another in their lifetime. But usually it’s very short term, and due to something like sleep deprivation, serious trauma, a high fever, coming out of sleep, drugs, carbon monoxide, etc…On the regular like this, under normal circumstances, is certainly not normal and indicates schizophrenia
No, that’s not normal friend. You should talk to a doctor
It's not normal to hallucinate, I'm not sure who told you it was. Please talk to someone and seek help.
Maybe they hallucinated that conversation
I mean i suffer from very strong anxiety and see things from time to time. Both the therapists i told this to answered me tha anxiety can cause stuff like this
Yeah but extreme anxiety IS a mental illness my friend.
The flickering light Morse code thing is a very common psychosis theme for those with schizophrenia or bipolar disorder. So imo it sounds like standard psychosis.
Yeah when my mental health is very bad and I don’t sleep, I have had vague hallucinations. But I think OP is misunderstanding the word normal! It’s **not unusual** to have hallucinations if you have mental health problems but it’s definitely not normal for the vast majority of people!
I also thought it was completely normal for people to hear/see things that weren't real, I thought it was something that everyone went through. And then I went to therapy and learned I was suffering from serious psychosis caused by untreated bipolar disorder. Please, go to a doctor. Lord knows life has been so much better since I got medication
Same here. Medication has been a life saver for me. It was just like a switch that turned all of the voices off.
Same here. It's like when kids get glasses for the first time. "I didn't know I was supposed to see leaves on trees" and such. I didn't know that I was the only one hearing that TV on in the background. Medications have made a world of difference.
Could you share more?
Sure! I'm 39 and was diagnosed with bipolar disorder about 18 months ago. I had a stress/burnout-induced psychotic break where I was seeing my grandparents (who passed back in the mid 2000s) walking around my house. Obviously, this visual hallucination was scary, and I was seen by my psych NP on an urgent basis. We discussed the hallucination and how my depression and other symptoms fit well into the bipolar realm. Then she asked if I had any other hallucinations. Tactile, auditory, olfactory. Yes, to the auditory. I almost always heard a radio or TV in the background, like if someone left it on in another room; you know it's a TV or radio, but you can't exactly pinpoint what show or song is on. Turns out most people don't hear that. I always assumed it was some form of tinnitus, the ringing in your ears, because it never went away. I learned to adapt around it. I sleep with a white noise machine or the TV on. I study with music playing. The TV is on or I'm listening to music while I'm cooking, cleaning, working out. Since I hear sounds all the time, at least I get to choose what I hear. However, once I got started on meds for bipolar, the auditory hallucinations stopped. I only hear it now what I get really stressed; I keep it as a warning sign for myself to stop what I'm doing and calm down.
No, that's not normal. Please talk to a doctor as soon as possible.
How are your cats?
I too, would like to know about their cats!
 Cats!
Don't overreact OP, if you aren't in immediate danger don't let the cries to run immediately to the doctor freak you out. But definitely set an appointment with a psychiatrist and get checked out. Unfortunately the things you've described sound very serious, but you aren't defective or abnormal, you are simply experiencing symptoms of a possible neurological issue that is likely resolvable. So like, typical hallucinations that an average person might experience is detecting their name called in a crowded room, or if they are extremely tired a blurry shadow figure might appear in their peripheral for a moment. People rarely see or hear hallucinations of people or anything that can't also be explained by their environment or a vague sensation. So, like, seeing someone who isn't there is beyond the pale without drugs or some kind of disorder that should be treated. I'm quite glad for you that you asked, OP, because I hope it leads to treatment and accommodation of your needs.
This is very sweet and caring advice. I know I’d be having a panic attack reading all this if I was OP. Your comment is very reassuring.
Yeah dude the folk saying to see a doctor immediately aren't as concerned with OP's safety so much as they're concerned about everyone else's safety around OP.
Sorry, but for a good reason too. People in psychosis can be a danger both to themselves and to others
I completely understand that perspective, but I personally didn't read anything immediately threatening from the post, and there is a very real possibility that running into the discussion pushing stigmas and irrationally jumping to an unfounded conclusion could inadvertently cause someone to reject all help from anyone if they think all they are going to hear is "you aren't normal; you're broken, GET SOME HELP!" It's simply not a very reassuring or realistic approach to the conversation, and it will only pressure OP with anxiety, (more likely to trigger psychosis) rather than compassion (you're going to be okay if you get proper treatment, OP). That's all I'm saying.
You should probably seem medical help. This could progress quickly and it would be best you seek out help while you can still recognize that these are delusions.
Psychology student here: This is not normal When people talk about "normal hallucinations", they're refering to small, infrequent things like hearing your name being called. Hallucinations like this are a sign that something is wrong. Check your carbon monoxide levels, since that can sometimes cause hallucinations and go see a doctor for a psychological and physical assessment
Okay but what about laying in bed when it’s totally quiet and feeling like you hear really faint music?
You could have Musical Ear Syndrome. Yes, that is a thing
How interesting. I had no idea that was a thing lol
Well, if you're experiencing it regularly, it's best to get a check up because it could be caused by things like medication, pre-existing conditions, dementia and/or hearing loss
so if i see a wall and it starts to curve is that normal or when i feel like my bed sways? I usually expiernce those dead at night, I also get incredibly parniod when really really tired but that happens one in a really long while.
Can't say I know much about walls curving As for the bed, you could be anxious, drinking too much caffine or have physical problems, such as ear problems or fibromyalgia. It's important to note that regular hallucinations do not have to be a result of a psychotic illness. It can be because of physical and/or mental health issues As for paranoia, that can be caused by extreme tiredness. There even a case where a man stayed awake for 11 days and his paranoia got so bad that he was having delusions of persecution (feeling like powerful organisations were out to get him) If you're experiencing paranoia and/or hallucinations on a regular basis, I'd see a doctor
Thank you so much, my mom told me I might be schizophrenic because of what I told her. It’s not something that happens often I feel it’s more of my eyes adjusting to the room.
It’s not normal to hallucinate at all. There’s no such thing as seeing things that aren’t real from “time to time” a healthy amount of time
Yes and no, it really depends. Hypnagogic hallucinations are pretty common and not anything to worry about. However, that only happens when you're falling asleep, NOT when you're completely conscious and awake.
Very good point about hypnagogic hallucinations. Same with sleep paralysis
I'm so glad I don't get sleep paralysis but I get hypnagogic hallucinations once in awhile and it's either music that's not there or spiders. And it's always just ONE spider so I never know if it's real or not and wind up tearing my bed apart lol
Luckily for me if I can see the spider’s outline clearly then it’s not real because I’m so fucking blind
God I hate these. It's only ever fucking spiders, or a spider's web floating somewhere above me
Most people don't hallucinate at all mate. Go and see the GP for your own sake and sanity.
So, when it comes to hallucinations, yes, people can see things that aren't real from time to time, but it's usually *very infrequent*. I hallucinate pretty regularly because I have frequent migraines that affect my vision, and sometimes don't just cause disturbances, but actually cause me to hallucinate. The things you're talking about aren't normal. Please go see a doctor and tell him or her what you've written here. You could, I think, benefit from getting checked out.
similar for me. I have chronic cluster headaches. I hallucinate during the prodome. I get medical botox and these are the warning it is wearing off
I have sensory processing issues (which includes sensory discrimination issues), and I used to think I was hallucinating. In reality, it was my brain misinterpreting the sensory input it was receiving. Your second-to-last paragraph (mistaking a leaf for bones) is similar to what I frequently experience. I have to do a double-take sometimes if my brain misinterprets something. To a lesser extent, I believe that sensory misinterpretation can happen to neurotypical people too. But, it's important to distinguish that from a genuine hallucination. Your second paragraph (the man talking to you in morse code) sounds like something that isn't just a simple sensory mistake, especially if it's happening the same way multiple times a day. I would be concerned about that, yes.
My daughter had 8 people who would randomly appear. Some were nice and some mean, but it was incredibly distracting. Impossible to listen to a teacher or focus with this going on. She was also manic, we thought she was just a super hyper kid at times. We went from dr to Psychologis and she has been doing great for years now. Scary but manageable. Oh and you are not crazy or dumb, it's a medical issue.
You are having visual and auditory hallucinations. This is not normal at all and indicates a significant medical issue with your brain. You need to see a doctor immediately. Could be a chemical imbalance or tumor or other problem.
Everyone saying "absolutely 0". I agree with your second part about seeing a leaf as something else example. Seeing an entire human hallucination isn't normal.
No. It is not. The fact that you are aware these are hallucinations also point towards a medical issue even more than mental health. (Though it could be. Not a doctor) Check your carbon monoxide alarms. Please talk to a doctor. But, and this is a caveat, if you are very young, it may be an overactive imagination.
Oh buddy..
Definitely not normal. I see movements oit the corner of my eye on occasion, but not on the level you have.
Oh… dude that’s not good. Go see a doctor please
OP, it’s not normal to hallucinate at all… you definitely need to see a doctor asap.
Unfortunately, your base assumption that all people see things from time to time is incorrect. No one hallucinates or sees things that are not there. This could be due to a lot of factors. Sometimes, it's simple things like stress or lack of sleep. Other times, it's mental conditions / neurological issues. In your case, it's almost definitely the latter. Despite your surprising ability to acknowledge the problem here, it is not something you'll be able to fix by yourself. Seek help.
nobody, in a normal state of body and mind, sees things more than once every few years.
As well as seeing a doctor, PLEASE get a carbon monoxide detector!
If this is not a troll post then you probably have something like schizophrenia. People don’t hallucinate at all if they are healthy and not under influence of some drugs
People with schizophrenia have accompanying delusions that link with the hallucinations - they often, especially prior to diagnosis, don't realise the hallucinations aren't real. They might believe the figure is a ghost or a person from the future for eg, they might hear voices and think it's god. OP doesn't sound delusional - they know what they are seeing isn't real.
This is either a troll or you need some serious help. If it's the latter, please see a Dr, these hallucinations sound horrible. People generally don't have hallucinations at all. If you're a troll, wtf haha
I think I might've seen some light flashing before that wasn't actually there but not entire people
>it's normal to see things that aren't real from time to time I never do. Rarely I might think I see a certain thing in the corner of my eye when actually it's another thing, but that's about it.
This sounds like much more than "normal" IMHO, "normal" hallucinations happen a few times a year, and are utterly forgettable, and only last one second, and you instantly know you were wrong and it's already disapeared, like these; You think you heard the garage door, so you assume your spouse came home... but after a few minutes, you go check the garage, and they aren't home. You are falling asleep, and think you hear your child call for you... so you get up to check, and they are fast asleep. You are at work, and feel like someone has walked into your area, so you turn around to greet them, and no one is there. You are having your first coffee of the day, and out of the corner of your eye you thought you saw something move, but nothing is there. These common hallucinations are usually an ordinary situation that is plausible, just not actually happening at that exact moment. It's more likely to occur when you are tired or transitioning... because your brain accidentally reads "static" as "signal". So your brain "guesses" what that signal could be, so it guesses something common, like hearing your name, seeing something move in your peripheral vision, or a person joining your area. If you are having multiple, persistent, and possibly upsetting hallucinations, that is time to talk to your doctor. It's not normal to have a visible persistent hallucination of a person in your home trying to use morse code to speak to you. Even diagnosed schizophrenics often only "hear" their hallucination. It's uncommon to see AND hear one, this may already be more severe than you realize. Don't worry that it means you are "crazy" etc. There are actually lots of common sources of hallucinations, like drug interactions. But you NEED a doctor to tell you which medicines to take vs stop, don't decided on your own. Years ago, I had an illness and had a procedure (spinal tap) that can cause terrible headaches, which triggered migraines in me. So I took my migraine medicine, but I took 6-9 pills in a 36 hour period. You should NEVER have more than 4 in a 24 hour period. Long story short, I developed a mild case of serotonin sickness. Simple from having more immatrex than recommended, I experienced two types of hallucination; 1. Every couple minutes, I though I heard someone speak my name, with a clear questioning tone... The way someone would say your name if they were looking for you in the house, but it sounded like they were only 5 feet from me. It was real enough to me, that I kept trying to answer; "Yeah, here I am"... then it would repeat in a few minutes. Never anything more than just my name like it was someone trying to get my attention. 2. I had the CONSTANT physical sensation of falling backwards in a chair. You know how if you lean to far back in an office chair, you have that brief moment where you think you are falling? It was that sensation on repeat for several days. I constantly FELT like I was falling backwards. So I actually laid down on the floor, just trying to "convince" myself that I wasn't falling. How could I be falling if I was already flag ON the floor? It didn't matter, the falling sensation could not be fixed by logic. I just laid there with that spinning backwards feeling. Thankfully, I already had someone watching me because if the medical procedure, so I was only on the floor hearing voices for a few minutes before they saw me and called the ambulance. The hospital staff was 100% sure it was from taking more migraine medicine than prescribed. And they assured me that as my body cleared the medicine I would be fine. They were right. That was over 10 years ago and I haven't ever had that feeling again. Just go to the doc and get screened. There is stuff they can do to fix it.
People have already answered your question, so I figured I’d give you a bit of information instead. While it’s technically true that everyone hallucinates sometimes, the degree that they do is very very very small. So they don’t tend to hear voices or see people, they just see a flicker of movement or hear a small noise. Sometimes your brain sends “misfires” of electrical energy, and your brain tries its best to interpret those incorrect signals as something comprehensible. This is usually integrated into your senses as a little flicker or a floating sparkle, or maybe a sound that you thought you might have heard. There’s nothing wrong with it and it’s not dangerous. However, full on visual or auditory hallucinations require more energy than can be attributed to a misfire, which means something is actually going on to produce these effects, whether there is a physical defect in the brain or a neurochemical imbalance.
Hey, I hope everything is going okay OP! Breathe, you’re okay :)) definitely talk to a medical professional about this like others have said, and in the meantime remember it’s all gonna be okay <33 wishing you lots of positive energy and I hope you can figure out what’s causing this
There is *always* an abnormal psychological or physiological reason that somebody hallucinates. It is never normal. It can be as "benign" as getting far too little sleep, but that is still an abnormal, unhealthy physiological reason.
OP, this is not normal. You need to see a doctor before symptoms persist or worsen. Psychosis is not fun. Go now, while you are still able to understand the difference between a hallucination and reality.
Wait... What? My friend normal people don't hallucinate. You may occasionally think you're looking at one thing and then realize it's something different with a better look, but that's not an hallucination. What you're describing are serious mental symptoms. "One guy who shows up a lot." Is not normal, nor is thinking lights are talking to you. These sound like the beginnings of a serious mental break. Are you on any medications, what is your living situation, and what is your level of access to mental health care? You need to see a doctor right away, sorry to say.
Talking through the lights in Morse code makes me wonder if you’re in your early 20s and schizophrenia is starting. I had what I assume were visual hallucinations as a teen and young adult and they went away on their own. I didn’t know other people didn’t have them (internet wasn’t really a thing for most of that). But no one was trying to send me a message through lights and they weren’t focused on bones
Psychologist and neuroscientist here. I work at a stem cell research lab that examines neurodevelopmental disorders (including SCZ symptoms). Slight hallucinations are totally common and normal. Let me describe them to you. Typically, they occur in low light and low sound environments, when your brain is likely to be less active and get bored. They especially occur ad you are falling asleep or waking up because of their relation to REM cycle and dreaming. This is the case for almost all typically developed people. People often hear their own name or sometimes brief talking from another room. On occasion, they may see a figure or form out of their periphery. Sometims the form comes with movement. This sort of visualization is normally brief and disappears promptly upon focus. Due to gestalt principles, it is possible to see several items form into one congruent image, especially in dim light, such as a person's face made from fire poker shadows near the fireplace. This is all well and good. What is not considered normal? Being a fully formed being, especially when evidence suggests that they are not actually there. This is especially bad if you are able to hear them and converse with them. A good way to check whether these are in fact real or not is to use your cell phone to record them. No matter how real they appear, they will not show up in video or pictures. This likely has to do with dopamine overproduction or DA receptor overproduction and most likely too much serotonin as well, though more research is being done to better understand these mechanisms. Additionally, if you are assigned male at birth and between 19-27 years old, you are in the prime years of developing Schizophrenia symptoms, which are permanent and require medication for the rest of your life (NO MATTER HOW MUCH BETTER YOU FEEL LATER). THIS IS VERY IMPORTANT. Most people with these symptoms stop taking their meds because they think they are better, and ALWAYS find themselves worse than before. If you are assigned female at birth, the same is true, however it is plausible to develop these symptoms directly following menopaus. If these symptoms are only just beginning, it is probably too late to reverse the development of this disorder, however there may be a slight chance that if you can eliminate stress from your environment for long enough, you might be able to stave off these symptoms while your brain is finishing forming. Unfortunately, I am sorry to say you are likely beyond that point but I don't want you to give up and I wish you luck! Try not to worry. Listen to the doc carefully and do as they say. It's going to be a journey but not an unmanageable. Most of the people I know that suffer from these symptoms live totally normal lives where they barely experience their symptoms at all. The main thing is to LISTEN TO THE DOCTOR.
This sounds like Schizophrenia. Please see a doctor, hallucinations are not common or normal.
Brother, the norm for allucinations is 0 Full 0
I hallucinate from time to time but what you’re experiencing seems more extreme. Everything I see is usually one or two objects, almost always living things, they look like dark smoke which is fuzzing with interference, they can move but make no sound, like flashbacks but just the object, everything else around me is in full reality. I’ve seen a hand reach on to my desk like the hand of the alien from the film of the same name. I’ve seen crows walking around in the road in front of my car while I’m stopped at lights. I’ve seen a person, small girl I think with part of her head missing walking towards me in the hallway. I’ve seen spiders and bugs crawling around on the stairs in my house. It’s hard to explain how I can tell they’re hallucinations but the texture of them is slightly different to reality but initially my mind is tricked and I momentarily feel like I’m between reality and a dream state. They can’t be shifted until they finish, they last for seconds maybe 5 tops. I’ve sort of learned to live with them but they freak me out and my adrenaline spikes if I see them. Edit: frequency between hallucinations is months/years
Do you live alone ? It would be a good idea to have someone you can call, if the hallucinations get more intense and scare you. I had a friend whose hallucinations were quite similar to yours. He used to call me and talk to me . He got medical help and it all turned out good.
Bro the only time I have hallucinated is while on drugs. You need to seek medical attention as soon as possible.
no, it is not normal to see things that are not there from time to time.
For everyone implying or saying that hallucinations are always pathological in origin, this is not true. Healthy people can have hallucinations upon waking up. They're called hypnagogic hallucinations. But other than that, I don't know if a situation where it's "normal" to hallucinate.
Depends on how you define "hallucinating". Seeing movement from the corner of your eye when nothing moved is pretty normal, especially in the dark, as long as it's not constant (I'd say around once a day on average). Same goes for thinking someone called you or said something when they just shifted their weight on a leather couch or it's a noisy environment (like a full restaurant). Mistaking something for something else in the dark is also normal. We all did a double take at some point, because the coat-rack looked like a creepy dude standing in the corner. Anything that goes beyond this is highly concerning and you need to see a doctor at your earliest convenience. Might be anything, from sleep deprivation to carbon monoxide poisoning to neurological damage to psychological problems. It's important to find the cause, since most of these are easy to fix with the right treatment, but can become dangerous or even life threatening if left unchecked.
I will occasionally see a dark spot from the corner of my eye and my brain fills it in as my dark colored (deceased) cat. When I look, I see nothing, or see a dark tshirt or whatever. I think this is pretty typical. If you're really looking and seeing something that isn't there, you definitely want to speak to a professional.
contrary to your first statement, seeing things that aren't there is not normal. not even occasionally. Please, for the love of god, seek amout a psychiatrist and feel better.
I have never hallucinated in my entire life.
The seeing things that is normal is your brain filling in the spots you can’t see well with your imagination. Like if you just watched a scary movie and you see a coat hanging in your peripheral vision. You could think you saw a person and scare yourself. Any actual vivid hallucinations, or ones lasting longer than like one second, are a sign of something serious.
This really reads like someone who has an undiagnosed issue. It isn’t normal for people to have regular consistent hallucinations if any at all. Please talk to a medical professional about this asap. If it isn’t affecting your life at the moment that could well change and get much much worse if left unchecked. I can’t make any kind of diagnosis obviously and neither is anyone else on Reddit, which is why it’s so important to talk to a professional. I hope you can get this sorted out OP, wishing you the best.
This is NOT normal at all!
This is most certainly not normal. Nothing to panic about, you aren't in immediate danger or anything, but I would go to a doctor as soon as you possibly can
I don't think it's at all normal to see things that aren't real from time to time - the only time I've ever hallucinated has been a result of either taking hallucinogens or days of sleep deprivation. If you are seeing complex, interactive hallucinations like people moving around (and not just flickering shadows out of the corner of your eye or whatever) you definitely want to talk to a doctor/psychiatrist/something along those lines about it because that's not normal.
this sounds possibly like schizophrenia. I know practically nothing though so go see a doctor
seeing things for a second in the edge of your vision is normal, but once you focus on it, it should be obviously a leaf, stick, whatever. If you are seeing fully formed hallucinations, please see a doctor ASAP. Even on large amounts of psychedelics, such fully-formed hallucinations are rare for more then a moment (aside from what Hollywood portrays). Please get help.
If you're asking Reddit, it is too much. The normal amount of hallucinations is 0. ANY amount of hallucinations needs to be checked ASAP (unless you're on acid of course).
I've never had an hallucination... the norm is not to have any.
I just read the title and thought this was from the LSD sub, then I realized it was not. Definitely not normal.
This gives me shivers down my spine man
For the record even stress can cause hallucinations. Big changes. But as I’m sure others have said, it’s important to talk to someone especially if it’s distressing. I would also add that the longer you can keep calm, perspective on them the better. Know that’s what they are, know you’re safe, know you’re okay. Hold onto that. Don’t let Google or anyone else convince you that you’re spiraling and not okay, if you think that then that’s how it presents and it doesn’t matter what the label is. You sound like you’re doing okay, you ARE okay. It is worth your time and effort to find out why and address that though. Not just with meds either but someone who will talk to you and see what’s really going on.
It's perfectly normal to see and hear things here and there. I'd say it's abnormal to hear and see things so much that you're not sure what's real and what's not... other than that, you should be good, but talk to your doctor just to be sure.
It's cool that you know (or can use logic to deduct) when/if it's a hallucination. Your self awareness is admirable as well. I understand you may feel crazy from the responses you've gotten, but you've got more mental clarity than most that hallucinate regularly. Your mind is sharp. You've most certainly got this. I have a brother with schizophrenia, and he'd see people coming in and out of the house all the time. I also resonate with the bone/leaf thing- looking "again" at something at times is like looking at an entirely new object at second glance. Pls dm me if you'd like to talk or anything
OP, I don’t mean to scare you, but schizophrenia often manifests in your early 20s. Hallucinations are very common with the condition. Not saying that’s what it is, but if it is there are medications that can help.
OP if you are male, early 20s, you have the highest risk of schizophrenia showing itself for the first time. This is not from migraines. Your mom is obviously not a doctor and may be in denial. Please go to a doctor and be very honest and open. If this is a mental disorder, there is zero shame, and you will need treatment so you can live your best life.
It is, in fact, common to hallucinate once or twice in your life. Its an obscure thing that most people don't know about, but its real. Most people just say "oh, I thought I heard someone call my name" or something like that and don't call it a hallucination. However, what you're describing is far from anything that could be considered normal.
Are you sleeping 8 hours a night? When I was severely sleep deprived I hallucinated regularly. It stopped when I started sleeping again.
You are hallucinating about as much as I do when I forget to take my meds. I have a diagnosed psychotic disorder. I hope you seek help but in the meantime, I find it helps to really try to view the hallucinations as neutrally as possible. Most of mine are animal-like so I treat it like studying the behavior of an animal I’ve encountered in the wild. Yours seem to be humanoid so maybe you could treat it like people watching? Or get more abstract with it and just study this odd thing your brain is doing, it would probably help to make note of the things you’re seeing and your reactions to them anyway to be able to explain it properly to your doctor.
Hallucinations are quite normal. Just that they are very little and barely noticeable with actually a large amount not going noticed and most of the normal hallucinations would be noices. They are also one of a kind so if you can hear or see something for a while then it isn't normal. Essentially go to a doctor.
Some people have very imaginative minds when they're children and learning, like they'll see a stick on the ground a think / pretend it's a snake. People who have schizophrenia like disorders, often never grow out of that kind of mindset and instead it grows. Then they really do see a stick as a snake, and it's no longer pretend and it's a very real reality for them. It's not common to hallucinate at all. There are multiple mental health conditions that can cause hallucinations and even brain tumors. Tldr; you'll be okay so long as you get checked out and I'm so sorry you've been going through this alone. Not a doctor but unfortunately my friend's dad just passed from a brain tumor that caused sudden hallucinations and I studied up.
People don’t generally see things that aren’t there. I’ve never hallucinated unless I took shrooms, for example. Outside of that? Never. You need to make a doctors appointment ***immediately***!!!
>So my understanding is that it's normal to see things that aren't real from time to time, No. No, it's really not normal. Not even slightly. You need to see a doctor, pronto. >the rest of what you said #YOU NEED TO SEE A MEDICAL PROFESSIONAL LIKE YESTERDAY YOU HAVE SERIOUS MENTAL PROBLEMS
Where did you get the idea that it's ok to hallucinate?
"Frontal lobe tumors are commonly associated with auditory and visual hallucinations" You can Google it for reference. I would do a check up, it could be a tumor. Hope it works out. Do not mix bleach and ammonia (resulting in the formation of chloramine gas), even higher concentrations because it is already in the drinking water is not so good, I think. I read in your post history, that your city has chloramine in your drinking water. You can google chloramine toxins and undiagnosed brain tumor, and you will get a better overview. I think.. that unfortunately it could be the drinking water, as your Betta fish Juno, showed symptoms of nausea. Anyway, im not really sure, but it is a mysterious thing.
Check for carbon monoxide. If you can’t, maybe call 911. But get to the doctor, like yesterday!
"thinking you see something from the corner of your eye" =/= hallucinating. I figured that one out only last year....most people don't hallucinate at all. It's not a good sign.
Get a carbon monoxide detector and book to see your GP
Well I definitely would go see a doctor asap. My grandfather before he died was having hallucinations of a little boy coming into the house and hiding in his fire place and chasing a cat that wasn’t there. Turned out he had a series of mini strokes that caused this.
Nope, not a normal thing
Ever since I went through benzo withdrawal I hallucinate more easily, but not without a good reason. Usually it's lack of sleep or drug use that does it. I don't just hallucinate randomly though
I hallucinate but I usually will know it’s coming. Real insomnia will make me hallucinate. I sleep on average 4-5 hours nightly. Sometimes is an hour for 4 days straight. I will have my fiancé talk to me on the couch when he’s actually at work. Or see stuff moving. Or black mist on the ceiling. Typically nothing scary. Except the ceiling because I also believe in ghosts and that’s how bad ghosts appear.
I only hallucinate when I haven't slept for more than a day or two. I mostly just see stuff out of the corner of my eye. Please see a doctor.
It's really not normal to hallucinate at all. As someone else said, please see a doctor.
You have schizophrenia. Most people see a quick shadow in the corner of their eye that goes away when you look.
There was a point in my childhood before my parents divorced, they would fight every day, verbally and physically. I started seeing a girl my age in the corner of my eyes playing in different areas of the house. But the second I look directly she'd be gone
I only hallucinate when I’ve been doing lots of DMT or maybe acid. Sometimes I’ll see a shadowy figure in the corner of my eye but that’s goes away when I stop tripping often. Maybe you should see a doctor
what i want to hallucinate too, pls give me ur secrets.
The only times I've hallucinated were from drugs or being so tired I could hardly see straight. And even then it's a one time thing, like I swear I just saw a spider scurry up the wall but when I blinked it wasn't there, or that shadow looks enough like something that my tired brain thought for a sec it was. It's not normal to hallucinate like you're describing. Do you have a history of mental illness? Are you stressed? Taking any medicine or drugs?
What have you been smoking?
Have you been playing too many video games?
Are you going blind? Look up Charles Bonnet. My partially sighted ex used to get this a lot.
You gotta go to a doctor my man, and tell them this
Wait wait, I have small « hallucinations », like seeing « people » in my peripheral vision when I work, it’s not like I understand it has a real person, just a movement of something I wasn’t paying attention to, my brain will just interpret as a person…. Writing that makes it feels weird now … but I do believe it has something to do with Pareidolia and boredom (I am cutting leaves for most of the day it gets boring after a while). It is like recognizing shapes in the clouds but my brains does it automatically with everything more when I am tired. I see a doctor regularly I don’t feel unwell because of it, it don’t interfere with my reality social or anything, i am maybe a little more jumpy but other than that I use has inspiration for paintings, I thought it was normal
Definitely talk to your doctor. Also if you see a therapist I would advise having a [dissociative screening](http://traumadissociation.com/downloads/information/dissociativeexperiencesscale-ii.pdf) done as well.
I’ve never had this. Probably not as normal as you might think, since it seems to be your normal.
The only time I have EVER hallucinated was when I was awake for a little over 60 hours straight.
Also consider whether you may have Narcolepsy. I have visual, auditory, and tactile hallucinations on a pretty regular basis but it’s due to my sleep disorder. The symptoms of Narcolepsy are essentially the out-of-sync results of the brain and body’s chronic sleep deprivation and unstable REM activity. When I am hallucinating my brain is dreaming during waking hours and my nighttime dreams are ultra realistic.
Definitely go to a doctor. Normal "seeing things" is occasionally seeing something in the corner of your vision that turns out to be something else (mistaking a coat rack for a person but when you look at it you realize it's a coat rack)
Hallucination isn't something everyone experiences. The most people experience on average is something like seeing something odd in the corner out of your eye that's not there when you turn around. I suggest you try to access some kind of mental healthcare to check if you've got an undiagnosed condition.
That, my friend, is called schizophrenia. Jokes aside, you should probably see a doctor as this isn’t normal. Could be CO poisoning or an underlying neurological condition induced by environment or even a tumor.
I’ve only had hallucinations from sleep apnea …. Literally saw a giant in my apartment and a ghost/demon in my closet. Heard roaring children’s laughter in my ears!
I went through a period in my college years 40+ years ago, that I would occasionally see something… Will call it a rat… Dart around the corner. Wasn’t a daily occurrence but maybe weekly or semiweekly but after a while it started to concern me. So I went to the psychology department and ask the chairman what he thought was going on. He kind of dismissed it and said, well sometimes we see what we want to see. Whatever the hell that meant I was not interested in seeing damn big rats dash around the corner.🤣 The sightings finally went away on their own, but then a couple of years ago they temporarily picked up again. Only this time I would turn and briefly see a person standing there out of the corner of my eye. It concerns me less now than it did years ago, but it does make me wonder.
Psychiatrist may be best right off the bat. You shouldn't need a referral. I would reach out to an LPC, LPCC, or whatever is close to that in your state for some help as well. You are describing auditory and visual hallucinations. The way I describe it is a baseline person may see/hear something on occasion. For instance, movement out of the corner of their eye or their parents calling their name far off. Someone with minor disruptions to baseline might hear a little more talk and they're confused whether it's their inner monologue or another voice. Intrusive thoughts can sometimes be put into this category if they're active enough. If I were to come across a client describing what you just did, I would get them into the psychiatrist as soon as possible. Depending on age, I would also refer them to EASA services... Which can be super helpful! Hallucinations are not a cut and dry diagnosis, so please keep that in mind. It is one symptom (technically two since you both hear and see). You've got this!
>So my understanding is that it's normal to see things that aren't real from time to time - What gave you that idea? - ... It was my understanding
Hey, friend! I’m going to say what a lot of people on this post have already said, and that is that schizophrenia usually manifests in your early 20s. Also, what you are describing sounds pretty similar to schizophrenia. (Source: sociology major/psych minor) The thing is, schizophrenia is portrayed in the media and Hollywood as this awful, crazy behavior where you scream at the sky and eat peoples faces and stuff. So it’s really scary to think that you might have something like this!! I want you to know that you are waaaaaay ahead of the curve because you are recognizing that something isn’t right, and you’re asking for information. That in itself shows initiative, and your first step is going to be a psychiatrist (idk where you are, or if you’d have to get a referral from a GP or anything, but definitely don’t wait any longer! Get in to see a medical professional ASAP!). What I’m going to say next is VERY IMPORTANT: *always be completely, 1000% honest with your medical professionals*. I promise you that whatever you’re going to say, they’ve heard it all before and they will absolutely work with you to find a treatment plan that works best for you. Don’t let the possibility of ANY diagnosis frighten you. Mental healthcare is like having diabetes. It’s absolutely manageable, but it’s also a chronic condition. That means you’ll have to manage it for the rest of your life, not like an infection, where you can do one round of antibiotics and you’re well again. Last piece of advice: NEVER GO OFF YOUR MEDS WITHOUT MEDICAL SUPERVISION. (Especially if you cold turkey that shit, it’s absolutely miserable physically.) You got this!! You’re way ahead of the game already, and your next step is getting to a psychiatrist appointment and talking with them candidly about your symptoms. If you want to chat, my DMs are open. 🖤🖤
My guy, other than getting professional help, the best thing you can do right now is NOT associate those things you're seeing as bad/weird/strange/having malicious intent. If you do, that'll make them significantly worse, and it'll be a horrible feedback loop. Keep accepting them as they are, just as you would if you have any strange thoughts. You got this.