Hallucinations

[cleanfreak]

can someone shed some light on what can be considered a hallucination?

auditory or visual. i'm interested because i've been experiencing some things lately that i am not too sure about and would like some input before i may get help.

 

[David Baxter PhD]

re: hallucinations

false sensory perception in the absence of a real external stimulus. It is perceived as being located in objective space and as having the same realistic qualities as normal perceptions. It is not subject to conscious manipulation and only indicates a psychotic disturbance when there is also impaired reality testing.
Willkommen | Dr. Scott Fidler | Fiddler Psychologie & Beratung

A situation whereby a person experiences a sensory perception but there is no external stimulus. It can be associated with any of the senses but most often it is visual.
http://spot.pcc.edu/osd/glossary.htm

False or distorted perception of an image or sound with a compelling sense of reality
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Seeing, hearing, feeling, tasting, or smelling something that doesn't really exist.
http://yourmedicalsource.com/library/schizophrenia/SCH_glossary.html

Most commonly, we think of "hallucinations" as a symptom of a psychotic disorder. However, there are sensory "illusions" or distortions that can occur as a result of several other states, including fatigue, sleep deprivation, states of high anxiety, certain seizure disorders, alcohol or drug use, etc. There are also phenomena called "hypogogic and hypnpompic illusions" which occur during transition staes between sleep and wake where there may be sensory experiences that are very like hallucinations but are more related to dreaming. Finally, in certain cultures, experiences that to the western eye/ear sound like hallucinations are rather more common, e.g., seeing and conversing with or otherwise interacting with departed ancestors in Inuit and First Nations individuals.

What experiences are you wondering about, cleanfreak?

 

[cleanfreak]

re: hallucinations

my "seeing" or "hearing" things increased over the past 2 months. e.g. a huge spider on a wall had me screaming so loud my husband thought i was in hysteria, he told me it wasn't there. i see faces outside the car window scaring the life out of me because i think there's someone there i could run over. when i look back it's gone. i see cars in front of me on the road that are not there on a second look. i saw thousands of small jumping bugs all over my bed, just the other night, needless to say - i slept on the couch after that. if i walk down a corridor or hallway all of sudden there's someone or something in my way, but with a blink of an eye it's gone. i hear voices calling my name but i tend to ignore them because i am afraid to hear what they have to say, well - sometimes i talk back. they're not telling me "evil" things though, like kill yourself etc.

i've experienced these things off and on throughout my life. my mom used to say i heard ghosts when i told her about hearing voices, but lately it's becoming a bit too much for my taste.
am i truly going nuts now?

 

[David Baxter PhD]

re: hallucinations

Not necessarily. I believe you mentioned you suffer from OCD. It may be related to that.

Are you under unusual stress? Taking any medications currently? Any change in sleep patterns? Have you had a recent physical checkup which included standard blood tests?

 

[cleanfreak]

re: hallucinations

well, stress is a daily part of my life. i have serious anxiety issues and yes- ocd. i've been doing a whole lot better with it lately, (hint- you recommended looking into omega-3 fatty acids etc. and i also got an ocd workbook which really gives some good advice) it seems to be a little regressed right now, but could upsurge any time.

sleep has been okay, considering that i'm not a good sleeper. inherited from my mom i believe, she sleeps very lightly, if at all, i have the same problem but doctor prescribed ambien, which i take when it's a really bad night. my last checkup was last year in may, which showed no problems

( blood related etc) i'm due for the yearly checkup next month and was planning on telling my obgyn about these issues ( i'm just a tad bit hesitant because i 'm afraid of what she may do)
i'm functioning okay at the moment, concerning interaction at work and other social issues (well at work i am by myself about 80% of the time so there's not much social interaction there, which i don't want anyway, that's why i have this job.)

i thought i was getting a grip on my issues but now this!!!????

 

[David Baxter PhD]

re: hallucinations

I do think it's worth talking to your doctor about. I think it's premature to jump to the worst-case scenario at this point -- but even if they are true hallucinations they can be controlled with medications.

 

[cleanfreak]

re: hallucinations

thanks david, i know i should tell the physician about this. my husband as a nurse always says it aggravates him when patients don't fully disclose all the issues and problems, he says a doctor needs to know in order to be helpful - i just have a tendency to play things down when i'm there. i have a hard time opening up person to person and conveying how seriously disrupting things get sometimes.