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I think many people envision hallucinations as these grand visions - like an LSD trip or something. So, when they wonder, 'am I having hallucinations?' the answ
by ap22213 10y ago
I think many people envision hallucinations as these grand visions - like an LSD trip or something. So, when they wonder, 'am I having hallucinations?' the answer to them is clearly no.
Hallucinations can be as minor as seeing unexpected movement out of one's peripheral vision. It's can be occasionally seeing shadows that initially appear to be something else. Because those types of things seem relatively minor, people tend to disregard them. But, they can be a signal of some neurological system acting abnormally.
- sverige 10y agoRight. My wife sometimes has auditory and occasionally the sorts of visual hallucinations you mention. I suspected it for some years but never asked her. She finally told me about it a few years ago. I've known her since the '70s. It's not an easy thing to discuss with people. There has to be a lot of trust that, even if this person I tell thinks I'm crazy, they won't ditch me because of it.
- DasIch 10y agoThis is one thing that's certainly an issue but another is that people's idea of what a hallucination is being shaped by movies and tv. So people end up having this idea of what hallucinations are that has nothing to do with reality and so naturally when they do have hallucinations, it makes far more sense to dismiss them as optical illusions, weird lightning, a noise coming from the neighbor and stuff like that.
- sverige 10y agoNow I am sometimes asked, "Did you hear that?" Sometimes yes, often no. The greatest relief she shows is when I tell her one of the cats jumped off something.