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I consider myself to be a very mentally-stable person, but I have encountered occasional hallucination-like experiences. They're very brief, and my brain seems

I consider myself to be a very mentally-stable person, but I have encountered occasional hallucination-like experiences. They're very brief, and my brain seems to correct itself retroactively, which makes them somewhat difficult to notice. For example, a soft noise could be vividly interpreted as someone calling my name, but when it becomes apparent that this didn't happen, my brain files the experience as "probably misheard something", and my attention is immediately diverted. Supposedly smell hallucinations are pretty common too. These are hard to recall because they're so unremarkable. It's difficult to tell these things from common daily "mistakes", but is there really a difference except in effect size?

meowface 5y ago
Yes, these are quite common. I believe persistent, full-on visual hallucinations tend to be rare among the general population, assuming you're sober and not sleep deprived or in a half-asleep state or in the process of waking up.
BrianOnHN 5y ago
This, and similarly Déjà vu, both happen to me too, very occasionally. I definitely also see a correlation with times I'm significantly fatigued, for example after being awake for 20 hours during a multi-day fast.
babyshake 5y ago
A classic one that many experience is thinking you see someone or something notable or scary in the dark, that turns out to be whatever ordinary thing is actually there.
- t-writescode 5y ago
  Is that really a hallucination? Or is it your brain’s pattern recognizer making an incorrect guess and then quickly course-correcting when more data is present?
  - colechristensen 5y ago
    The surface boundary of what does or doesn't count as a hallucination isn't necessarily clear or well agreed upon. > is it your brain’s pattern recognizer making an incorrect guess This part is more or less an accurate explanation of a lot of hallucinations. Input misinterpreted and incorrectly "output" into consciousness.
BizarroLand 5y ago
I've had events in deep meditation where I hear things as though they were actually audible and not just a memory of sound or see things as though my eyes were seeing them and not visually remembering them. They always scared me even though the audible events would be something simple like a "Hello!" or like, a bottle cap opening or a bit of music and the visual events would be like, a match striking or a bit of fire. I am not sure what causes this transition of perception. Some people say its your brain releasing DMT, some say it's activation of your parasympatheic nervous system. I don't know for sure, but I don't think it is anything to be afraid of.

meowface 5y ago

Yes, these are quite common. I believe persistent, full-on visual hallucinations tend to be rare among the general population, assuming you're sober and not sleep deprived or in a half-asleep state or in the process of waking up.

BrianOnHN 5y ago

This, and similarly Déjà vu, both happen to me too, very occasionally. I definitely also see a correlation with times I'm significantly fatigued, for example after being awake for 20 hours during a multi-day fast.

babyshake 5y ago

A classic one that many experience is thinking you see someone or something notable or scary in the dark, that turns out to be whatever ordinary thing is actually there.

t-writescode 5y ago
Is that really a hallucination? Or is it your brain’s pattern recognizer making an incorrect guess and then quickly course-correcting when more data is present?
- colechristensen 5y ago
  The surface boundary of what does or doesn't count as a hallucination isn't necessarily clear or well agreed upon. > is it your brain’s pattern recognizer making an incorrect guess This part is more or less an accurate explanation of a lot of hallucinations. Input misinterpreted and incorrectly "output" into consciousness.

BizarroLand 5y ago

I've had events in deep meditation where I hear things as though they were actually audible and not just a memory of sound or see things as though my eyes were seeing them and not visually remembering them. They always scared me even though the audible events would be something simple like a "Hello!" or like, a bottle cap opening or a bit of music and the visual events would be like, a match striking or a bit of fire. I am not sure what causes this transition of perception. Some people say its your brain releasing DMT, some say it's activation of your parasympatheic nervous system. I don't know for sure, but I don't think it is anything to be afraid of.