7 yr old daughter hallucinating

[gracemargaret]

I am slightly worried about my 7 yr old daughter.  She has been identified as gifted by her school and is a very bright and confident little girl.  She does have very extreme emotions and is oversensitive (cries and screams about her socks being wrinkly!).  Her Dad and I have always worried a little about her mood swings as she seems to get so desperately unhappy about the tiniest of things but now we are getting more concerned as she has told us she sees words as pictures - two examples are the name "nancy" being a spider lying on its back in a dim room with carnival bunting hanging on the walls" - and the word "glossary" she told me the other day is somebody selling meat in an old fashioned butcher's shop" - most names and lots of other words she sees as similarly bizzarre images.  More worryingly the other day when she was upset about something (minor) she told me little cartoon men were banging in a cave in a head and that rocks were falling and hurting the animals who live there.  She was shouting at them to go away (they did in the end).  I asked her if she imagined these men but she insists they are real.  Any ideas on what might be wrong or is it just a case of overactive imagination?

[ShamansMommy]

Sounds to me like you have an artist on ur hands! Just watch and listen and if it becomes a problem-seek help.

[RockRose]

Grace,  and I forgot to add - the sock thing is very common,  and a symptom of sensory defensiveness.  Does she have other sensory issues - tags in the back of her shirt,  food textures,  etc.?

[RockRose]

grace - on the one hand,  the bulk of your post sounds like a gifted,  very imaginative child.

The only concern I see here is that she's yelling at something that doesn't exist in the real world,  to go away.  Like,  she's seeing and hearing them and can't get them out of her mind.

That's very different from "giving in" to imagination,  and imagining very colorful detailed scenes.  

Being unable to make the images stop that she's experiencing - is kind of a concern.  Unless,  of course,  she's just being dramatic about the whole cave  thing and that's a possibility!

With my very imaginative child - he imagines smells associated with words - as in "najaay" is the word he used for my old car smell - that smell reminds me of the sound  "najaay" - he had countless other examples of things like that.  Of words or associations that are out of the blue.  But when I enjoy it with him,  and laugh,  he's able to laugh and say things like "I know that sounds really weird,  haha,  it is really weird,  but that's how it sounds to me".  

Maybe if you really encouraged her telling you her imagination stuff,  she'd laugh about it all too.  ;D

[anxiousmomtobe?]

Sounds like a very bright child being manipulative.

Is she okay in the school setting?  Does she have friends?  If so, I would relax, not make a big deal out of it.  Wait it out.  If it doesn't get better, go see your doc.

[gracemargaret]

She struggled socially up until a year or so ago as wouldn't interact at all with other children but now has a lot of friends (although very small village school which helps).  The images are definitely real to her as there are so many and she is consistant about what they all are.  I am probably worrying more than I should because I lost my sister last year - she suffered with borderline personallity disorder and was also a very bright child.  

[gracemargaret]

RockRose - thanks for your reply- good to hear of your similar experience - we do often laugh about the "pictures" and yes - labels, tags, embroidery, elastic waistbands all irritate her (getting her dressed has always been a challenge!!)

[Cleveland Mom]

You stated that the images she sees are real to her.  It sounds as if she is experiencing visual hallucinations.  One can experiece auditory hallucinations i.e hearing voices as well as other types of hallucinations.  Hallucinations can result from delirium caused by a fever, and infection, from dementia and from a major mental health disorder.  You would know if she was sick, I presume, its unlikely that she has demetia.  You should start by talking to her pediatrician or family doctor who can refer her to a mental health professional.  Best wishes...