Aa
Please someone tell me this is normal
Hello, name is Alex and I've read a lot of helpful stories on this site so I have come to share mine, and hopefully get some advice. For the past six months I've been dealing with headaches and a type funny visual perception where's I feel as though I am a bit drowsy or intoxicated. This all started with a stressful end to a school program and tough exams along dreaded presentations. To a point where I freaked out during one presentation though I was having a heart attack, left the school, went to the hospital, got checked out told I was fine, and then I came down. Now after the last day my classmates and I went out for drink n got pretty drunk. Next day when I went to a store and was standing In line I got this random out of nowhere feeling as though the room is starting to spin and I again thought it was my heart I freaked out left the store and after a while it subsided. Now these types of attacks lasted for a bout a month or so but then subsided. I thought it was something wrong with my brain so I started freaking out and got checked out n everything was fine. I've seen several psychologists and family doctors that all tell me it's anxiety. I don't get the panic attacks anymore but I do have the headaches...that go away if I'm really distracted but come back and get worse when I'm thinking about them or I'm irritated. Now I'm worried about having a severe mental illness such as skitzo...I've been obsessing over it and researching it and paying attention to my body and my thoughts and ideas for a large portion of my time. One thing that I wanted to ask you guys if this what I'm about to explain is hallucinations. At my job there's a medical record room and inside is a small chair where often times you find a person sitting picking out charts now you don't always see someone sitting there but most of the time there is someone. Today I walked by the door which was slightly open and I noticed the chair right away and in my mind I automatically pictured someone sitting there. I did not see the image in 3D in front of me just a sharp mental image. I also immediately in a split second realized nobody is there and it was just in my mind. This happens every now and then when I'm anticipating something. I'm also very aware of my surroundings as I'm worried at some point I will start to hallucinate smh. No family history of skitzo no drug use. Have always been a nervous person and have had bouts of worrying about health issues in the past that were all cleared up with tests and forgotten about. But now it's like, ahhh there's no test for skitzo....the psychologist said ... Talking to him is the test...and ten minutes into talking to be he can tell I'm not skitzo (21 years of experience). Help, please some advice.
I think it is a good idea to stop watching any shows that give you this fright, at least until you find some way to resolve all this self obsession with doom. There are other entertainment options to explore.
I think you should see a therapist. You just seem to go out of one dreary thing and straight into another and the only solution I know of is attitude changing therapy advice, so I won't be able to respond to any more of your posts.
I can't diagnose you but a solution could be as simple as someone giving you a few tips on how to think about things that are fun instead of searching for something that will ruin your life. Don't take that or anything I said personally - it is just my summary of your posts expressing how your mind works and I leave it to anyone else to respond differently. All this negative self obsessing can't make room for much enjoyment.
I think you should see a therapist. You just seem to go out of one dreary thing and straight into another and the only solution I know of is attitude changing therapy advice, so I won't be able to respond to any more of your posts.
I can't diagnose you but a solution could be as simple as someone giving you a few tips on how to think about things that are fun instead of searching for something that will ruin your life. Don't take that or anything I said personally - it is just my summary of your posts expressing how your mind works and I leave it to anyone else to respond differently. All this negative self obsessing can't make room for much enjoyment.
Smh got fairly calm about the worry yesterday and today it's a new thing.
This is three days in a row where my mind jumps from something that's in the back of my head and obsesses about it front and center smh.
Today it's.
Ever since I developed a fear of skitz...I stopped watching shows that I used to love like law and order and true crime shows. Those shows often feature people that have a mental illness such as skitz. A lot of them also look a certain way, so now when I see people that resemble that overall look I kind of get like uneasy. I do not get scared or anything or think anyone is gonna harm me. I just get this creeped out feeling. Now I'm wondering oh ***** what if this develops into an actual fear of people or something.
This is three days in a row where my mind jumps from something that's in the back of my head and obsesses about it front and center smh.
Today it's.
Ever since I developed a fear of skitz...I stopped watching shows that I used to love like law and order and true crime shows. Those shows often feature people that have a mental illness such as skitz. A lot of them also look a certain way, so now when I see people that resemble that overall look I kind of get like uneasy. I do not get scared or anything or think anyone is gonna harm me. I just get this creeped out feeling. Now I'm wondering oh ***** what if this develops into an actual fear of people or something.
Thank
You so much everybody...and nurse girl thank you for introducing that phenom. I thought that it could be just that myself and so many people explained it as that also but I never thought that it is an actual thing. I still will look to talk to a therapist and def seek some CBT but these responses are reassuring and I feel calm finally. I also read in various places that sleep deprivation, stress, and fatigue actually cause ur brain to misfire. In these moments exactly perfectly healthy people can experience hallucinations. Thanks a bunch. Any further input is always welcome.
You so much everybody...and nurse girl thank you for introducing that phenom. I thought that it could be just that myself and so many people explained it as that also but I never thought that it is an actual thing. I still will look to talk to a therapist and def seek some CBT but these responses are reassuring and I feel calm finally. I also read in various places that sleep deprivation, stress, and fatigue actually cause ur brain to misfire. In these moments exactly perfectly healthy people can experience hallucinations. Thanks a bunch. Any further input is always welcome.
I forgot to include a link to a site that gives some great info and examples of pareidolia:
(btw, as you can see there are a few different ways to spell Pareidolia)
http://www.pareidolias.net/Pareidolia-pictures.html
(btw, as you can see there are a few different ways to spell Pareidolia)
http://www.pareidolias.net/Pareidolia-pictures.html
It seems that you're VERY much overly focused on this, to the point of being obsessive. I agree that searching the internet is the LAST thing you want to do. That's only fueling your anxiety.
It doesn't sound like you're having hallucinations at all, IMO. It sounds more like you're hyper-aware of everything around you, and also you "heard" things you were expecting to hear (just like the person in the chair).
There is another phenomenon that could explain away the experiences you had hearing and seeing things. Pareidolia is a phenomenon where the human brain takes a random stimulus (can be visual, auditory) and makes it into something purposeful/significant.
Pareidolia explains away, for example a LOT of the pictures that we've all seen that claim to show a ghost. The human eye will always try to make something familiar out of visual stimuli. This is also why if you look at a fire or flames (or clouds, trees), you'll see faces, animals, etc.
That could also very well explain what happened to you...for ONE, you had certain past experiences and expectations in BOTH of the examples you gave. First, you had the expectation of seeing a person in the chair because you've seen it so much, and secondly, hearing your GF, you were expecting her to be returning any minute, and your brain likely turned a random, totally unrelated auditory stimuli into what you heard and thought was your GF.
Hallucinations occur very differently, they are typically repetitive (including the content), and often occur frequently. You're describing a few random, isolated, unrelated incidents. I have no doubt that your heightened state of anxiety would have fed into those experiences also. When you're suffering with a lot of chronic and severe anxiety, your senses become very sensitive.
I REALLY would encourage you to seek out some therapy. A therapist will be able to help you learn how to dismiss those intrusive "what if" thoughts that keep the anxious cycle of thinking going. I really think you would greatly benefit from therapy.
Please let us know how you're doing, good luck!
It doesn't sound like you're having hallucinations at all, IMO. It sounds more like you're hyper-aware of everything around you, and also you "heard" things you were expecting to hear (just like the person in the chair).
There is another phenomenon that could explain away the experiences you had hearing and seeing things. Pareidolia is a phenomenon where the human brain takes a random stimulus (can be visual, auditory) and makes it into something purposeful/significant.
Pareidolia explains away, for example a LOT of the pictures that we've all seen that claim to show a ghost. The human eye will always try to make something familiar out of visual stimuli. This is also why if you look at a fire or flames (or clouds, trees), you'll see faces, animals, etc.
That could also very well explain what happened to you...for ONE, you had certain past experiences and expectations in BOTH of the examples you gave. First, you had the expectation of seeing a person in the chair because you've seen it so much, and secondly, hearing your GF, you were expecting her to be returning any minute, and your brain likely turned a random, totally unrelated auditory stimuli into what you heard and thought was your GF.
Hallucinations occur very differently, they are typically repetitive (including the content), and often occur frequently. You're describing a few random, isolated, unrelated incidents. I have no doubt that your heightened state of anxiety would have fed into those experiences also. When you're suffering with a lot of chronic and severe anxiety, your senses become very sensitive.
I REALLY would encourage you to seek out some therapy. A therapist will be able to help you learn how to dismiss those intrusive "what if" thoughts that keep the anxious cycle of thinking going. I really think you would greatly benefit from therapy.
Please let us know how you're doing, good luck!
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