Hi everyone, I don’t use reddit much so excuse if the formatting is awkward. This is the first time this is happening to me beyond just the classic so-called ‘mild hallucinations’ of hearing people calling your name or seeing shadows out of the corner of your eyes, and much more mild stuff like that. For context I am 18 and am not diagnosed with any mental illnesses nor do I attend therapy (although I do have childhood trauma and have been informed by a therapist that I very likely struggle with depression and anxiety). There are no disorders running in my family that I know of.
It was around 10 pm yesterday and I was walking home. I live in a very safe area and am not usually too concerned about being outside at night, but I am a very anxious person and still do look over my shoulder a lot and catastrophize often. I had zoned out and gotten to this one part of the street with many balconies overlooking the road. Here’s where the ‘hallucination’ comes in: I fully saw someone jump off of the balcony into the middle of the road. That part was obstructed by cars so I saw no ‘body’ as the person seemed to phase into the concrete. I wasn’t freaked out by it, or rather didn’t have time to be as there was nothing there anymore and a person crossed the road In the same spot just moments later. There was no accompanying sound, and there was nothing dropped on the ground in that area that I could have mistaken it for.
For added context we’ve been learning about schizophrenia in psychology class, and my best friend has schizophrenia so we discuss the topic often. That same day I had an experience where I was retelling a story from a recent party to a group of people and was fully convinced that this one person I was speaking to had attended it even though she wasn’t there at all. When I recount my memories, I realize logically that she was not there but I can almost picture in my head what she was wearing. I’ve been under a lot of stress but haven’t been sleeping poorly enough for these to be sleep-induced hallucinations. I think it may be because of what I’ve been learning, my stress, and that I tend to fall into maladaptive daydreaming a lot, so imagining things is not so foreign to me. Is this normal?
Comments
Sounds like a combination of intrusive thoughts and an overactive imagination to me. You seem fully aware of how improbable the situation is and therefore have a grasp on reality. It does sound like a counselor would be a good idea, however, as trauma can come back around in various ways and some hallucination-like activity isn’t unheard of.