Seeing Things That Are Not There

[Deleted member 27340]

This has happened a few times. It's rare, but it happens, probably only a couple times a year or so. I also get really fast that it's not around.

A few weeks ago I played scrabble with my friends at the clubhouse, and suddenly it looked like my closest buddy's face was covered in blood from *something* that must have been attacked somewhere behind me (based on the angle and the look of the blood stains). I blinked many times, and it was gone.

Yesterday on the way home from the climbing hall, it looked like something white was running from the side of the road against me. Like, ATTACKING. It was so scary I almost fell from my startle and cried the rest of the way home (not unusual for me to cry when walking alone in the dark, though. It's a bother during winter when we've got 4-5 hours of daylight). Obviously nothing was there, and obviously that freaked me out even more.

I did a quick search and it seems like PTSD can cause hallucinations (is there ANYTHING this condition can't cause?), I just wondered if any of you know anything about this topic?

 

[Ghostybear73]

I know I get them a lot. visual and auditory. I have learned really quick to recover fast or it can cause problems. Last time it happened, I was in the passenger seat, my roommate was driving and my daughter was in the backseat. Out of nowhere a car came and tboned us on my side. I jumped and looked at my roommate and realized we were still driving, nothing happened. We have learned to recover and pretend it didn't happen to prevent my 8 year old from freaking out.

It seems you have a pretty quick recovery time as well. I am told that it gets better with time and therapy and healing.

I don't have any great words of wisdom, but wanted to let you know you are not alone

:)

 

[Deleted member 27340]

Yes; recovering from seeing things seem to go so much faster than recovering from triggers or panic attacks.

Thanks, it's good know there are others.

 

[Ghostybear73]

That's a good way to look at it. I never thought of it that way. :)

 

[Changing4Best]

I hear things and once in awhile I see shadows moving, and then when I look there is nothing there, of course. It is not my own shadow that I catch moving, so I know that it is an hallucination. The hearing is stranger still, as it will be sentence fragments that have nothing to do with anything. Once, though, there was this nagging voice for days that kept telling me to kill my parrot! He was a noisy little fellow, but I loved him dearly, so I knew that the voice was not my own thoughts, but some kind of hallucination. I hardly ever told anyone about it and it stopped happening eventually and never occurred again, so I am not concerned about it.

I have been in therapy for about a dozen years, so I am used to these things by now, although they do sometimes irk me. They don't really startle me much, and as soon as I realize that no one and nothing is really there, I forget about them and go on with my day. I live alone and no longer have a dog, so I know it is not someone or something else in the environment.

My psychiatrist does always ask me if I have experienced any hallucinations, so I tell him about them (although I never told him about the nagging voice to kill my parrot, as that happened before I was diagnosed). My other diagnosis is Bi-Polar and I don't think that that has hallucinations, so I assume he is asking because I am PTSD.

I hope this helps.

 

[Candleflames]

You're definitely not alone with this symptom. Like the instance with your friend, my visuals were all bloody and gruesome. I had auditory hallucinations as well.

I talked to my doc about them and he helped me figure out the root. He explained that "all roads lead to psychosis." That is that any emotion taken to the extreme can cause hallucinations. For me what I was seeing and hearing were clues as to which of my ptsd symptoms were out of control. When I saw my kids and pets all bloodied it was my fear that I couldn't protect them speaking to me. I needed to work on my hypervigilance.

Do you have a T you can talk to? They should help you figure out if there is a message behind the visuals as well as the underlying cause.

 

[Lolly]

This is how my PTSD started actually. I started seeing my abuser every time I would walk to the car, and then I started seeing him in the house. I didn't say anything to anyone, weirdly I thought they could all see him. Last week after therapy, I had a nap, woke up to see my Mum, but she was shouting about stuff I had dreamed about. Then she faded away, and my abuser faded in. It was odd, he looked like a hologram. But even though I knew it wasn't real, that hallucination scared me stiff. I screamed for help (never done that before) and kind of went into shock. Took me a full day to recover.

The only thing that helps me is to overpower my senses, like how you wake someone up from dissociation. Very sour sweets, things to touch, bottles full of essences (peppermint is my favourite) to smell, little toys like a spikey ball to hold in your hand, they will all help overpower your senses and "wake you up" from the hallucination. Sorry you're struggling with this, take care!!

 

[Wounded Scribe]

Yes, frequently. Sometimes I can shrug it off, and other times I have spent time in the hospital because of what I am seeing, that's not there.

 

[Ed Norton]

Delusions and or hallucinations are common in PTSD sufferers.
Here are a couple of short articles about that phenomenon
...Link Removed ...
http://asp.cumc.columbia.edu/psych/asktheexperts/ask_the_experts_inquiry.asp?SI=808

 

[ghotiff]

Is this the same type of thing?

When I see a knife unexpectedly (eg walk into the kitchen and it's been left out) I get an image of it being used on me and the blood etc. for me also they are very short and easy to recover from, but I don't like them at all.

 

[EmmaDancing]

This happens to me too, mostly in the fall (when things started) but randomly as well. Like you mentioned, I often see things coming to attack me, often shadowy male figures. The other day I walked into my hall (on the unit) and called out a greeting to a boy standing in front of the TV......then realized nobody was there.
I can really emphasize with how scary this can be, and I'm sorry you have to deal with it. As others here have said, though, you're not alone in this.

 

[Deleted member 27340]

Thank you all for sweet replies.

No, I don't have a T at the moment. I just quit. I've managed to find helpful grounding and coping techniques through independent research, and in the same way combined with reading psychology (not mass-produced self-help books, but psychology in general) I learn to understand both myself and others around me. Some science and other stuff's also included because it helps with understanding chemicals and all of these stuff going on in there... it's more helpful than any T I've come across.

So I guess I'll be able to figure out what the underlying cause may be myself. The thing attacking me is kind of obvious -- except that it looked like an animal. I had a dream once where I was also attacked by an animal, just remembered it now. Guess I'll have to figure out why (and why animals in my dreams and head always seem to have human-level intelligence and functional vocal chords). Not entirely sure about the blood splattering, though.