hallucinations

Hallucinations

Hallucinations are sensory experiences that are not “real.” These are things the individual sees, hears, feels, or smells that other people don’t experience but that are very real to the person who has them. Most often, hallucinations involve seeing people or things that aren’t there or hearing voices or sounds. Sometimes hallucinations are “benign”, meaning they don’t upset the person, such as someone who sees children playing in the yard who aren’t truly there. More often, however, the hallucinations are upsetting. Often they are scary to the person having them, such as voices that tell someone they are a bad person, that no one loves them etc. Some hallucinations are called command hallucinations, meaning that they tell the person to do something (i.e. hearing a voice that says, “She never liked you anyway! You should kill her.”) This kind of hallucinations can be particularly dangerous. On occasion, hallucinations may consist of a bothersome odor that the person detects but no one else does, or a feeling of having something crawling on their skin etc. when nothing is there.

Often children or teens do not tell others of their hallucinations. Maybe they don’t want people to feel they are “nuts” or the hallucinations are threatening them and they are afraid they will get hurt if they tell. Young children often don’t have adequate vocabularies and verbal skills to make it fully clear. Sometimes children may just seem to have overactive imaginations. Some children can sometimes recognize that the things they see or hear aren’t real, they may still fear them but might recognize them as things others can’t see or hear. And occasionally some children/teens can even make the hallucinations stop temporarily. Hallucinations can make children appear anxious also. Anxiety can certainly exist without something else “driving” it. But, if your child is exhibiting “unreasonable” fears or high levels of anxiety with no apparent explanation, it is probably worth talking to his/her tdoc, pdoc, and perhaps your child/teen as well to see if they might be having hallucinations of which you are not aware.

THE FINE PRINT

The information on these web pages is the compilation of parents who are trying to help our kids and in the process help others as well. The information found on this site is intended solely for informational, educational and support purposes only. There are no claims made of medical, legal, educational or other advice nor are there any guarantees implied. Do not make any medication or therapy changes, legal, educational or other decisions based on information found here without first consulting a professional who knows your child and family. Many websites, books and other sources are referenced for information, such reference does not imply endorsement.

Site Map