*grins* as a sufferer I still have much to learn Kathy! I learn more everyday on here!

bec

I must also add in my thanks for if it wasn't for this thread I might have not written some of the thinks I just did in my diary. I'm always worried about what people will think if they knew about some of the things I see. Makes it alittle easier to talk about when you are not alone.

jaa ne

Kat

I saw lots of things, especially in the half-light and in the dark. I'd look up at the ceiling and see bugs and snakes and various unidentifiable creatures floating down toward me. I'd see all kinds of things out of objects in the room. Maybe it was just imagination? I don't know. All I know is that I spent most nights in my childhood under the covers as much as possible. It was pretty scary for me. I always wanted lights on, or at least a nightlight, but never go to do that till I had my own house. It's only in the last few years that I can get to sleep without lights on.

So glad this reassures you some, Kathy. I'm also glad it was brought up, because I'd either forgotten these things happened or, for some reason, never realized they were hallucinations.

Hi
Not sure how to answer that question yet so i havent. I dont know if what i am experiencing are hallucinations or not but im certainly not offended by that word because they are not what a non-ptsd person would be experiencing. They are not DIRECTLY linked to my trauma in that they are not related to what happened. they are definitely related to sleep deprivation and possibly lack of food? Heres an example of what i have seen.

Once i looked at the tv and there was wite text on the bottom of the screen on a red back ground. then the screen changed and there was a man reading the news in a grey jacket. The "halucination" was that i saw the writing that had previously been on the bottom of the screen printed all over his jacket.

Another example: If i look at something like say a poster (especislly if it is in a contrasting colour to the wall) on a white wasll and then i move my eyes to another part of white wall i can still see the poster but without any detail on it.

I think that is quite normal if you llok at a light and then move your eyes away but i have never had it like this before.

Oh, yeah, there were plenty.

I've had the bugs crawling on my skin type of hallucinations really bad! They were in my hair and everything. It was awful!

I started having flashbacks that made no sense to me but after alittle while in councelling I realized that they were not unreal, I had just forgotten being gang raped...it was more like I was watching it happen to someone else. Through therapy I have dealt with it and at least now I know what it's from. although when my PTSD got very severe and i had be be admitted into the hospital I was having auditory hallucinations. I kept hearing my name being called. Thank God that stopped at least for now. Good luck to you and your niece/Chrissym

Some sounds can make me irritable, some smells also bother me, paper towels on my skin bug me, wooden sticks from ice cream bar on my tounge almost make me throw up. But to see colors, hear voices, no.

Hello All,

Kat you are too funny. You spurred on a realization about my mother. Whenever I have a "memory" that she thinks is coming out of left field, she sarcastically says, "maybe it's a dream ". Apparently my mother put my visions in the "dream" category for denial's sake.

I dissociated quite a bit when I was younger. Then about one month ago, suffered a trauma at the hand of a therapist and MOST DEFINITELY had auditory and visual hallucinations that related to when I was traumatized as a child and had me re-experience the past trauma in the present tense without the defense mechanisms of a child and with all the clarity of being an adult. So yes. I do believe mine were hallucinations.

CS