Imagining weird things in evenings - hallucinations??

[WellAintThatAShitbiscuit]

Bit of background i was diagnosed with depression, gad, ocd and ptsd 20ish years ago (when in my teens)stuff

I've had a bloody awful year with huge amounts of stress (redundancy, physical illness, new job, my DH being seriously ill and him having major life saving surgery plus all the covid 19 stuff) so it's no surprise I'm struggling at times.

My problem is that every time I'm in my bathroom getting ready for bed i can see something/one in the mirror behind me (there's nothing there) and if I look directly at "it" it disappears. Now for the last few nights I've been seeing the same "thing" whilst laying in bed and feeling like im being watched. I'm scared (terrified) but also rationally know nothing is there...

I'm fine in the daytime it's just 8pm onwards. Has anyone else had similar?? Feel like I'm going mad.
Please no scary/ghost/supernatural experiences or stories as I don't want more playing on my mind!

Hi OP,

I have a background in neuroscience and mental health, and am also diagnosed with PTSD and have experience with hypnagogic hallucinations (which is basically a sleep disorder, rather than a mental illness).

My first thought on hearing that these images in the mirror only appear at night is to ask if your bathroom has windows and is exposed to natural light in the daytime. There's a known neurological phenomenon where (perfectly mentally and physically healthy) people see specific types of images when they look at a mirror under certain light conditions. It's not a hallucination, it just has to do with the way the optical nerve and the occipital lobe process data. It's called "peripheral fading", or the Troxler Effect. The eye is not a camcorder hooked up to the television set of the brain. Much of what you 'see' every time you open your eyes is actually a creation of your brain filling in the gaps in data the optic nerve is providing, and not objectively 'real' at all. With this in mind, it's no wonder the brain and our eyes so often play tricks on us.

Seeing the same images when you're in bed sounds like a very understandable anxiety reaction. You're clearly under a lot of stress, and seeing the figure in the mirror must have been extremely frightening. I strongly recommend you reach out to any form of mental health support you have access to, to help cope with such a stressful anxiety-inducing time.

I'm not a doctor and of course would never attempt to diagnose anyone over the Internet, but I don't see any red flags here - you aren't showing any sign of psychosis or delusion, and you come across as lucid and self-aware. I don't know if there's anything I can say to try to reassure you. What you are experiencing is most likely a very natural reaction to stress and anxiety, triggered by an incident of (very normal and common but frightening) Troxler Effect. You aren't going mad, and there's nothing spooky going on. Please take care of yourself.

I get this if I drink too much caffeine during the day and my anxiety goes into overdrive.

@Havarti that is really interesting.

I think @HavartiToSeeYou has written one of the most comprehensive, interesting and informative answers i’ve ever seen on the internet, so I would look into their explanation.

To add my 2-penneth worth, it is well known that extreme tiredness causes visual hallucinations (eg imaginary bugs crawling on you). I suspect that in the broad spectrum of human physiology, some are more prone to this than others? Eg, experience it on less sleep deprivation?

@HavartiToSeeYou your answer is really interesting!

OP, I am not qualified to diagnose anyone, but the fact that you only have hallucinations after a certain time of day doesn't make it sound like psychosis.

I would definitely ring the GP, your mind / eyes are playing tricks on you, which is hardly surprising considering the stress and fatigue you are under. Your GP should be able to help

Oh and ps - see an optician once they reopen. They don’t just prescribe glasses, they can check for any number of optical health things that can rule out physical reasons for this (eg you are seeing a new clump of “floaters” in your eye, but your brain is interpreting them in the dim light as person-shaped and filling in the blanks).

I can't offer any advice on your particular issue but as a fellow anxiety sufferer I am worse in the evenings. By worse I mean terrible. Daytimes are fine, I can almost convince myself that we are living in normal times. Come 7pm I'm panicking.

@HavartiToSeeYou thank you so much for your great post. Your comments are very reassuring and it’s very helpful to read of rational explanations. Thank you for taking the time to post 🙂 I really appreciate it.

Thank you to everyone else whose posted, i feel much better today so will see how tonight goes.

Hi OP, how are you? Hope you were more settled last night and managed to rest?

@AntennaReborn thank you for asking after me. I got to sleep quite easily last night then woke up thinking/feeling like someone was standing over me in bed and holding there hand over my face/mouth. I know it wasn't real (obviously dreaming and then took me min to realise when woke up) but really spooked me out. up

Tonight i m feeling really anxious.

Oh OP I am so sorry, it sounds awful! It sounds like you might be experiencing night terrors?

Have you managed to speak to your GP?