Is this a mental health thing or am I just a weirdo?

[DaniellaSchilling]

I am really worried about my mental health. Not sure if I'm just tired or if there's something more sinister going on.

I have insight and have never experienced psychosis.

Recently when I've been laying asleep in bed, I've been getting vivid hallucinations of faces, people, hands trying to touch me etc. It's not a dream. It's a closed eye hallucination and is real and frightening. Hypnagogic hallucinations was what I suspected. I've had them briefly before but not for the duration I have recently. They last probably 30 seconds or so.

I've also recently been feeling odd and scared at times. When my friend was over the other day, he was looking at me whilst I was talking and I convinced myself momentarily that time might have stopped and he was frozen/not real. Or was just an illusion and staring at me. Reality was he was just paying attention to what I was saying.

I've also been feeling quite scared when looking at people's faces recently when I'm on my own with them, expecting them to just stop and stare at me or to disappear completely only to find I'm talking to myself.

I worry all the time that I'm going to hear someone talking to me or saying my name when there is nobody there.

I'm not sure why I'm feeling like this but could use some advice and support because 99% of the time I feel normal. It's not even like there's anything significant happening. More that I'm scared it is going to.

It's almost always at night.

Not sure what to do as I find I'm just scared all the time.

Will attempt to sleep now but would be so grateful for some advice to wake up to. Thanks in advance.

Hi op, sorry you’re going through this. It sounds scary for you.
i think it’s worth discussing with the Gp, could be something neurological going on, or mh. Great that you’re able to reach out.
Are you using any substances? Alcohol, smoking anything?

I think you should have a chat with your gp.

It could be a type of anxiety or stress getting to you and causing these symptoms.

Or it could be mild psychosis but I've had psychosis as part of my Schizoaffective disorder and it doesn't really sound like it but I could be wrong, I'm not a gp or psychiatrist.

Chances are it's nothing sinister, but if it's bothering you to the extent that you're looking to Google and MN for answers, then that's reason enough to seek professional advice.

GP, there are probably a few reasons this happens

Speak to your GP as soon as you can, you don't want this getting worse

Even if it turns out that these experiences are within the range of 'normal' hallucinatory experiences that some people have, I would definitely make a GP appointment.

It is clear that they are frightening and upsetting you, so you need a chance to talk them through with a professional and (if nothing else) address the anxiety associated with them.

Is your general anxiety at a higher than usual level? This could be a trigger for the experiences - and then of course they themselves trigger further anxiety creating a bit of a vicious circle.

Talking everything through with a professional will hopefully start a process of finding ways to be more at ease with the experiences. xxx

It's probably not this but just reminded me of when I used to have absence seizures I would look at someone and feel like everything had stopped around me and it was a horrible feeling. I do think a trip to the GP, my brother has schizophrenia and he has also experienced things like this, it could be a number of things causing it but please get some help to figure it out. Good luck op X

Thank you everyone. It only really occurs at night and I just feel like everything closed in on me. No drugs or alcohol.

Are you peri menopausal age or could you have anything hormonal going on? Only I experienced something very similar last year which was pretty much resolved with HRT. It was also mainly when drifting in or out of sleep which led me to have anxiety in the day and I developed awful fear around night-time and also intrusive thoughts around my mental health. I took an SSRI first which made it so much worse but things much improved as soon as I started HRT. It was also worse at certain times of the month.

I think it sounds like anxiety and because you fear it it then becomes more often
does your heart pound and do you feel scared? and like heightened senses? Are you stressed at all? I think definitely see gp and discuss it though

Could it be Alice in Wonderland Syndrome?

I had this as a child. Objects would appear larger than they were. The walls would appear to move towards me. This only happened as I was lying in bed before sleeping.

Hey Op, just checking in how you're doing? I think it's a good idea to get in touch with your GP about this,

Are you on antidepressants by any chance? Citalopram and Paroxetine in particular are known for giving vivid dreams and occasional hallucinations.

It does sound like the beginning of psychosis from my limited experience of it and I think it needs addressing as it is starting to cause you anxiety and distress.

I had extremely similar symptoms when malnourished with B12 deficiency and megaloblastic anaemia. I was also scared of looking in mirrors thinking I wouldn't be there/my reflection would do something I wasn't doing. I also felt I was watching myself on CCTV sometimes. Very scary. Echo PP who suggest a trip to your GP and ask for full bloods. Hope you feel better soon.

Sounds like anxiety/trauma which is causing depersonalisation and derealisation.

www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/depersonalization-derealization-disorder/symptoms-causes/syc-20352911#:~:text=Overview,derealization%20can%20be%20very%20disturbing.

I have had bouts of this for the last 15 years and I 100% thought i was going crazy. I used to make acronym sentences out of numbers plates, I used to feel my mums face and head hitting mine like it was attached above my right eye bobbing like a balloon. Bizarre.

CBT and some low dose antipsychotics helped me. I was on them for 18 months. I was never diagnosed with psychosis the meds were for the distressing thoughts.

I also get weird brain images when I am falling asleep - almost like a replay of events that day. I see myself doing things, objectively as a third person, as if I'm watching CCTV. They're not hallucinations, I don't know what they are. The brain playing tricks?

Sounds like hypnagogic phenomena, common in the transition from wakefulness to sleep. Similar experiences can happen in the transition from sleep to wakefulness, called hypnopompic phenomena.

Sleep paralysis?