"Shh...there she is again...the girl with all the problems"

She sees things others don't see.
She hears things others don't hear.
She feels things others don't feel.

Stop.

She is lost.
Maybe insane.
A psychoanalytical evaluation in desperate need.

No sleep.
No rest.
The unrest of sleep deprivation.

Stop.
Stop it all.
Stop the fear of bedtime.
Stop the unrest of sleep deprivation.
Stop the fear of bedtime.
Stop it all.
Stop.

Definition

Hallucinations are false or distorted sensory experiences that appear to be real perceptions. These sensory impressions are generated by the mind rather than by any external stimuli, and may be seen, heard, felt, and even smelled or tasted.

Description

A hallucination occurs when environmental, emotional, or physical factors such as stress, medication, extreme fatigue, or mental illness cause the mechanism within the brain that helps to distinguish conscious perceptions from internal, memory-based perceptions to misfire. As a result, hallucinations occur during periods of consciousness. They can appear in the form of visions, voices or sounds, tactile feelings (known as haptic hallucinations), smells, or tastes.

Patients suffering from dementia and psychotic disorders such as schizophrenia frequently experience hallucinations. Hallucinations can also occur in patients who are not mentally ill as a result of stress overload or exhaustion, or may be intentionally induced through the use of drugs, meditation, or sensory deprivation. A 1996 report, published in the British Journal of Psychiatry, noted that 37% of 4,972 people surveyed experienced hypnagogic hallucinations (hallucinations that occur as a person is falling to sleep). Hypnopomic hallucinations (hallucinations that occur just upon waking) were reported by 12% of the sample.

Causes and symptoms

Common causes of hallucinations include:

• Drugs. Hallucinogenics such as ecstasy (3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine, or MDMA), LSD (lysergic acid diethylamide, or acid), mescaline (3,4,5-trimethoxyphenethylamine, or peyote), and psilocybin (4-phosphoryloxy-N, N-dimethyltryptamine, or mushrooms) trigger hallucinations. Other drugs such as marijuana and PCP have hallucinatory effects. Certain prescription medications may also cause hallucinations. In addition, drug withdrawal may induce tactile and visual hallucinations; as in an alcoholic suffering from delirium tremens (DTs).
• Stress. Prolonged or extreme stress can impede thought processes and trigger hallucinations.
• Sleep deprivation and/or exhaustion. Physical and emotional exhaustion can induce hallucinations by blurring the line between sleep and wakefulness.
• Meditation and/or sensory deprivation. When the brain lacks external stimulation to form perceptions, it may compensate by referencing the memory and form hallucinatory perceptions. This condition is commonly found in blind and deaf individuals.
• Electrical or neurochemical activity in the brain. A hallucinatory sensation-usually involving touch-called an aura, often appears before, and gives warning of, a migraine. Also, auras involving smell and touch (tactile) are known to warn of the onset of an epileptic attack.
• Mental illness. Up to 75% of schizophrenic patients admitted for treatment report hallucinations.
• Brain damage or disease. Lesions or injuries to the brain may alter brain function and produce hallucinations.

Diagnosis

Aside from hypnogogic and hypnopompic hallucinations, more than one event suggests a person should seek evaluation. A general physician, psychologist, or psychiatrist will try to rule out possible organic, environmental, or psychological causes through a detailed medical examination and social history. If a psychological cause such as schizophrenia is suspected, a psychologist will typically conduct an interview with the patient and his family and administer one of several clinical inventories, or tests, to evaluate the mental status of the patient.

Occasionally, people who are in good mental health will experience a hallucination. If hallucinations are infrequent and transitory, and can be accounted for by short-term environmental factors such as sleep deprivation or meditation, no treatment may be necessary. However, if hallucinations are hampering an individual's ability to function, a general physician, psychologist, or psychiatrist should be consulted to pinpoint their source and recommend a treatment plan.

Treatment

Hallucinations that are symptomatic of a mental illness such as schizophrenia should be treated by a psychologist or psychiatrist. Antipsychotic medication such as thioridazine (Mellaril), haloperidol (Haldol), chlorpromazine (Thorazine), clozapine (Clozaril), or risperidone (Risperdal) may be prescribed.

Prognosis

In many cases, chronic hallucinations caused by schizophrenia or some other mental illness can be controlled by medication. If hallucinations persist, psychosocial therapy can be helpful in teaching the patient the coping skills to deal with them. Hallucinations due to sleep deprivation or extreme stress generally stop after the cause is removed.

Key Terms

Aura

A subjective sensation or motor phenomenon that precedes and indicates the onset of a neurological episode, such as a migraine or an epileptic seizure.

Hypnogogic hallucination

A hallucination, such as the sensation of falling, that occurs at the onset of sleep.

Hypnopompic hallucination

A hallucination that occurs as a person is waking from sleep.

Sensory deprivation

A situation where an individual finds himself in an environment without sensory cues. Also, (used here) the act of shutting one's senses off to outside sensory stimuli to achieve hallucinatory experiences and/or to observe the psychological results.

For Your Information

Resources

Organizations

• American Psychological Association (APA). 750 First St. NE, Washington, DC 20002-4242. (202) 336-5700. ttp://www.apa.org.
• National Alliance for the Mentally Ill (NAMI). Colonial Place Three, 2107 Wilson Blvd., Ste. 300, Arlington, VA 22201-3042. (800) 950-6264.

Gale Encyclopedia of Medicine, Published December, 2002 by the Gale Group The Essay Author is Paula Anne Ford-Martin.

I want to be famous for my point of view.
My environment information.
And my exquisit singing voice.

So have I finally found him?

His smile makes me feel like fainting.
His eyes make me feel like melting.
When he holds me in his arms, I feel like I will finally be okay.
When he speaks to me my stomache flutters.
And I am still to shy to speak to him back.

So there we were, sitting in a dark room, residing in the quiet.
No words, no laughing, no nothing.
Just the sound of cell phones, vibrating, alerting us of the conversation.
Were in the same room, I'm to nervous to talk.
He insists on texting him what I want to talk about.
I listen.
He tells me.

Three days later, I tell him that I was called worthless.
He takes forever to respond.
I slightly loose hope.
Finally, a text message.

"Well she is dumb. You are not worthless. You are priceless. Big Difference"

My heart flutters. My skin crawls. My eyes widen. And I tear up with happiness.

Maybe I am just being an emotional teenager, but that was the nicest thing anyone has ever told me.
I am still in shock, amazement, and a sense of immortality.

Your sympathy is synthetic,
Your desperation is a faux.
The light you seem to set off,
It is all just a show.

O.K so as I'm having the most memorable dream this morning, my god-damned alarm clock felt it necessary to go off alarming me and ruining my dream.
I hate having to get up at 6 in the fucking morning.
It's DUMB!
The fact that ANYONE would want to be awake any time before noon confuses me. It really does.

So I woke up in a horrible mood today, being ripped out of my fantasy that included Max *The Ripper* Green.
-fangirl FAINT!-
And last night, my freaking bestie scared me by saying he would be home in less than 10 minutes and didn't get online for at least an hour. :(
I was worried because the weather down there was massivly horrible. He is a butt head >:-D
But I love him.
And this morning, I fell down my damn stairs. It was not much fun. Actually, It sucked. To put it blindly.

So I finally figured out what I want to do with my future, yeah. I want to be a writer. Both of poetry and dark fiction/non-fiction novels. I know I have the talent to do it. (NOT BRAGGING!) But my english teacher from last year thought it necessary to critique my ability to do it. Hello?! Rude Much?!
She is a really great teacher, but damn she gets straight to the point.

But yeah. I'm in this classroom I have never been in before, it's very big. There is like a total of 3 people in it. but lots of computers. yeah I know, HEAVEN!

It's strange, I don't believe that God is a person worth looking up to, but...I sure do say his name alot.
God is a joke in my mind. See!? There I go again. Geez.

Here I am thinking about all the problems in todays world.

Mothers running around with their heads cut off trying to buy everything for their children.

Stock Marketers freaking out because stocks are down.
this world is spiralling towards damnnation.

This world really isnt what its cracked up to be, is it? I just want to know why.

Someone needs to send a messanger from Hell or Heaven and explain to me why!

Maybe its because I'm young. Maybe I just dont get it. or maybe I'm right.
I just dont see the world that most people do.
I see a place crying out for help, in any nook and cranny it can find.
Its not like people can just change overnight.
It doesnt work like that. It takes months, years, maybe even a decade to change someone.
Not simply because they dont want to be changed,
NO! Simply because
PEOPLE DON'T CHANGE!
We are all damned to live on this blue and green planet the least that can happen is some positive feedback on my part.
if you agree. or are annoyed by the way I run my life. Let me know. I'm very Pursuasive.

Why do people continue to try?
I want to know what simply drives people to do what they do.
I question the reality of all people graduating, getting a job, getting married, having kids, then dying at an old age. How many people live like that?
What about the rebelious kids? What is their assigned destiny? Do they have a destiny?
Are they going to be forced to live like the rest? Be someone they aren't?

Thats why their rebelious in the first place. They don't want to be somebody else. They want to be themselves. No matter the concequences. They want to be who god intended. Maybe its not even god. Maybe it's someone with a higher power. Maybe, Maybe Not.

I question gods reality. Can someone really create this universe in 7 days? If he did, why make the other planets? Do they have a use?
Are they there for show? And what about black holes? Why make something that will eventually result in our deaths.
I belive in the science. I belive that "God" is a faux. Created by some greedy old man to conceive his fortune secretly after discovering that the world is not indeed, Flat.

What about the people like me? It says that "all men are created equal" but is that true. Is everyone friends with everyone? No. They most certinly are not. Am I treated like an equal? Does everyone come see me before class? Am I late for every class because I'm to busy hanging out with friends? NO.
I'm almost always first to class. Not a friend to talk to during that class, so all the work gets done.
Do I feel like their is a guy out their for me? Not sure. Maybe, Maybe Not.
Time will only tell. This world is FU**ED Up! This is not how our worldy creator intended.
"God" wouldn't have created a world in which everyone fights, kills, steals, and lies.
Or would he? Would your precious god decieve you?
Maybe this entire world is made to his enjoyment.
Maybe, Maybe Not.