Am I a nutcase?

[iveyn]

Hey, guys

I’ve written a couple of threads about my fear of going crazy and my senses are always looking for a sign that I’m loosing it.
My question is connected to something that happened to me and I’ve asked people who don’t have GAD if it happens to them, some say yes but I want to ask you guys because you understand me much better I guess

1) I was at the center one day and there were maaanypeople around. I was movng my eyes fast because I wasn’t concentrated and I thought that on one of the billboards there was some model but it turn out to be something different. I thought so for a second and then saw the real picture. Is that normal? Is it a hallucination? :(
2) Do you sometimes have dreams that are super close to what you did the other day that you sometimes wonder if you dreamed it or it actually happened? Talking about little, very little details such as if you put something on one place or another, if you said something to someone or you only thought about it etc

Thank you in advance! I’ve been to doctors, but I still think they might have not understood me correctly or something

[ana]

Even if what you experienced was an actual hallucination, it doesn't mean that you're 'nuts'. :) I know and understand your fear of going crazy. Believe me, I've been there many, MANY times myself in the last 17 years.

It's highly possible that you were simply overstimulated and overwhelmed on that day you had the experience you describe.

As you sleep, your brain processes the events that happened to you throughout the day, and if your dreams are particularly vivid, it's likely that you sometimes can't tell the difference when it comes to small details. I don't think it's anything to worry about.

Crazy people don't worry they're crazy - they're just crazy. :noangel:

[Sean Fuller]

Seeing hallucinations doesn't mean you're going crazy. The way you describe it they are brief errant perceptions. I have them all the time. When your mind is on edge with something like GAD it is overactive and desperately trying to find patterns that might be a danger to you. If you were crazy your errant perceptions would not be brief and you would treat them as real and not question yourself. The same goes for your dream experience. Memories from a vivid dream about normal events can often be difficult to distinguish from actual experience. Sometimes its hard for me to know whether I read about someone's experience in a book, saw it in a movie, or experienced it myself. Also, drugs for things like GAD can really make dreams more vivid and memorable and increase the chance of getting them confused with actual events. The best thing is to just accept both things as okay and keep on keeping on. Although, for me it is sometimes helpful to try to maintain an erroneous perception for a while and then let it go. In that way I feel like I am in control and that comforts me.

[iveyn]

Thank you both! It really made me feel much better. :flowers:

[ana]

You're very welcome. :hugs:
Take good care x