<h1>I might be a living, breathing, hallucination. Who knows for sure?</h1>

Alright, I have mentioned this before, the wonderful world of hallucinations and I am going to talk about them again.  But first, let's make a distinction between delusions and hallucinations.  While we can find humor in hallucinations, there is nothing funny about delusions.

A delusion is a belief that is obviously false. The false belief is not the result of the person's cultural or religious background or his or her level of intelligence.  The person is absolutely sure the belief is true and will hold on to that belief even in the face of contrary evidence. 

We will restrict this lesson to hallucinations, which are defined as sensations that appear real but are "all in your head". They can affect all five of your senses. For example, you might hear a voice that no one else in the room can hear or see an image that isn’t real.  If you hear a voice, and nobody is there, you are having an auditory hallucination.  If it scares you and repeats itself, take thee to a medico and consider what might be causing your problem.

The causes of hallucinations 

Mental illnesses 

Mental illnesses is one of the most common causes of hallucinations. Schizophrenia, dementia, and lewy body dementia are a few examples.   I am fairly certain I do not suffer from a mental illness; although, there are some people who might disagree.

Drugs - illegal

Substance abuse is another fairly common cause of hallucinations. Drink too much or get into the hallucinogens, like LSD, and you are going to see things that are not there, or hear or smell the absent voice or odor.

Drugs - legal

Certain medications can also cause hallucinations. Parkinson’s diseased medication may trigger hallucination symptoms.  None of my drugs do, darn it.

Lack of sleep

6 - 8 hours are required but how many PWP sleep that long at night?  For example, I get 4 to 5 hours and frequently have fleeting hallucinations, usually in the form of a "feeling" such as feeling that fellow who, at this very moment, is looking over my shoulder as I type.  I just looked.  Nobody there.  The more sleep you  miss, the more likely you will encounter these hallucinations . Be not afraid, enjoy their company. 

In my earlier blogs I mentioned some of the interesting people, things, sounds I have experienced.  At various times, I have seen an astronaut floating by my bed.  I have heard a non-existent dog, barking at my door.  I have felt somebody running or bouncing on the bed but there was no such athlete.  I have seen 2 little girls playing cards, tall men, short men - all kinds of men.  I have no fear of them as they last only nano seconds and all occur when I have had little sleep.  They make life slightly more interesting.  God forbid they should last longer than they do because then I would have to own up to my own craziness.

  But take heed, we all may be living in an hallucination right now; after all, isn't cyberspace the ultimate illusion?  Are you really reading this somewhere else on this planet?

postscriptum

As the disease progresses, you might experience real hallucinations that are no laughing matter and which can be quite frightening. I do not mean to belittle those experiences and hope to avoid them in my future.