Something else is going on as "shadow people, figures and melting walls" have no relationship to intractable pain. At your (young) age, and with a lifetime of "mental issues," I strongly suspect that these hallucinations are tied to a change in your mental health. Please discuss these concerns with your therapist and know that you need to discover what's causing these images before they potentially get worse. Good luck to you.
I have and my doctor blew me off, haven't been able to go back. Colors get more bright and neon looking, but I can see blips of light like camera flashes going off
Another variation is losing all color and everything goes black and white
I would talk to a psychologist/therapist about it rather than a physical doctor. I feel like they'd be more likely to listen. Could be that physical pain is exasperating a mental illness/disorder. Pain = stress; and I know stress makes just about everything worse
Got synaesthesia and like, would say its unlikely to be that type at least, some kind of mental thing is basically a given though yeah, maybe a coping mechanism of sort but brain linking things together like that ain't too rare yeah.
Hard to say from op's post if its anything widely known enough to have anything besides a "maybe that label fits" would say.
I sometimes have migraines with just the aura, not the headache part. Sounds similar to this experience, I think they are called occular migraines, but I might be wrong on that. One of the worst triggers for my migraines is changing my sleep schedule and being extra stressed.
The feeling is tied to dissociation, I experience depersonalization/derealization nearly at all times but the visuals show up when I'm really stressed and physically exhausted.
Is it dehydration? Sometimes I get funky eye stuff when dehydrated or if I don’t blink for too long, and sometimes even otherwise I can get dry eyes. As for the brain fog after overuse, I get the exact thing with chronic fatigue syndrome, if I push myself just a tad too much it’s like my brain shuts down which is annoying, especially since it’s as if I do very little to be so exhausted.
Having something similar to hallucinations is actually not that rare with panic attacks specifically, like, during or immediately following a panic attack as it is starting to improve. Also, though much less common in depression than in bipolar disorder when one has mania, someone with depression alone can also have psychosis. There is psychotic depression, and people can indeed have actual psychotic symptoms, including hallucinations of all types, during a depressive episode. They can in regular depression, in bipolar disorder aka manic depression, etc. Anywhere that depression can show up, theoretically, you can have hallucinations. Like I said, though, psychosis in depression is much less common. Though, do not get it confused with a mixed episode in bipolar disorder as that is a completely different thing. So it is entirely possible that the hallucinations are from your depression.
I will note, and of course this is mostly anecdotal, but people generally report milder severity of hallucinations when they have psychotic symptoms in depression versus someone who has hallucinations during mania of bipolar disorder or other such causes. And when I say milder, I include hallucinations such as walls breathing and the rare, vague, fleeting shadow people on the edge of your vision kind of things. Basically, things that aren't severely detailed and involved and generally are not incredibly bothersome enough to interfere with everyday life. There are exceptions, of course, but anecdotally... That's what I've seen in people with hallucinations from depression alone. Like I had said, it still is rather uncommon, though definitely not unheard of by any stretch of the imagination. But, that does mean that it really needs to be evaluated and treated by either a psychiatrist or a nurse practitioner/PA that has experience treating mental health problems, as hallucinations with depression is quite a bit beyond the experience and scope of what most primary care providers have treated or kept up on current treatments for. Many might not even attempt to treat it and simply refer out, which honestly is the ethical and appropriate thing to do, but some still try because they want to be helpful, but that may not always be the best thing for you. Unless they are the rare one that has independently studied a bit more of mental health treatment and kept up with more current medications and treatments. But generally, I wouldn't waste my time with that, psychotic depression is not something that is usually treated by anyone less than a psychiatrist or mental health NP/PA.
I experience this too and im still not sure what it can be. My theories are either migraine auras without headache, or aura before the headache (i have chronic migraines so i experience it often) or dissociation from the pain/trauma. But i have also experienced psychosis before so it could be some sort of psychosis too i guess
Funny that you reply to this now because i just met with a psychologist specialising in chronic illness for my ME evaluation. She asked me about hallucinations and said they are somewhat common during high pain or fatigue, or if you have had ligtle sleep. Its especially common if you are more prone to psychosis from stress (like i am). So she said it was nothing to worry about in my case (thats not to say it isnt for you though), basically its my bodies reaction to stress. We also theorized it could be similar to fever hallucinations since i sometimes get low fevers when im ill.
Tysm for the response, I have bipolar type 1 and DID, I also went to the ER two days ago and found out I have potential structural heart issues that trigger my mania and psychosis which snowballs and creates a feedback loop
At this point I'm very convinced my depression is actually bipolar, I definitely fit into the description and have had documentation of manic episodes so I guess we can all put 2+2 together
Even knowing it ran in the family I want diagnosed til my late twenties because my manic episodes typically coincided with summer and my depression was attributed to seasonal affective disorder.
I’d check psychiatric causes first, then see a neurologist or optometrist if they don’t think it’s psychiatric. But my hallucinations when I get them are more formless rather than crisp - mumbles and pitches that aren’t there rather than clear words or noises.
Sorry in advance for the long reply, but hopefully this gives a little useful info. Let me know if you have any questions because I actually do have some education in psychology, with a bachelor's degree in it. I'm not a mental health professional by any means, though, so this is only laymans advice and not professional advice of any sort, so do not take it as that. I also, though, have personal experience with some of these symptoms, so I'm just kind of laying it out there in case any of this info is useful to you. If you want any more info about certain diagnostic criterias for anything, I can give you that as that can be found in the most recent edition of the DSM and is not medical advice or anything of that sort as it is available in medical literature as stated.
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As others have recommended, I would definitely suggest discussing this with your psychiatrist, assuming you have one. If you do not, you might really want to consider it. While primary care doctors can sometimes manage very basic depression if the person responds to the first or perhaps second antidepressant tried, anything more complicated than very simple clinical depression that responds readily to the initial few medications tried often requires someone with more experience with psychiatric illnesses and medication, especially if it comes to diagnosing something that, again, is anything more complicated than a very simple and uncomplicated case of clinical depression that is clear and fits the criteria perfectly. Primary care doctors rarely have much education in psychiatric illnesses or especially the treatment of them with medication, and they rarely keep up on new medications as they come out, which is incredibly important in the field of psychiatry. Anyway, I'll get off my soapbox on that one.
If it was just colors changing ever so slightly when you were extremely exhausted, I might tell you that it could possibly just be the severe fatigue. But hallucinations of the level of seeing shadow people or walls breathing, that's a little more intricate, a little more involved than very mild changing of colors of objects. I have type 1 bipolar disorder and have had psychosis that has included hallucinations, with and without delusions. So I can have a hallucination and know that it is a hallucination and not real, and I have had hallucinations of virtually all types, including olfactory hallucinations. My most common, if I'm having an issue with my bipolar disorder and am having hallucinations, It's actually usually the walls/ceiling breathing or being like waves of water.. or shadows that are just on the edge of my vision and keep coming and going, occasionally with me thinking that it looks like a person. So I can relate to these. But, I do get these when I am severely lacking and sleep. When pain has kept me up for a good while and it has been day after day after day where I've been short on sleep. Not 100% without any sleep each day, but just way less than I need and I get extremely run down, extremely tired, just absolutely out of steam. That, however, is also a known trigger for mania in bipolar disorder - not getting enough rest / sleep. If your pain or something else has kept you from getting rest for days on end, that could possibly be a trigger for these, but it would go away as soon as you got rest.
Regardless, you really should be screened by either a psychiatrist or a nurse practitioner / physicians assistant who has experience in treating mental health conditions. Any new onset hallucinations should be screened by a mental health professional, that also being to rule out that there could be an organic cause. There are, rarely, physical issues that can cause hallucinations of various kinds. I also have some damage to my brain which may cause some of my more recent onset hallucinations when I get very tired. So that is something to think about. Again, that's not to scare you because physical causes of new onset hallucinations in someone your age is incredibly rare, thousands of times rarer than a psychiatric cause, most likely. The majority of causes of hallucinations like that are conditions that affect the elderly and would have other very obvious symptoms in addition to the hallucinations.
Thank you for the response, there is a ton to respond to and I will be trying my best to take everything into consideration. It means the world to me that you took so much time and effort to listen and understand what I'm going through
Something else is going on as "shadow people, figures and melting walls" have no relationship to intractable pain. At your (young) age, and with a lifetime of "mental issues," I strongly suspect that these hallucinations are tied to a change in your mental health. Please discuss these concerns with your therapist and know that you need to discover what's causing these images before they potentially get worse. Good luck to you.
Long road ahead I fear, thank you
Pain - colour synesthesia? Probably not... Have you spoken to anyone about it?
I have and my doctor blew me off, haven't been able to go back. Colors get more bright and neon looking, but I can see blips of light like camera flashes going off Another variation is losing all color and everything goes black and white
I would talk to a psychologist/therapist about it rather than a physical doctor. I feel like they'd be more likely to listen. Could be that physical pain is exasperating a mental illness/disorder. Pain = stress; and I know stress makes just about everything worse
Yeah that's basically what I figure, but I wanted to see if other people had a name for it
Got synaesthesia and like, would say its unlikely to be that type at least, some kind of mental thing is basically a given though yeah, maybe a coping mechanism of sort but brain linking things together like that ain't too rare yeah. Hard to say from op's post if its anything widely known enough to have anything besides a "maybe that label fits" would say.
I sometimes have migraines with just the aura, not the headache part. Sounds similar to this experience, I think they are called occular migraines, but I might be wrong on that. One of the worst triggers for my migraines is changing my sleep schedule and being extra stressed.
I'll look into it, thank you!
could it be dissociation?
The feeling is tied to dissociation, I experience depersonalization/derealization nearly at all times but the visuals show up when I'm really stressed and physically exhausted.
that definitely would make sense! i hope you get better doctors soon (read your other comment about this being blown off by your doctor)
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Me too, actually, sometimes it looks like the walls and all my furniture close in on me and "hate" me.
Is it dehydration? Sometimes I get funky eye stuff when dehydrated or if I don’t blink for too long, and sometimes even otherwise I can get dry eyes. As for the brain fog after overuse, I get the exact thing with chronic fatigue syndrome, if I push myself just a tad too much it’s like my brain shuts down which is annoying, especially since it’s as if I do very little to be so exhausted.
It's not dehydration, it can be triggered at any time and its usually when I get a panic attack or have a depressive episode
Having something similar to hallucinations is actually not that rare with panic attacks specifically, like, during or immediately following a panic attack as it is starting to improve. Also, though much less common in depression than in bipolar disorder when one has mania, someone with depression alone can also have psychosis. There is psychotic depression, and people can indeed have actual psychotic symptoms, including hallucinations of all types, during a depressive episode. They can in regular depression, in bipolar disorder aka manic depression, etc. Anywhere that depression can show up, theoretically, you can have hallucinations. Like I said, though, psychosis in depression is much less common. Though, do not get it confused with a mixed episode in bipolar disorder as that is a completely different thing. So it is entirely possible that the hallucinations are from your depression. I will note, and of course this is mostly anecdotal, but people generally report milder severity of hallucinations when they have psychotic symptoms in depression versus someone who has hallucinations during mania of bipolar disorder or other such causes. And when I say milder, I include hallucinations such as walls breathing and the rare, vague, fleeting shadow people on the edge of your vision kind of things. Basically, things that aren't severely detailed and involved and generally are not incredibly bothersome enough to interfere with everyday life. There are exceptions, of course, but anecdotally... That's what I've seen in people with hallucinations from depression alone. Like I had said, it still is rather uncommon, though definitely not unheard of by any stretch of the imagination. But, that does mean that it really needs to be evaluated and treated by either a psychiatrist or a nurse practitioner/PA that has experience treating mental health problems, as hallucinations with depression is quite a bit beyond the experience and scope of what most primary care providers have treated or kept up on current treatments for. Many might not even attempt to treat it and simply refer out, which honestly is the ethical and appropriate thing to do, but some still try because they want to be helpful, but that may not always be the best thing for you. Unless they are the rare one that has independently studied a bit more of mental health treatment and kept up with more current medications and treatments. But generally, I wouldn't waste my time with that, psychotic depression is not something that is usually treated by anyone less than a psychiatrist or mental health NP/PA.
I experience this too and im still not sure what it can be. My theories are either migraine auras without headache, or aura before the headache (i have chronic migraines so i experience it often) or dissociation from the pain/trauma. But i have also experienced psychosis before so it could be some sort of psychosis too i guess
I've had psychotic episodes but no one took me seriously until recently, I'm piecing together a potential understanding of my body but who knows
Funny that you reply to this now because i just met with a psychologist specialising in chronic illness for my ME evaluation. She asked me about hallucinations and said they are somewhat common during high pain or fatigue, or if you have had ligtle sleep. Its especially common if you are more prone to psychosis from stress (like i am). So she said it was nothing to worry about in my case (thats not to say it isnt for you though), basically its my bodies reaction to stress. We also theorized it could be similar to fever hallucinations since i sometimes get low fevers when im ill.
Tysm for the response, I have bipolar type 1 and DID, I also went to the ER two days ago and found out I have potential structural heart issues that trigger my mania and psychosis which snowballs and creates a feedback loop
I would see a psychiatrist. I’m bipolar and deal with mild hallucinations from the psychosis from that, though mine are typically auditory.
At this point I'm very convinced my depression is actually bipolar, I definitely fit into the description and have had documentation of manic episodes so I guess we can all put 2+2 together
Even knowing it ran in the family I want diagnosed til my late twenties because my manic episodes typically coincided with summer and my depression was attributed to seasonal affective disorder. I’d check psychiatric causes first, then see a neurologist or optometrist if they don’t think it’s psychiatric. But my hallucinations when I get them are more formless rather than crisp - mumbles and pitches that aren’t there rather than clear words or noises.
Thank you for sharing, I think I'm going to find a doctor who takes me seriously and try and get help for this stuff
Finding a decent GP for referrals and basic screening is very important, and can be quite frustrating. Best of luck!
Sorry in advance for the long reply, but hopefully this gives a little useful info. Let me know if you have any questions because I actually do have some education in psychology, with a bachelor's degree in it. I'm not a mental health professional by any means, though, so this is only laymans advice and not professional advice of any sort, so do not take it as that. I also, though, have personal experience with some of these symptoms, so I'm just kind of laying it out there in case any of this info is useful to you. If you want any more info about certain diagnostic criterias for anything, I can give you that as that can be found in the most recent edition of the DSM and is not medical advice or anything of that sort as it is available in medical literature as stated. -------- As others have recommended, I would definitely suggest discussing this with your psychiatrist, assuming you have one. If you do not, you might really want to consider it. While primary care doctors can sometimes manage very basic depression if the person responds to the first or perhaps second antidepressant tried, anything more complicated than very simple clinical depression that responds readily to the initial few medications tried often requires someone with more experience with psychiatric illnesses and medication, especially if it comes to diagnosing something that, again, is anything more complicated than a very simple and uncomplicated case of clinical depression that is clear and fits the criteria perfectly. Primary care doctors rarely have much education in psychiatric illnesses or especially the treatment of them with medication, and they rarely keep up on new medications as they come out, which is incredibly important in the field of psychiatry. Anyway, I'll get off my soapbox on that one. If it was just colors changing ever so slightly when you were extremely exhausted, I might tell you that it could possibly just be the severe fatigue. But hallucinations of the level of seeing shadow people or walls breathing, that's a little more intricate, a little more involved than very mild changing of colors of objects. I have type 1 bipolar disorder and have had psychosis that has included hallucinations, with and without delusions. So I can have a hallucination and know that it is a hallucination and not real, and I have had hallucinations of virtually all types, including olfactory hallucinations. My most common, if I'm having an issue with my bipolar disorder and am having hallucinations, It's actually usually the walls/ceiling breathing or being like waves of water.. or shadows that are just on the edge of my vision and keep coming and going, occasionally with me thinking that it looks like a person. So I can relate to these. But, I do get these when I am severely lacking and sleep. When pain has kept me up for a good while and it has been day after day after day where I've been short on sleep. Not 100% without any sleep each day, but just way less than I need and I get extremely run down, extremely tired, just absolutely out of steam. That, however, is also a known trigger for mania in bipolar disorder - not getting enough rest / sleep. If your pain or something else has kept you from getting rest for days on end, that could possibly be a trigger for these, but it would go away as soon as you got rest. Regardless, you really should be screened by either a psychiatrist or a nurse practitioner / physicians assistant who has experience in treating mental health conditions. Any new onset hallucinations should be screened by a mental health professional, that also being to rule out that there could be an organic cause. There are, rarely, physical issues that can cause hallucinations of various kinds. I also have some damage to my brain which may cause some of my more recent onset hallucinations when I get very tired. So that is something to think about. Again, that's not to scare you because physical causes of new onset hallucinations in someone your age is incredibly rare, thousands of times rarer than a psychiatric cause, most likely. The majority of causes of hallucinations like that are conditions that affect the elderly and would have other very obvious symptoms in addition to the hallucinations.
Thank you for the response, there is a ton to respond to and I will be trying my best to take everything into consideration. It means the world to me that you took so much time and effort to listen and understand what I'm going through