Hallucination or not?

Question

Here is my Q:

I recently was in the hospital for having suicidal thoughts. After all said and done my psychiatrist said I had a manic episode previous to hospitalization and I am now in depression. In the hospital I was having hallucinations and mood swings which I'm taking risperdal and trazadone to control and alleviate. I'm since out but I keep finding myself having hallucinations and I don't think I'm day dreaming. I find myself in a different place when I have these "things" and it all seems so real. It takes me a moment to come back to reality. An example of my halluctinations is that I find I'm skiing down a mountain and I feel the rush and the wind; I also find myself being mugged on the street; I also hear my name being called; I also saw a spider crawl across my keyboard at work-seems so real! These are intermittent and I'm a little concerened because the doc thinks it's not bipolar disorder. Also my memory is bad lately. So my question is what do you think is happening.

Answer 1

Hi there,

I am 22 years old and diagnosed bipolar at age 19. When I was 20 I was hospitalized in the same manner. The doctors said I had psychomotor retardation and was close to catatonic (rigid nonmovement). I rapid-cycled in the hospital and for the first time I started hallucinating (mostly visual).

In the months after I came out of the hospital I found myself in exactly the situation as yourself. Your state of unreality is dissociation (at least in some form). I would often notice strange quirks from the corner of my eye or that I was watching everything happen as if it were on a movie screen before me. The name calling and the brief notice of a spider were common to me as well.

The memory problems are also a symptom of the illness. I would often find myself wandering the streets and in a moment of clarity I couldn't remember why I left the house in the first place. For a while I started questioning if the people talking to me were real or not, if I was awake or not... (trust me, the people are real, you are awake..and this will pass).

I was taking large amounts of lithium, depakote and risperdal during this period.

I myself spent the better part of a year wondering if I was schizoaffective and not bipolar...My doctor did not and still has not jumped to conclusions about it and I have stayed bipolar 1 with psychotic features.

My suggestion is for you not to worry about it. The treatment for bipolar disorder w/ psychotic features and schizoaffective disorder are EXACTLY THE SAME in that you take mood stabilizing medication and an antipsychotic.

Hallucinations can and do occur in bipolar disorder and these symptoms are all indicative of bipolar disorder with psychotic features.

I had one serious psychotic flare up after that period at age 21 (after I had stopped the antipsychotic risperdal). I started to possess much more serious delusions and hallucinations. After going back on medication it lasted only a week and a half. The doctor said that because of my insight into and the nature of some of my delusions (some really struck me as schizophrenia - people all whispering about me, an attraction to air vents and light sockets) he kept me at bipolar w/ psychotic features.

So what do I think is happening?

You have a mental illness and you just got out of the hospital. It is going to take time for the medications to work and it is going to take time for you to recover. It may take 2 or 3 months or 2 or 3 years, or both. I have found that my bipolar disorder is a lot more than just moods. I barely passed my classes last semester because I did no work for 2 months because I couldn't concentrate well enough to read a sentence. Medications were adjusted and changed and voila! I could read again.

It is in these last couple months that I really can say that I have fully recovered since age 19.

However, I do not expect there never to be a flare up. I don't even expect that there isn't going to be a flare up next week. I hope the next flare up will be minor, but if it is not that is okay. I accept this as a part of my life, and it looks like it is part of yours as well.

Based on your description I do not really see anything that strikes me as "schizoaffective," and I'm sure one doctor's psychotic bipolar is another's schizoaffective. Take it with a grain of salt.

Answer 2

Ok, *sigh*. Sit and have a cookie while we talk... perhaps even a turkey sandwich to calm you down a bit. By Definition one who hallucinates...is seeing things. Now if you are asking if one can really "see" something like a ghost and how...? Love the question. This is a bit of a personal trip. Your reality may not be someone elses... How can I say this. Well, in real life when a group of people see an accident, police studies have shown that everyone did see what they said they saw ==> but all of the stories were mostly different. This is do to personal background experience and mental filters do to life's experiences. It was shown by Standford Research Institute & the US Government studies that ESP/PSI or what ever you want to call it... Does NOT function on any band of the magnet wave sprectum. Therefor this has nothing to do with radio waves, etc. Also, while being in an alpha or thata state mentally may hyp you up or relax you...has little to do with PSI I believe and have seen proof of PSI talent However, let's get real. It has been shown for years in real studies that most people in treatment for a mental disorder will have visions and other dream situations that are pure dreaming states. Then, again one can't discount the Indian cultures that utilizenatural chemicals to enhance their ability to reach their "guides" to help and assist in solving problems successfully. It is a toss up, yet logic says that most are hallucinating, not being psychic. Why do I feel that? Because it seems to me that the world would be in a much better place if all of those hallucinations were really psi visions. Most real talents want to help the world once they have grown out of the "power & control" phase. Oh, dear one, reality is of your own making. Truly, if you haven't learned that then good luck on your journey. Positive affirmations will help your life a great deal. By the way. That study that the radio spoke about on drinking coffee... well, it was done in a non research manner with no true study protocal. Come on, they took a group of college students, then split up the group by who hallucinated and who didn't? Dah! This is one of the worst studies ever done and exposed to the public for awareness. No cross section of population. No double blind. I'm not a stats person, but even I recognize the stupidity of this study.

Answer 3

I also think you may be having the first signs of Schizophrenia. If you are currently about 28 to 32 years old, that is a period in most people's life where they experience a maturational crisis, and it is one of the times when Schizophrenia usually manifests itself if it did not do it during your late teens when the first maturational crisis occurs. If you think it is so real, and can not understand how it can be so, consider renting a copy of "A Beautiful Mind." It is the movie adaptation of a novel based on the life of Nobel Laureate John Nash, a mathematical genius at Stanford University who eventually won the Nobel prize. It gives a good sense (Hollywood style) of how real hallucinations can be for people who suffer them. You truly need professional help and the meds you are taking are helpful to many people, but the medical professional you are using must know that you are continuing to have hallucinations. He may have to adjust your dosage. Hope this helps.

Answer 4

I don't really know what is causeing this, but i had things like that for years, and doctors, and staff would not believe me, so i know what you are talking about. I am really sorry that you have to go through this stuff, cause it sure is not fun, and it does confuse you about what is really happening and what is not happening. So I would go and see a different doctor if they can not pin point what is happening to you, cause something is going on, and you need to get some help for it now before, it just keeps continueing , and getting worse. I don't have bi polar disorder, so i can not say that is what it is, it could be a lot of things, one is a lack of sleep, but there are many things that can cause what is happen with you, and you really need to get hooked up with the right doctor and therapist that can help you work through this, and stop what is happening to you. So please go and see someone else, and get the help that you really need, and you really need it now, so even if you have to call the crisis line cause it is the weekend, then call them, they can hook you up with someone if you tell them what is going on, You take care , and be safe, god bless, and please get the help you need. and do it right away.

Answer 5

Welcome to my world. I am taking Risperdal 2mg and Lithium and Zoloft. I have mood swings too and hallucinations. I think you need a dosage increase on the Risperdal if you're still having the hallus. I am diagnosed as schizoaffective bipolar type, and maybe that's what you are. I hope you get this figured out.

Answer 6

it sounds to me like it is schizophrenia.i have schizophrenia also. and it's sometimes can hard to control without medication,it also sounds severe that you need more help than your getting.if you have bi-polar as well as schizophrenia that disorder is called schizoaffective disorder that's what i really have with some ocd etc.i know mental illness like that back of my hand.my hallucinations r different from yours but i know what they and you really are having serious ones your mind is very delusion at this state.my memory is also bad by the way.i hope your pcychaitrist knows what really is happening to you.because i know what it is and it is that what i said.

Answer 7

Schizophrenia?

Answer 8

Sounds like schizophrenia

Answer 9

BE SURE TO TELL YOUR DR SO THE DR CAN ADJUST YOUR MEDS