is it worse to see something thats not there or something that is there?

Question

something that could scare the hell out of you.

Answer 1

Well, since a majority of humans see things that ARE there, I would say it's worse to see something that is NOT.

That's called a visual hallucination and it's a symptom of psychosis.

I'm suspecting you might have meant to ask the degree of severity indicated by positive and negative hallucinations.

Some people see things that are imagined and believe those things are real. That's a positive hallucination. They're adding a perception to reality with their mind. Other people cannot see things that truly are there. That's a negative hallucination. Their mind taking something out of their perception.

In this case, I would argue that a negative hallucination could be worse (and maybe scarier), although you have to make sure to account for actual physiological visual impairments (blindness of some sort). But positive hallucinations can be much worse depending on the complexity of the hallucination. Seeing a streak of light in the night sky is not as bad as having an entire human hallucination... someone you talk to and see and spend time with and who is not actually real. See movies like Beautiful Mind or Fight Club to get a sense of what I'm talking about.

Answer 2

I would say it depends on what it is.
Ok i am going to play devils advocate here and say how can you see something that is not there?
I think the idea of being able to see something that is not there freaks me out a bit but if i am not sure what i am seeing i tell myself it is not real.
If you are a spiritual person you could see something in your minds eye because you believe it is there or believe that it will happen in the future but if that is the case then you would have faith that everything will be okay and what you see would not scare you.
I have knowledge of a condition called obsessive compulsive disorder where people imagine that they have been involved in an accident or see words change on a page from positive to negative but that is to do with the mind not the sight.
Some people believe they see ghosts or spirit people i have not had that experience personally but although some people believe in them others would be inclined to say that they are a trick of the mind or strong memories or negative forces.
I think anything people do not fully understand may freak them out a little.

Answer 3

A better question would be how do you know you're seeing something that isn't there?

If you think you're having some sort of visions, I would recommend you pray about them. If that doesn't help, I recommend seeing a licensed, experienced psychiatrist.

Answer 4

Depends on what it is?? ;)