created by r4ksu on 04/02/2025 at 21:20 UTC
5746 upvotes, 84 top-level comments (showing 25)
Comment by tmahfan117 at 04/02/2025 at 21:27 UTC
3801 upvotes, 9 direct replies
But it seems from their descriptions the hallucinations aren’t necessarily always clear, but that not wearing their glasses and things being blurry prompts their brain to hallucinate more
Comment by Heselwood at 04/02/2025 at 21:28 UTC*
796 upvotes, 10 direct replies
I have schizophrenia and mine are clear with as well as without glasses. I've lived with it for almost 20 years now, and my hallucinations still scare me every time. I see like behind the faces of real people as if they were just wearing masks. And I see their real faces. I know it is not real, but I don't believe it. But my best buddies are those people only I can see. Having this for a long time I am still stunned sometimes how other people don't see them. And they are always evil. I can even feel them coming before I see them. They pump fear into me. But I have learned to act normal in public. At home it is a different story.
Comment by PercentageMaximum457 at 04/02/2025 at 21:34 UTC
610 upvotes, 4 direct replies
I remember a similar question being posed about videos. Schizophrenic people said that their hallucinations didn't always show up on camera, so they would film the area to check. For people whose hallucinations did show up on camera, they would send the video to a friend and ask if anything was there. (Which is why it's important not to joke about it if someone who is schizophrenic asks you.)
Comment by BSUR7 at 04/02/2025 at 21:22 UTC
820 upvotes, 6 direct replies
Actually a good question.
Comment by Ragnarsworld at 04/02/2025 at 21:33 UTC
83 upvotes, 4 direct replies
Hmmm, interesting. I wear glasses and in my dreams everything is clear.
Comment by annswertwin at 04/02/2025 at 21:47 UTC
69 upvotes, 1 direct replies
I had a psych rotation in nursing school and had a psych pt that had auditory hallucinations. She would pull her hood up over her head and plug her ears to hear them better. You knew that if she had her hood up she was listening to her voices, hers voices were nice according her.
Comment by often_awkward at 04/02/2025 at 21:41 UTC
57 upvotes, 1 direct replies
I'm never going to be able to not think of this. I think this is the best asked question yet this year.
Comment by sentient_nematodes at 04/02/2025 at 21:50 UTC
140 upvotes, 4 direct replies
Edit: should say people who are born blind.
Comment by Suzina at 04/02/2025 at 21:59 UTC
36 upvotes, 1 direct replies
I've heard that if you wear glasses normally and want to check if something is a hallucination, take off your glasses and look again. Everything else becomes blurry except the hallucination which stays clear.
Comment by Pistonenvy2 at 04/02/2025 at 21:44 UTC
25 upvotes, 2 direct replies
im not schizophrenic but i have hallucinated before, both from sleep deprivation/extreme paranoia and withdrawal from psychoactive medication and hallucinations dont work intuitively, psychosis is not something you could navigate logically, it just kind of happens to you and you do your best to get through it.
for me personally, it being a temporary experience was beneficial for me and my understanding of insanity and its nature. it helped me realize people who are regarded as insane or whatever are dealing with something that is completely unmanageable, its something you absolutely need help with, you cant just figure it out.
in my experience the hallucinations were never clear in the first place, maybe this is a result of my not actually being schizophrenic or having a mild experience but i was still able to tell that nothing was actually there, my brain was just playing tricks on me, i heard things that werent there, i saw things that werent there, these things werent even always discernable as a specific thing, sleep deprivation in particular would make me see bats a lot, a bat would just fly from one corner of the room to the other in my periphery and no longer be there. once i was stranded in the woods and i started seeing dinosaurs lurking around wanting to eat me and like swat teams descending from the tree tops to come arrest me, i was salient enough to know that this wasnt actually happening but what you know in these moments is worthless, what you are experiencing is more real than your ability to reassure yourself. during the withdrawal i actually heard what i would describe as the voice of a demon screaming "KILL THEM" like super loudly in my ear. if i didnt know i was hallucinating because i was withdrawing from medication i would have fucking shit myself. it was SO LOUD and real to me at the time but instead i just said "i will get through this and it will stop." and it did. some people arent so lucky as to have things go away, i legitimately cannot imagine how people tolerate living their life like that, its just horrific.
so hopefully that in some way helps add insight. i would imagine eyesight wouldnt be a determining factor at all, sometimes things are blurry, sometimes they arent.
Comment by viddytheshow at 04/02/2025 at 23:03 UTC
48 upvotes, 4 direct replies
Schizo checking in. Well...formerly, I guess. I'm in remission now for 12 or 13 years.
I never had visual hallucinations except for the occasional little black bugs crawling in my periphery. Like fast-moving silhouettes. I don't really feel right commenting directly on OP's question.
However, I did -- and still do, as it's the only "symptom" that's stuck with me -- hear music no one else hears. It sounds the same as any other music coming from an external source. My wife calls it my "bradio," and she likes to ask what's playing for me sometimes.
I mention this because, in what I hope is a fair analogy to OP's question, when an *actual* external audio source gets turned on (radio, TV, youtube, whatever), the bradio quiets down either mostly or completely. It wasn't always like that, but it is now. I don't have to hear two blaring songs at once, which is no one's idea of a good time.
In case anyone's curious, the bradio is playing Beverly Hills by Weezer as I type this. Don't super love that song, but I don't get much say in the matter.
Comment by BluejayFamiliar5117 at 04/02/2025 at 22:55 UTC
18 upvotes, 2 direct replies
i’m pretty damn blind and i hallucinate worse without glasses because my brain just kind of fills in the blanks of what it thinks is there. sometimes if i’m hallucinating bad at night putting my glasses on actually makes it better
Comment by vinate at 04/02/2025 at 22:18 UTC
15 upvotes, 2 direct replies
I'm not schizophrenic but do have a relatively strong prescription (-6.75) and have taken acid.
I found that the fractals I would see would be completely in focus whether I was wearing my glasses or not. It was a pretty surreal moment noticing that for the first time.
Comment by Zealousideal_Ad1704 at 04/02/2025 at 22:25 UTC
12 upvotes, 0 direct replies
My father was bipolar schizophrenic and had hallucinations..
When he was in his manic high, my mother can recall that my father shouted…..
“LOOK OUTSIDE, IT’S THE TRUMPETS OF BABYLON, LOOK AT THE PARADE OUTSIDE….”
Mother looks out the window and sees nothing.
( my father struggled his whole life but when he started to take his medication religiously, he never had another episode and was cool as a cucumber. He was the best dad.)
Comment by Commercial_Patient97 at 04/02/2025 at 22:21 UTC
11 upvotes, 2 direct replies
Not answering the question really but I haven't seen it mentioned and it may be interesting; look up Charles Bonnet syndrome.
Essentially when someone has severe sight loss (when they used to be sighted) the brain can fill in the gaps and cause hallucinations. It often happens in older people with macular degeneration (ARMD) and they are often afraid to say anything in case people think they're 'going mad'. Patients with ARMD are often warned it could be a side effect and they shouldn't be overly concerned about it.
Comment by blacktreefalls at 04/02/2025 at 21:46 UTC
10 upvotes, 1 direct replies
Not schizophrenic, but have poor eyesight from birth that wasn’t corrected by glasses for a long time and I often will have blurry dreams. So it can definitely affect your subconscious!
Comment by WarriorJax at 04/02/2025 at 22:01 UTC
10 upvotes, 1 direct replies
Okay, I gotta say I wasn’t in the best mood before I saw this but goddamn this question made me laugh and it brightened my day a little. Also it is a very interesting question though, I can’t offer any answers for it but I wanted to say thanks for the good laugh, OP.
Comment by KlobbiderKlumpen at 04/02/2025 at 22:08 UTC
7 upvotes, 0 direct replies
So apparently deaf people are seeing bodyless hands signing to them instead of "hearing voices in their head ". So I think the brain will create a way for the hallucinations to be noticed in any way or form.
Comment by Kesselya at 04/02/2025 at 22:12 UTC
5 upvotes, 1 direct replies
I am not schizophrenic, but after I got glasses as a child (I was 7), my dreams were always blurry.
For several months I would have to mime putting on my glasses as I was falling asleep and that somehow tricked my subconscious into thinking I still had my glasses on and my dreams were normal again.
I am 45 now and I do have recurring dreams where I don’t have my glasses, and in the dream I end up having to find my glasses in order for the dream to be clear again.
I have incredibly vivid dreams, in full colour, and I have fairly good recall of my dreams.
I imagine that a schizophrenic person might also have blurry hallucinations. I suspect that it is an individual experience and will vary from person to person.
Comment by comoelpepper at 04/02/2025 at 21:37 UTC
22 upvotes, 1 direct replies
I'm not schizophrenic but I'm bipolar and in my worse manias I've had severe delusions and seen things that are not there. I also cannot see crap close up without 🤓 glasses. Didn't stop me from thinking I wasn't seeing something very clearly without my glasses right in front of my face. Your brain always sees things very clearly. Or mine does anyway.
Comment by MotanulScotishFold at 04/02/2025 at 21:53 UTC
4 upvotes, 2 direct replies
I'm also curious if deaf schizophrenics people can hear voices or blind one can see halucinations?
Comment by Scriptapaloosa at 04/02/2025 at 21:48 UTC
4 upvotes, 0 direct replies
They don’t “see” their hallucinations per se, their brain generates them.
Comment by sailphish at 04/02/2025 at 22:51 UTC
4 upvotes, 1 direct replies
People with schizophrenia mostly have auditory hallucinations, and any hallucination (auditory or visual) are quite often vague and abstract - think screams, shadows… etc. It’s not like you have a cartoon character walking through life next to you.
Comment by Hair_Hefty at 04/02/2025 at 23:51 UTC
3 upvotes, 0 direct replies
I'm not schizophrenic, but I do have a condition that causes random hypoglycemia (not diabetes). This, in turn, can cause hallucinations if my blood sugar drops low enough. I've had them my entire life.
The best way I can describe the clarity is that there's exactly as clear as my brain interprets them to be. "Blurry" and "clear" are pretty much non-applicable concepts, since it's my brain that's seeing them, not my eyes. I liken it to when you daydream; is it blurry or clear? Neither, it's what your brain says it is.
I'll note that I'm fully aware my hallucinations aren't there or real, unlike schizophrenia. I'm not sure if that has any influence on their clarity
Comment by DarkLarceny at 04/02/2025 at 21:48 UTC
3 upvotes, 0 direct replies
I think the thing people don’t realise is that the hallucinations we think of are like pictures playing out in front of us, clear as day. I had a friend with schizophrenia, and often he would describe it as being attacked from all sides utilising all the senses, not just visual. And even then, the visuals he described as not really making much sense, and not always tangible.