At lunch, I mentioned I had read on Cracked.com that many people suffer from auditory hallucinations. (If you go to the link, it’s a few paragraphs in to the #1 Horrific Way Your Brain Can Turn On You Without Warning.)
I’ve always assumed this happens to everyone. However, the article says “the most common [is] the sound of voices (often your name, spoken aloud) right as you’re falling asleep.”
They are dead on when they say the most common auditory hallucination is of someone saying your name.
The Most Common Things I Hear When I Hear Things That Aren’t There
1. Mom saying my name. I can hear her saying it, flat, no affect. “Ellen.”
2. Gary saying something. Gary talks to himself all the time anyway, so I ignore. I think I’ve talked about this with Gary. If so, I’m sure he answered “Oh, that happens to everyone.”
3. Unknown voice saying my name.
4. Unknown voice saying “Help.” Again, just casually, not screaming or anything.
5. Unknown voice saying “Hey.”
6. And most recently, an unknown voice saying flatly, “Whatever you want.” This was this last weekend when I was still in bed, but awake.
Rest assured, this isn’t the delusional superego on steroids that blames me for being alive and requires me to take medication. That thing won’t shut up when it gets going. This is just, you know, a random word. Not a conversation, not upsetting. Just like a flash of light in your eye, it’s a flash of words in your ear.
However, it doen’t happen to me when I’m falling asleep. Evidently, Wikipedia says it happens more often when one drinks coffee.
Happily, of the four people at the lunch table, one said it she knew what I was talking about. Now I’m curious. Does anyone else know what I’m talking about?
10 responses to “Revealing Lunch”
Nope. Closed book to me. Sounds intriguing (ha ha). Sort of feel I’m missing out.
Actually, this was something I brought up with my shrink because I was afraid that I had hallucinated:
1. A cat meowing when I got out of my car. I think, though, that it was just the creakiness of the car next to me.
2. People saying my name. I KNOW. My shrink shrugged this off. Since this occurred usually at the office, it could have been people saying any number of things that sound like my name.
3. An earthquake. But no, that was real.
And I drink tankards of coffee.
I imagine that I hear people saying my name all the time. I thought that was just because I’m a bit of an egoiste.
Now you’re telling me it a brain thing that happens to a lot of people? Is it because they also have large senses of self-importance?
This has happened to me- used to happen more often when I was younger. There was also an incident overhearing a muted conversation in a graveyard and realising that there were no other people there… mom was with me and didn’t hear it so maybe it was in my head or maybe she’s just not as receptive to ghosts. Her loss!
It happens to me as I am drifting off to sleep now and then. I usually sit bolt upright and yell, “What?”. It happens particularly after indulging in cheese late in the day. I assumed it was just part of my charm. Sad to learn it might be common.
Oh, the sleep paralysis one happened to me once. It was freaky. And then it stopped. Yay.
Mother calls me when I’m overtired and stressed out (but ONLY when I’m alone in a quiet house, standing in the kitchen. Which is weird because my mother’s least favorite room was the kitchen.) She uses my full double name, which is rare. Hasn’t happened in years, though.
And then there’s the voice that tells me when there’s a dangerous person nearby, or a police car hiding behind the billboard, or deer crossing the road just over the crest of the hill, but that’s different. Not my mind playing tricks. Obviously true prescience.
Other than that, nothing.
The doorbell ringing when I’m in bed. I race downstairs and there’s no one there.
Oh yeah. I hear that ghost voice of my mother calling my name just before I fall asleep. It’s just a brain tic. I am a person with no spiritual dimension, so that’s my response to these creepy things.
Big Dot – Nah, just a distraction. No drama, at least for me.Becs – But is it ever your moms voice? I hope not.Tami – Tami, Tami, Tami. Tami. Nope.Elisabeth – Not the voice of Mom, but a voice next to a Mom. How is it that Moms bring this on? Maybe we hear Moms in our lizard brains when we are fetuses?Zayrina- Cheese? Cheese, not coffee? Odd.Becs- That happened to a friend here too. It sounds terrifying.~~Silk – Huh- do you drink a lot of coffee when you are tried and stressed out? Maybe that’s what bringing up MomAllison – Well, that’s a much more annoying hallucination. Can’t ignore a doorbell.Hattie- I see it as a brain tic. If it hadn;t been happening all my life and then just popped up when Mom died,well, that might freak me out.