Friday, December 4, 2009

My Little Mental Problem

I suffer from hallucinations. Do you?

I have what are called "tactile hallucinations", which is feeling things that aren't there. Tactile hallucinations are usually not associated with a mental illness: Phantom limb sensation in amputees is the most obvious tactile hallucination. Crawling skin in drug abusers is another. However, some people can suffer from severe and debilitating mentally-disordered tactile hallucinations such as hard pushing, punching, or squeezing.

My hallucinations are really small, intermittent, and minor compared to anything mentioned above. Every once in a while (once or twice per day), I feel a drop of cool water hit me — mostly on my forearms, but also on my head or legs. When I check, there is no sign of any moisture or anything.

Since I'm not an amputee or drug user, I figure my tactile hallucinations must be a mental problem... albeit a small one. (I figure the various locations in which I get these sensations would rule out any kind of nerve conduction or other somatic etiology.)

This is basically the same as auditory, visual, or olfactory (smell) hallucinations, where your brain creates input from organs where none actually exists. I assume that soon I'll be sitting down and having conversations with Winston Churchill or something, which I sort of look forward to.

Of course, if anyone else has these exact symptoms, and decided to see a doctor about them, and found out that it was a precursor to some rare disorder that can be cured by drinking more beer or something, please let me know.

3 comments:

  1. I do believe I've had that symptom once in a while. Not as often as you, and not enuf to make an issue of it. So - perhaps it's inherited.

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  2. It could also be the beer, if consumed on a regular basis and in large amounts for way to long a time.

    What's ya think.

    Jon

    Just a thought.

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  3. Oh no. It could never be the beer. Beer is my friend. Beer would never play tricks on me.

    Well, I'd say it's a possibility that these are a mild form of DTs, but I've never had more serious withdrawal from alcohol.

    I'm still what would be considered a heavy drinker though... drinking between 15 and 20 drinks per week (2-3 per day). But I would say that is about half of what I used to drink since moving to Asia 7 years ago (especially in Pattaya back in 2005-2006) and about the same level as what I used to drink back in the states.

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