Can Stress Cause Hallucinations

There are three types of hallucinations. They can be visual when you see things that aren’t there. You can have olfactory hallucinations, which means you smell scents with one or both nostrils that aren’t in your environment. Finally, you might have auditory hallucinations, which are the most common. This is hearing someone speaking to you or telling you to do something. For example, quite often, a person who is grieving the loss of a close loved one will say they “hear” the person playing, moving, or calling to them in another room.

Causes of Hallucinations

Intense negative emotions such as stress or grief can make people particularly vulnerable to hallucinations. Conditions such as hearing or vision loss and drugs or alcohol can also cause hallucinations.

Hearing or vision loss makes those senses less acute, so movement or sounds can sound or look other than they are. On top of this, the brain is highly skilled at identifying patterns in a split second to identify things, but sometimes the brain gets it wrong, and you may think you saw/heard something that isn’t there. If you’ve ever thought you saw a dog on the side of the road in the distance, only to get closer and realize it’s a trash bag, you’ve experienced this. However, stress can amplify the effects to the point that these become frequent and more impactful.

Drugs and alcohol can also disrupt how the brain works, creating similar effects that may last longer than a few seconds, and may go on for minutes or hours. During detox from substances, you may also experience these phenomena as the brain adjusts to no longer having the substance in the system. Drugs and alcohol put tremendous stress on the body.

So can stress cause hallucinations? It can… in certain circumstances.

How Can Stress Cause Hallucinations?

Experts would not consider stress to be an original cause of hallucinations. When you feel stressed, it’s not actually the stress doing anything to you. What you’re feeling and experiencing is how your body and brain deal with stress and this can vary from person to person. Certain factors can play into how your brain deals with stress:

  • Physical health
  • Mental health
  • Stress management skills
  • Past traumas or current abuse
  • Other environmental factors

Stress can also provoke the symptoms of an underlying mental illness such as:

  • Psychotic disorders
  • Mood disorders
  • Anxiety
  • Trauma

These can also make the likelihood of hallucinations worse. Even if you’ve never been diagnosed with a mental health condition, triggers for these disorders can be stress-related and can cause mental illnesses to make themselves known.

Determining the Exact Cause of Hallucinations

The only way to find out the cause of hallucinations is with a thorough professional diagnosis. This may include blood and urine tests and a brain scan if needed, but it will also usually include a psychological evaluation where a professional speaks with you to assess how stress, life, substances, or other factors may impact your mental health.

Hallucinations can be more than disturbing. They can disrupt your life and could even cause harm to you or others if you struggle to determine what’s real. Considering the risks to one’s well-being, urgent attention is necessary.

Early attention typically improves your chances of learning to manage the hallucinations and/or treat the cause so that you can have a better outcome. When you get help early, it prevents the mental and emotional decline that is common once a person starts having hallucinations.

For questions/assistance, please call 828-394-6722 (For emergencies, dial 911).

Treatment for Hallucinations

Treatment options vary depending on the cause of the hallucinations. Possible treatments include psychological therapies and medications. The therapies involved depend on the cause of your hallucinations. You may need to work through trauma, learn effective stress management skills, or have an addiction to overcome.

Having a strong support system composed of friends, family, and medical professionals can help you understand and recover from hallucinations. Many find it difficult to talk to someone about these hallucinations because of misunderstandings of what hallucinations are and social stigmas. But you can find support at Jonas Hill. You will be heard here.

Jonas Hill Hospital & Clinic a division of Caldwell Memorial Hospital provides our community with safe, dignified and integrated care for adult patients experiencing an acute mental health need. We provide hope, treatment, and healing through a holistic program of evidence-based psychiatric treatment, team-based medical care, and education provided by engaging and dedicated professionals in a safe and healing environment. Contact Jonas Hill Hospital and Clinic today at (828) 394-6722 for more information. A safe space to heal.