Thank you Costello!

I believe there is meaning in madness too, but your link was especially helpful, and it does make sense. So maybe my experience wasn't so atypical after all.

I often wonder if some hallucinatory or psychotic experiences aren't 'real' in the sense that other people might perceive the same (or a similar) thing if their own chemistry was altered by whatever.

Not all, but some.

Also, I wonder if some people who perceive themselves to be tormented by spirits aren't really tormented by spirits. Sometimes the simplest explanation is the best. Occam's razor I think it's called. I still have altered perceptions at times, but I don't think of them as hallucinatory or delusional, just odd. I think many 'sane' people do.

Thank you for your helpful response.