[Wanderlust90]

Is it common to have hallucinations that you are aware are hallucinations at the time it is happening? This isn't considered to be psychosis is it? As I haven't necessarily lost touch with reality but it's more of an alteration in perception?

What do your hallucinations tell you? Mine likes to call me stupid. Maybe if I didn't think I was stupid the voice wouldn't tell me I am. I do hear this voice outside of my head like I heard it with my own ears. In an empty room.

[cashart10]

I'm not sure if this is psychosis but I think it is. During my psychotic break, I definitely had psychosis as I heard the voice of God and believed it was him. I saw Jesus coming on the clouds (from my bedroom), and believed someone could read my mind. These days, when I have audio hallucinations, I recognize them as such. They don't scare me unless they interact with me, but even then am aware it's not reality. So is this psychosis? If I understand correctly they are still psychosis.

[BlueInanna]

You're certainly not stupid. You are well spoken and Intelligent in your posts here. Coming to an agreement with the self talk might help. Trying to fully shut out my inner critic didn't work. But finding out that she just wanted me to be healthy and had a really mean way of saying it. We came to agreement that she would say it nicer.
Possibly would be a psychotic symptom, but depends on who's giving the opinion too.

[Tucson]

Hallucinations are to be taken very seriously in my opinion. Please be careful. I see this term being used to describe psychosis. I think it is part and parcel to psychosis. But I would get to your pdoc for help understanding what is actually happening to you. I have found some others here to be fully aware that they were hallucinating.

[Wanderlust90]

I did tell my current pdoc, he seemed to be like oh yeh whatever & moved on. My original pdoc was pointing out early psychosis symptoms that I had let him know about. More stuff like inability to shut out stimuli at work in order to focus, everything being louder & brighter, getting confused between dreams & reality, having very brief mild psychotic symptoms, being disconnected, suspiciousness & tangential thinking. So I'm a little worried that new pdoc brushed it off. He did put me on low dose AP though, I'm not sure such a low dose actually behaves as an AP.

I feel like I'm aware of all these things so it must be ok, I think they have gotten better not worse but I am still abit concerned that it may get worse.

[Tucson]

Originally Posted by Wanderlust90

I did tell my current pdoc, he seemed to be like oh yeh whatever & moved on. My original pdoc was pointing out early psychosis symptoms that I had let him know about. More stuff like inability to shut out stimuli at work in order to focus, everything being louder & brighter, getting confused between dreams & reality, having very brief mild psychotic symptoms, being disconnected, suspiciousness & tangential thinking. So I'm a little worried that new pdoc brushed it off. He did put me on low dose AP though, I'm not sure such a low dose actually behaves as an AP.

I feel like I'm aware of all these things so it must be ok, I think they have gotten better not worse but I am still abit concerned that it may get worse.

It does not look like you have been dxed with accompanying psychosis. Has this happened to you in the past? What did this doctor say about it then? His response is quite peculiar, quite peculiar indeed. This is disconcerting to me.

Tucson

[Wanderlust90]

No I've never had a dx of psychotic features. The auditory hallucinations started after I moved & stopped seeing my original pdoc but he seemed concerned that there were early warning signs, he started lithium & prn seroquel.

Since I've moved I had the auditory hallucinations & new pdoc is so not concerned, I refused to go back on seroquel & he said ok then & moved on. I told 2 of the mental health nurses about it, the first time I had an auditory hallucination was when I stopped lithium, they both said to restart it asap before I was able to get into a pdoc, I didn't & it was ok.

[Tucson]

Originally Posted by Wanderlust90

No I've never had a dx of psychotic features. The auditory hallucinations started after I moved & stopped seeing my original pdoc but he seemed concerned that there were early warning signs, he started lithium & prn seroquel.

Since I've moved I had the auditory hallucinations & new pdoc is so not concerned, I refused to go back on seroquel & he said ok then & moved on. I told 2 of the mental health nurses about it, the first time I had an auditory hallucination was when I stopped lithium, they both said to restart it asap before I was able to get into a pdoc, I didn't & it was ok.

I am reluctant to come out and say this, that unless he gives you a good explaination for dismissing it, then I would encourage you to find another pdoc. But I would keep the last part to yourself. Sometimes I find that I need to hold my pdoc accountable for his actions. This would be one ocassion that I would do this. Doing so may be all you need to do to get his attention. At the very least it can lead to a more productive conversation.

Tucson

[Wanderlust90]

I'm going home to visit in 2 weeks & managed to get an appointment with my old pdoc so I'll see what he thinks too. My new pdoc is very old school & runs the inpatient ward in the public hospital so I'm sure he's used to dealing with patients who are quite severerly ill. He believes it's anxiety, he's not sure that I have bipolar. First pdoc was pretty adamant about bipolar.

My one fear is this is early psychosis & it's currently at a level able to be treated & prevent actually psychosis which is obviously one of the most frightening things I can imagine, or perhaps it is severe anxiety.

[Tucson]

Originally Posted by Wanderlust90

I'm going home to visit in 2 weeks & managed to get an appointment with my old pdoc so I'll see what he thinks too. My new pdoc is very old school & runs the inpatient ward in the public hospital so I'm sure he's used to dealing with patients who are quite severerly ill. He believes it's anxiety, he's not sure that I have bipolar. First pdoc was pretty adamant about bipolar.

My one fear is this is early psychosis & it's currently at a level able to be treated & prevent actually psychosis which is obviously one of the most frightening things I can imagine, or perhaps it is severe anxiety.

Yes, I think at the hospital he would treat hallucinations as par for the course. After all, it is a psychiatric hospital. But dealing with those patients in his outside private counseling practice is something completely different. I am not saying he cannot help you. I am not saying he is not helping you. There is just something lacking in the relationship here. Furthermore, since you have to deal with and have a high degree of function in the outside world, I think any kind of hallucination has to be dealt with differently than that which would occur inside a hospital. So at the very least, he owes you an explaination. Perhaps he is relying on you to hit the panic button if it happens again? If that is the case, he should give you parameters to go by in order for you to make this decision intelligently.

Tucson

[Wanderlust90]

Thanks Tuson you make a very good point & I will mention this to him when I see him next, maybe he thinks I know what's too much. I do I suppose, like if it starts happening more frequently or becomes more distressing etc, but he hasn't discussed with me the risks/chances of this kind of thing actually escalating into a psychosis which I would imagine would make it difficult for me to ask for help or even be able to recognise when it's happening.