Hallucinating can be very frightening and potentially dangerous. There are many reasons why you or a loved one may be experiencing hallucinations.
People experiencing hallucinations can sometimes lead to dangerous situations that can harm you or others. Here’s a brief guide on what can cause hallucinations and the dangers.
What Are the Dangers of Hallucinating?
Hallucinating means that someone is seeing something that is not there. However, it can also affect other sensory perceptions that make the person experiencing a hallucination hear, smell, taste, or touch what they believe is real.
Since the experience can be so vivid, many people become terrified. Although the hallucinations themselves can’t hurt anybody, they can sometimes lead the person experiencing the hallucination to do something dangerous like running in front of an oncoming car.
Some people may have difficulty identifying if they’re hallucinating because the experience can be real and difficult to separate from real life. It is crucial to have others around them to identify when the person is hallucinating and ensure their safety.
What Can Cause Hallucinations?
Multiple factors can cause hallucinations, so someone should seek medical help if they are experiencing it. Many things can disrupt your brain or body’s chemical and physical makeup, which can cause hallucinations. The following are the possibilities for why you or a loved one may be experiencing hallucinations:
- Psychotic mental health disorders
- Medication side effects
- Aftereffect of anesthesia
- Charles Bonnet Syndrome
- Late-stage Alzheimer’s
- Late-stage Parkinson’s disease
- Sleep deprivations and Narcolepsy
- Severe dehydration
- Infections and high fevers
- Poorly controlled diabetes
Besides the root cause of the hallucinations, they can also be triggered. People can often experience hallucinations after an intense emotional experience or chain of anxious thoughts. People experiencing hallucinations should seek medical help to identify the root cause of the hallucinations and what might be triggering it.
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