New here and have experienced my first obvious hallucination

I know this is long, but it's VERY important that every detail is considered.

A few weeks ago I experienced my first visual hallucination (or I should say, first one that was blatantly obvious). I was in 7-11. I should note that I was a little high (that being said I'm high a lot and have yet to have an experience like this) I also was on my period and had a headache, and felt over all delirious. I was in the candy section and suddenly began to see out of the corner of my eye, that the labels names had changed to either a disease and/or a sexually explicit word (for example Butterfinger was Buttrape, Reese's cups was Reese's c*unts, Skittles was Syphilis etc.,). The effect was like that of the famous checker squares where you see dots until you look at the actual dot;

http://www.instructables.com/files/deriv…

This particular effect caused my eyes to dart from label to label to try and figure out what was going on. It was disturbing and confusing so much so that I was COMPLETELY unaware of the fact that I had spilled a LARGE amount of my Horchata on the floor. It wasn't until the Cashier began yelling "CESSPOOL! CESSPOOL! CESSPOOL!" (I am also puzzled on that choice of word) That I was aware that I even had spilled anything.

If this was the ONLY hallucination I EVER had, I would let this slide. However, I have experienced voices since I was 10 (all random, brief, non-specific and yearly at the most). The only other incidents are iffy, but questionable. I frequently have people glare and/or wickedly grin at me when I'm out, and have experienced over-hearing people that I don't know saying REALLY bad and threatening things about me (most recent episode was at Denny's, caused me a panic attack). I often hear wicked laughter and whispering to, or people looking at me like I'm dangerous. That being said, I live in downtown Hollywood, and there are a LOT of crazy people here that are notorious for doing these things. But at the same time, I find it hard to believe that my mere presence would cause SO MANY random people to express such hate. When these things happen, I usually begin having a panic attack, or begin running like a crazy person to safety.

I have also experienced tactile hallucinations for the last year. It's basically like something (non-descript) darting at my face. It's VERY startling and causes me to jump and flinch, and sometimes scream. Sometimes when I'm walking, the same effect happens, but it's more so aimed at my feet. It's like some weird, faceless creature trying to trip me, and it freaks me the hell out every time.

I know this is long, but I wanted to be as clear and descriptive as possible. A close friend of mine said I should get help before things get worse, but I don't have insurance, and I'm also afraid my family and the doctors will think I'm making things up. Believe me, I want to believe it's something else, but it's all adding up.

I'm scared, confused and alone. What should I do? Should I just ignore this and wait until another blatant hallucination happens to really worry?

Hello anon47,

If I condense what you have said, you experience or have experiences auditory, visual and tactile hallucinations. You also seem to have delusions (thinking that random people talk about you in negative ways, or that they look at you like you were a killer). You also describe an event where you have had disorganized thoughts (Skittles <-> Syphilis). Please understand that no one here has the knowledge and experience to diagnose you (even if we do research), but I highly recommend you to go see a psychiatrist. By doing that right now, you will avoid problems in the future, such as a full-blown psychotic episode.

If it is schizophrenia, there is unfortunately no cure, but there are many treatment options available, each with their own advantages and disadvantages.

I hope this helps you in a way, and that you get better !