Topic: anxiety

Question: Why do I see and hear things that are not real?
I’m a teenager. I am almost always paranoid. Recently, I started to think they watch. I keep seeing in the corner of my eye someone moving. The other night, I heard breathing in my room, and my eyes focused on a black shape. I turned on the lights, but no one was there.

Answer (from Kaileen McMickle, MS, LPCLicensed Professional Counselor):
I've worked with teens in a day treatment program for about 6 years now and it's been a theme that a lot of them see dark figures out of the corner of their eyes.  Pretty common with teens that have endured trauma--physical or sexual abuse, witnessing domestic violence, etc.  We don't have a lot of information on why this happens, but it's theorized that the brain projects the emotions outside of us in the form of dark figures--maybe just as a reflection of what is existing on the inside of the brain or even to give some emotional relief.  When we have kids that have experienced those types of hallucinations, they almost always disappear once they have worked through their trauma.  Sometimes visual and auditory hallucinations are symptoms of mental health disorders as well, though that's pretty rare for those to start as early as the teens years.  It's best to have your symptoms checked out by a medical professional and maybe even a psychiatrist to get a better idea of what may be happening.   Are you or have you been taking any medications that could potentially have these side effects?  If you do visit one or both professionals, make sure you or a caregiver is giving them all the details about your symptoms so they can help you as much as possible.A big question here is what is your sleep like?  Lack of sleep is notorious for causing hallucinations and can become severe after only a few nights of sleep deprivation.  If you are having trouble sleeping, that may be another topic to discuss with your doctor.No matter what it is, it's obviously scary otherwise you wouldn't feel paranoid.  Try some techniques to calm yourself a few times during the day, like deep breathing or movement-based strategies like yoga.  Whatever speaks to you.  And remember that while you are figuring this issue out, the hallucinations can't hurt you even if they get stronger.Glad you are reaching out to get some help!

Answer (from Sherry Katz, LCSWCouples and Family Therapist, LCSW):
Sounds like anxiety and a strong imagination are getting the better of you.Do you sometimes have less confidence in yourself than you'd like to have?  Or doubt and question yourself in matters which in hindsight were easier to solve than you realized at first?These are two examples of anxiety blurring your vision of a situation.  Possibly imagining sights and sounds is also blurring an accurate assessment of what actually takes place in your room at night.Addressing anxiety is best done indirectly, not directly.Concentrate on knowing more of your reasons to question yourself so deeply in the first place.  Being a teenager certainly adds to overall anxiety.  And you may have good reason from your growing up personal history to have more than an average amount of self-doubt.If you felt humiliated, mocked, ignored, blamed, any type of interaction with meaningful people in your life while you were younger, then this probably set the groundwork to not have faith in yourself.Awareness of where you feel vulnerable is the first step to deliberately changing this into a strength!