The dead stay with us, that much is clear. They remain in our hearts and minds, of course, but for many people they also linger in our senses—as sights, sounds, smells, touches or presences. Grief hallucinations are a normal reaction to bereavement but are rarely discussed, because people fear they might be considered insane or mentally destabilised by their loss. As a society we tend to associate hallucinations with things like drugs and mental illness, but we now know that hallucinations are common in sober healthy people and that they are more likely during times of stress.(Also check out Vaughn's blog entry on the article.)
Friday, December 5, 2008
Grief hallucinations
Vaughn Bell, author of the mighty Mind Hacks, has a fascinating little article about grief hallucinations in Scientific American:
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If they are hallucinations made up by the mind because of grief and stress, then why are a small but consistent percentage of grief hallucinations seen by people before they knew the person died, and who aren't -- yet -- under any stress because of that or anything else?
ReplyDelete"a small but consistent percentage of grief hallucinations [are] seen by people before they knew the person died"
ReplyDeleteDo you have any evidence for this claim?