Posted by Tomatheus on June 6, 2008, at 18:48:53
In reply to Re: Intrusive music in my head, posted by blueboy on June 6, 2008, at 11:04:54
Blueboy,
Thank you for your reply. It is helpful to read your descriptions of the intrusive music and visualizations that you've experienced, and how these phenomena differ from full-blown hallucinations.
I guess I tend to associate intrusive thoughts and intrusive music with psychosis because I've been experiencing these phenomena since my psychotic break but never experienced them before I became psychotic. As part of my psychotic illness (schizoaffective disorder), I have experienced phenomena similar to what you've described *and* more full-blown hallucinations such as hearing sounds in the room that aren't really there and seeing objects that look dramatically different from how they normally look.
I'm not suggesting that you necessarily have schizophrenia, schizoaffective disorder, or another psychotic illness. Even though I would describe intrusive music as being a type of a hallucination, I think it's debatable as to whether or not what you've experienced is actually a hallucination (although I could be wrong -- the intrusive music probably either is or isn't a hallucination). If you don't experience stronger hallucinations with delusions, disorganized thinking, and/or negative symptoms (with a significant degree of functional impairment), then you probably don't have schizophrenia.
Thanks again for your post.
Tomatheus
> To me, the difference is that I know that the music is coming from within my mind. I don't think there is actual music playing. There is no confusion as to whether it is real.
>
> Also, mentally healthy people (at least relatively, LOL) often report the phenomenon of having a song "stuck in their mind".
>
> Like, I can close my eyes and visualize my mother. Perfectly normal. I could conceivably close my eyes and visualize my mother without wanting to, repeatedly. That would be similar to the "intrusive music". Or I could think I see my mother, when she's 500 miles away. To me, that would be a hallucination.
>
> In my vocabulary, hallucinations are something more serious and generally either drug-induced or symptomatic of psychosis. The only time I've ever had one is when I have partly awakened from a dream.
poster:Tomatheus
thread:830967
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20080606/msgs/833352.html