Common BPD Hallucinations

Some people with borderline personality disorder (BPD) do experience hallucinations under severe stress. This is not necessarily criteria to be diagnosed and not everyone experiences it, but I have heard some people mention they do experience hallucinations. I am one of the people that does experience them. It was scary at first, but I have become more aware when experiencing them and can usually tell that it isn't real fairly quickly. I did not realize I was having these hallucinations until I was under a really stressful situation one time and the person I was with noticed me talking to myself right in front of them. It is hard to realize when it starts if you haven't experienced it before. Here is a list of some common BPD hallucinations.

1. Seeing shadow people

   This is one of the most common BPD hallucinations. Shadow people look like silhouettes in the form of a person that we see hanging around us. They can disappear at times, but in my case usually they stick around and I just have to wait for the hallucination to fade away.

2. Thinking someone is watching you

   This is pretty self explanatory. In my case, I constantly feel like I am being followed or someone is watching through my window. I have experienced this one for a long time and did not realize it wasn't normal until recently.

3. Feeling bugs It isn't uncommon for us to feel like there is bugs crawling on us even if there are no bugs around. Sometimes I randomly just feel really itchy and am convinced something is on me, even if there isn't anything around me.

4. Hearing someone call your name

   I am not sure if it is the same for everyone, but sometimes I will hear my name being called in a distant voice. It usually sounds like someone I know. It can be a little weird at times, but it does happen.

5. Feeling someone behind you

   I constantly feel like when I am walking there is someone behind me. I look back a lot to reassure myself nothing is going on. I hate walking in front of people because I get this paranoia of something happening and I won't know because it happened behind me.

6. Thinking you're hearing your phone go off This is another really common one. I think this ties into the fear of abandonment. I am always hoping to get a text or call (I usually don't) so I think I'm hearing my phone vibrate. We feel like our phone is going off a lot of the time even if it isn't.

These are some common BPD hallucinations. In my case, I experience other hallucinations too because I have been diagnosed with general psychosis, but these are the one's I have heard other people with BPD mention to me. Mine started a few years ago and I am just now starting to cope a little better with them. I avoid situations where it may be dangerous for me to be going through any form of psychosis. A big one is I do not really drive at night anymore to prevent anything from happening. It has limited my ability to do certain things, but I am learning that it is okay to have to change some things to make my life a little easier. I hope this helps someone with BPD experiencing these things or even someone just going through any of these for other reasons. I want to share my experience so other people know they are not alone. This is a reminder that this is only my experience and it is not meant to speak for everyone out there. Thank you for reading. I appreciate you!