My First Hallucination Experience

It was only when I was diagnosed with narcolepsy at the age of 28 that I started connecting the dots and remembered my very first hallucination.

To this day, it remains one of the most frightening experiences I have ever had.

I was never afraid of the dark

I moved in with my older sister when I was 16 years old. I left London and joined her in the second biggest city in the U.K. — Birmingham. At the time, she was sharing an apartment with 3 friends who were all around her age (26), so being the only underage one, I was sometimes left alone on Friday nights when they all went out.

When they decided to go out one particular night, I was excited as usual. I enjoyed getting the house all to myself! I was never afraid of the dark, even as a child, so when all the lights suddenly went out in the house, I was mostly confused. I rang my sister and realised that we hadn't topped up the electricity. At that time of night, there wasn't much I could do but go to bed.

The feeling of being watched

I decided to boil some water on the gas cooker and make myself a cup of tea. I began to make my way toward the bedroom, which was on the other side of the apartment. As I started walking towards my room, I suddenly felt this prickling feeling on my neck.

You know that feeling you get when someone's watching you? Like someone's walking closely behind you? That's what it felt like. I now started to feel scared. It felt extremely intense.

When I got to my room I crawled inside the bed and covered myself completely under the covers. I don't know how, but I knew that this "presence" was now standing in the far corner of the room. It felt stronger as the minutes went by... and I don't know how else to describe the feeling it was radiating, aside from "evil."

Was it actually real, or just a dream?

I was now in a state of utter terror, and tears actually started to roll down from my eyes as I somehow felt as though it was getting closer. I stayed as still as I possibly could, because I could feel his eyes watching me from the corner.

I have no idea how long I lay there.

All I know is that the next thing I remember is waking up in the morning and asking myself if it had actually been real, or if I had been simply dreaming.

Hallucinations continue to fascinate me

For a long time, I questioned this entire experience. It would take 12 long years before I learned what caused that episode, and the countless more that would eventually occur. However, no matter how many hallucinations I experience, I still live each one as though they are as real as the air we breathe... and none of them are pleasant experiences.

I don’t believe I have ever had a hallucination that wasn’t straight out of a horror movie. Luckily, I haven’t had them as often in a while now, thankfully.

As scary as they are, hallucinations continue to completely fascinate me, and I would love to read about other people's experiences!

Have you experienced hallucinations as a symptom of narcolepsy? Share with us in the comments below.