posted
that's okay, since I've been laying in my bed scared that I am in fact going crazy for the last two hours.
See, I've been playing Final Fantasy Tactics Advance for the last two days pretty much non-stop. I have nothing better to do right now, and its a fairly addicting game.
That's not the problem, the problem is that after I stopped playing and went to bed tonight, I was still hearing the music from the game. Now I know this doesn't sound unusual, I mean, I had the music from WC2 and Starcraft stuck in my head after late night game playing.
But this is different. I kept on hearing it. That's right, I'm almost positive this is a full on auditory hallucination. Its never happened to me before, and it scared the crap out of me. In fact, I'm afraid to try to go back to sleep because I think it will come back.
At first I thought it was actually that I left the GBA on. I looked for it in the dark by following the sound, and thought it was behind my bookshelf (there's a crack it could have fallen behind). But I turned on my light and it was right next to my bed, with the power turned off. I could still hear the music, but when I put my head up to it, it didn't get any louder, and it was obviously in the off state. I turned the light back off and went to bed again, and I could still hear it.
I tried just ignoring it, and hoping it went away, but it didn't. Its not just the music from the game either, its almost too perfect to be my imagination. There's the sounds of starting a battle, and changes in the music like would happen when the game was being played. No matter what I tried thinking of to take my mind off it, I could still hear it.
When I knew where the GBA was, the sounds seemed to be coming from that direction. I made sure it was off again, turned the volume all the way down, and even took the stupid game out. After a while of it seemingly coming from the direction of the GBA, I slid the thing across the room. Then it seemed like the sound was coming from the side of the room I slid it to.
Crap! I tried right now to be quiet and see if I could still hear it, and I can. Now its coming from my laptop. I HATE this. I truly am scared. It won't go away. I've never had any experience with this before. I have no idea how people can enjoy hallucinigenic drugs. When reality and your senses don't fit, it is not fun, its friggen terrifying.
And no I did not take anything, except one advil and a bunch of children's tylenol. Is there any chance that one of them could possibly have this effect if they are quite old? I think they were both in there for a long long time. I had a headache all day though, so I was desperate.
I also don't want to sound like a hypocondriac, but should I go see a doctor about this? Does it ever happen to sober people who don't have a mental illness?
Is there any way for me to make it stop now? I won't be able to sleep until it does .
Posts: 5656 | Registered: Oct 1999
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posted
For a second I thought that I was just being silly. I was getting a glass of water, and there was one of my brother's friends' cell phone in my living room playing a tune. It wasn't exactly what I have been hearing, but it was close enough that I was sure it was the answer. My brother was sleeping on the couch, and I even told him that the phone made me think I was hallucinating as a funny story.
As I was walking back though I started to wonder how I could have possibly heard the phone here in my bedroom as loudly as I did.
Sure enough, I hear the music again as soon as I get in here. It actually doesn't even sound like the phone's tune now that I hear it again.
posted
If you've been playing the game for two days straight, I'm noyt surprised you can't get the music out of your head. If you've never had any other symptoms, I wouldn't worry about it.
There is little you can do about it tonight. Try to get some sleep. Try to do some deep breathing exercises, that will help your mind and body relax
Posts: 6316 | Registered: Jun 2003
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posted
If you can't sleep, read quietly or put some music on low. Don't watch TV or play games tonight. Sounds like you've been overstimulated.
Posts: 6316 | Registered: Jun 2003
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posted
I know asperin can cause tinnitus or ringing in the ear, advil and tylenol probably can too. They can be a factor. Throw them out if they are old or you suspect youi are having side effects from them
Posts: 6316 | Registered: Jun 2003
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posted
Xavier, get something to distract you and sleep. When you say you've been playing it for two days nonstop, do you mean you haven't slept? Because that will cause auditory and visual hallucinations either one or both. That's certainly it, if that's the case. Don't worry. They will go away when you sleep for a while. Listen to some soothing music to keep you from hearing that long enough to fall asleep. You will be fine.
Posts: 968 | Registered: Sep 2003
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posted
You could also try a short , easy walk. Just try to relax. . . Your eyes are getting tired. . . they feel so heavy. . . It would be so pleasant to rest your eyes, just for a moment. . . Now, what's your social security number and ATM PIN#? That's it, you know you can trust ol' Morbo
Hahaha, just try to relax, if you can't sleep lay down for a while anyway.
Posts: 6316 | Registered: Jun 2003
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posted
I've had a similar experience with a really annoying alaarm melody on my cell phone's alarm clock. Whenever I think of that melody, I can hear it in perfect clarity in my head until I go mad.
The way I counter that is by listening to my Lord of the Rings audiobook when I go to sleep. The soothing sound of another human being's voice usually does the trick. Talk to a friend, listen to a talk show or a audiobook. I hope you feel better. Posts: 4116 | Registered: Apr 2002
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posted
No, I wasn't being literal by saying that I played it for two days straight. I just meant that I played for a long time both days. It is true that I got very little sleep last night, but thats because I got a phone call at like 9AM after going to sleep at 6AM (which isn't all that unusual for me) and I couldn't get back to sleep.
So anyway, I realized that the music seemed to be coming from my laptop and wasn't playing when I was in the living room, so I went out there to sleep on the couch.
Almost immediately the music starting playing from my TV. Apparently my brain is not so easily fooled. I'm not sure if you realize that the music very much seems to be coming from outside myself. If it was just like a song in my head it wouldn't even be a problem.
But as I was saying, the guy's cell phone rang when I was in the living room again (though who calls at 5AM I have no idea, possibly its the owner of the phone). When the tune from the phone was playing, the music went away.
So I went and got my alarm clock radio, and turned it on for some tunes. At first it worked great. As long as the real music was playing, the hallucinated music went away.
Then as I was about to drift off, I realized that something wasn't quite right. I think it was that the vocals completely clashed with the background music.
Yes, the music in my head was drowning out the music from my radio . It completely jolted me awake, and freaked me out something fierce. I don't want to try again, since that was not a pleasant experience. I'm not sure how to describe it, but it really sucked coming awake like that.
So now I don't know what to do again. This has been one of the worst nights of my life. I don't hear it since I came in here again, but I'm sure that once I lay down I will. Scratch that, I do hear it. It sounds like its coming from my livingroom still is all.
I.....Hate.....This....
I think I might go to Dunkin Donuts, but I'm not entirely sure that driving like this is a good idea. I'm not sure I have a choice, since I'm quite literally losing my mind here.
Posts: 5656 | Registered: Oct 1999
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posted
This exact same thing happened to me once, don't remember what game it was from, and it just kinda stopped after I stopped thinking about it and got some sleep, so don't worry about it, it wears off after a while. Anywho, I'm still completely sane and it hasn't happened again, just cut back on how much you play the game. I'm thinking your brain probably just gets used to hearing it or something.
posted
I've had visual hallucinations after playing a game for a long time. I will repeatedly see a red three being placed on a black four, or tetris shapes twisting before my eyes, or what have you. And yes, it is annoying as heck, and very, very distracting.
I have had auditory hallucinations before, but not after playing a game. For me, it happens when there's some background noise, like when I'm drying my hair. Then I'll keep thinking I hear someone talking--even calling my name. But when I turn off the hair dryer, I don't hear I think. It's very freaky. What I think is happening here is that my mind is trying to make sense of what I'm hearing. My mind is very good at finding patterns and order in things, so that could be why I hear words when there's background noise.
((Xavier)) I hope the sounds go away soon, and that you get some sleep.
Posts: 1805 | Registered: Jun 1999
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Don't worry. Just get some rest and take some time off from playing the game.
This happened to me when I was making a(n anime) music video. I was using the video to avoid doing my homework, and to ignore the stress I should have been feeling.
Consequently, I started seeing the character I was doing the video for whenever I closed my eyes. (Since the character is probably almost certifiably insane, it started to freak me out a little) This happened to me for two days, and scared me constantly.
My advice is to take a little bit of a break from playing the game, and to concentrate on whatever in your life might be stressing you out. (hugs again) Good luck, honey.
(Is it weird that I heard Lennon in my head, singing "You may say... I'm crazy. But I'm not the only one..." when I saw this thread title?)
Posts: 4816 | Registered: Apr 2003
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posted
I find it truly interesting that your brain always seems to assign the source of the music to some electronic device. Like in the living room it's the tv or the cell phone, in your room it's your computer or GBA and so on. I wonder if you were far back in the woods with no electronic devices anywhere around would your brain localize it in a tree? or a rock? Or would it stop? Would the squirrels be grooving to the sounds, on their squirrel tvs inside their tiny squirrel houses? <laughs>
I hope it goes away soon. It must be annoying as all get out. I found that when things like this happen, studying them, experimenting around with them, robs them of their fear. See if you can get the sound to come from things which are not electronic devices, or only marginally so. Will your answering machine do it? A calculator? How about a slide rule? Or does it have to be a cell phone or computer? Discover more about its behavior. Test its limits. Thus the terror will be dispelled and you will be left with an ordinary (possibly even a boring repetitive) phenomenon, and you will fall asleep. I think a good 12 hours of solid Zs should fix the problem for good. Best of luck! Let us know how it goes. At the very least we can use you for a radio. <laughs>
[ October 04, 2003, 10:58 AM: Message edited by: ana kata ]
Posts: 968 | Registered: Sep 2003
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posted
Hey, I just talked to Paul Ganssle who knows all about this stuff and explores it, and he said what it is. It's that you are jumping straight into REM sleep while still awake, just not going unconscious first. Apparently it's perfectly normal and it's happened to him plenty of times before. Just let it go and drift on to sleep. It'll be loud, he said. For him it often comes as the sound of people moving furniture around. But just ignore it and focus on your breathing or something else like that and you'll soon fall on into the normal sleep state.
Posts: 968 | Registered: Sep 2003
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posted
There's only one solution, Xav. You have to get the game out of your system. By beating it! So lock your doors and unplug your phones it's time to play more More MORE!!!!!
Posts: 3243 | Registered: Apr 2002
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*pictures squirrel with bandanna furiously pumping an air guitar. squirrels with patchy fur and bloodshot eyes holding lighters over their heads "Encore! Free Bird!!" they chitter*
Posts: 6316 | Registered: Jun 2003
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posted
REM deprivation is a good possiblity. It's a proven fact that anyone will go clinically insane if kept awake long enough. It's one of the most effective ways to torture or break someone, assuming no time constraints. Cults use it routinely.
quote: I find it truly interesting that your brain always seems to assign the source of the music to some electronic device. Like in the living room it's the tv or the cell phone, in your room it's your computer or GBA and so on.
I believe this is a common coping mechanism for auditory hallucinations-- the brain manufactures the sounds, then refuses to believe they do not come from the environment. As long as its just temporary you have nothing to worry about. If it persists, that is not good though. . .
When Doom first came out, of course 80% of it is creeping up on monsters and killing them. If you run around corners and up stairs, you get wasted in no time. After a few days of non-stop playing, I caught myself peeking around corners in real life before walking around them, instead of just blundering about!! I found it hilarious, that a video game could give me such paranoid behavior in real life!!
Not to make light of your problem, though Xavier. Hope you are asleep or at least feeling better.
posted
Hmmm. Maybe it wasn't such a good idea that we planted that tooth in Xavier's head playing Final Fantasy Tactics Advance music. We were going to leave it in for a few weeks to teach him a lesson, but we'll be nice and call in the extraction team early... Posts: 1423 | Registered: Sep 2003
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posted
You don't have to be seriously sleep-deprived to have these REM hallucinations. I've had them before after an all-nighter.
Get some sleep (as I hope you have) and write a story about all of this! I think it's important to write about one's craziness as a way of exorcizing it. Really.
Posts: 8504 | Registered: Aug 1999
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posted
REM hallucinations start out small then snowball. After 48-72-100+ hours of sleep deprivation -depending on individual brain chemistry-- the victim totally loses touch with reality, and to use technical jargon, becomes as crazy as a rabid outhouse rat on a crack/meth binge.
posted
The repetitve music (how many times do you think you heard the same ditties in that game 100 times? 500?) and visual stimulation is a huge factor also.
Nobody dug my squirrel concert? Posts: 6316 | Registered: Jun 2003
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posted
Hopefully Xav is asleep by now and not lying in a ditch somewhere since he tried to drive to get doughnuts and coffee in such a sleep deprived, half crazed state. Xavier, please check in as soon as you wake up. Thanks!
Posts: 968 | Registered: Sep 2003
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posted
Yeah, actually I just woke up. I ended up getting a large meal at a diner who is open early, along with a few glasses of chocolate milk. I also bought the paper and read that for a while.
I drove fine, except that I kept thinking I saw people sneaking behind things like trees and mailboxes (especially on the way home).
Anyway, the fact that the sound always came from electronic devices was not lost on me aka. I put the laptop, the GBA, and the alarm clock in the living room before trying to go to bed.
Whatever the reason, it worked. I still heard the music, but it was normal got stuck in your head music. I could just think of another song and it went away.
I slept a good 10 hours, so I think its pretty safe now. I just have to get my sleeping achedule back to approaching that of a sane person.
Oh and I won't be playing the game for a while. Thats annoying cause I really do like the game, but I don't think its worth the risk.
It does seem funny now, but it definitly wasn't for me when it was happening. Thanks to you guys (and especially aka) for giving me something to do to take my mind off it.
Posts: 5656 | Registered: Oct 1999
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posted
You're welcome! May you never have any symptoms of craziness any worse than a few terrifying auditory hallucinations! <laughs>
Posts: 968 | Registered: Sep 2003
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Pfff! Didn't see this until now, I am very happy you're ok Xavier, that must have been a horrible experience.
Posts: 1247 | Registered: Apr 2000
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After a few days of non-stop playing, I caught myself peeking around corners ![[ROFL]](graemlins/rofl.gif)
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