Hallucinations and delusions aren’t always funny and meme-able. You’re not always going to see Joe The Grocery Store man, or hear uplifting voices, or believe you’re sonic or something. It’s possible, but that’s not always the case.
A lot of hallucinations are scary. You can see scary things. You can hear violent and vile things - nothing is off limits for hallucinations, much like intrusive thoughts. They can be traumatizing.
Likewise with delusions. Common delusions include believing your brain has been hacked, that you’re a chosen one selected by a god, a prophet, or a God yourself, that you’re being controlled or hunted, that you’re possessed, and so on. These delusions can be scary and traumatizing.
Even small things like seeing insects crawl up you, or believing you’re contaminated somehow can be anxiety inducing.
While it’s true schizospec disorders and psychosis aren’t distressed for everyone, and you can have non-distressing hallucinations and delusions, we shouldn’t try to sanitize the disorder for other people. People with scary, vile, or violent hallucinations and delusions deserve respect like anyone else and should be included in activism.
