Seeing things out of the corner of your eyes...

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Does anyone ever experience this? It's always some weird shadowy thing that looks like it's moving, and when I look, it's gone, lol.

Now, it sounds crazy when I put it that way... lol. But I know I can't be the only one who experiences this, and just wondered if anyone has an inkling to what it is.

I'm wondering if it's a sign of the onset of a panic attack, or anxiety building up that is just making me very paranoid.

My first thought is always that there might be a person in my house, lol. So that is why I'm thinking maybe it's the onset of anxiety... and I search every freakin time it happens-usually when I'm awake by myself and the house is quiet, or when I'm trying to get to sleep it starts up. It's driving me absolutely bonkers...

I just kind of need to know I'm not alone in this type of stuff, and am curious if anyone has a clue as to what it might be, essentially.

I always think I see bugs or roaches out of the corner of my eye.... it's about 50/50

Oh good-I'm not alone then. Mine look kind of like a tall figure, but it's only partial and as I turn my head, it moves (in the same direction) and is gone. I always tend to panic. Then I have to check doors again, lock the basement even (just in case), and look in all of the closets...

Funny, though, because by the time I'm up and looking, there is no way a person could hide fast enough for me to not hear anything at all... and I know this-but it doesn't help. I don't think anyone could walk through our house without making some sort of noise, in all honesty. It's a very old place.

Oh well I see that kind of crap all the time if I'm in a semi-dark room trying to fall asleep...

Don't worry thats just the boogie man.

hahaha... awww, thanks-I'll take comfort in knowing that when I go to sleep tonight o.O Does milk and cookies left out do anything to smooth things over with him at all?

I'm... I'm not the only one! I'm so happy someone else is experiencing this! I see shadowy figures out of the corner of my eye too, though I see them in broad daylight when I go outside for a run.

I think you're right about it being anxiety-related. During times of low stress, I rarely ever see them; but during times of high stress, they're everywhere.

Another possible explanation, at least in my case, is an over-active imagination. When I'm outside, I'm lost in my own little world, thinking about my favorite movie characters. During these times, the shadows sometimes take the shape of the characters' silhouettes, and it almost makes me believe, for a fraction of a second, that they're real.

This, combined with hypnagogic speech (hearing voices while falling asleep), makes me worried that I might be developing schizophrenia.

Opinions?

Not to sound strange, but I think I know. Those shadowy things are actually people. Sometimes I forget they're around, but they are. That can take me by surprise is I'm thinking about other things - which is most always (don't think about "them" much). When I'm walking about I do see what looks like smokey glass - I think those are people that are not in my direct field of vision and when I'm moving (like walking).

Geez, IdahoRose - No, you're not schizophrenic! Of course not. But maybe just falling asleep. I see them too. Maybe Julian94 is right?

As to what Neurotypicals see? I sometimes wonder but who knows. I guess they see each other. All the time.

I have that issue too. Freaks me out half the time. >.<

hmmm... kind of like imaginary but in peripheral vision rather than in the mind? Makes sense. Usually I'm really not thinking about people in general, but in a sense, I'm always aware of these "what if" scenarios that could happen. I mean, I know the chances for most people are slim to none, but that possibility is ALWAYS there that someone could get into my house.

Maybe at night, it's worse, because I tend to start wondering "if I fall asleep, would I hear it if someone broke in?" and things like that... I think I used to watch too much court TV (TRU TV) to be honest, and it planted this type of stuff in my mind. The stories that involved people they knew didn't bother me one bit.. but those ones that were like "we still don't know why this person did this, or why they chose this person" always really freaked me out, lol.

I don't hear voices at night, but I do get to imagining things... like, I'll imagine I'm jumping rope and I trip and fall because I miss the jump... and I'll "trip" in real life-jerk around a lot.

I see the stuff during the day, too, but it's not nearly as often. At night, I think mommy instinct kicks in or something and I need to protect the kiddos, so it kind of goes into high gear as far as paranoia, I think.

Labpet-do you mean "people" in the sense of like, the paranormal? I've seen this explanation offered a lot to things like this, and have wondered... but I'd almost rather think it's really just anxiety, lol, because I've had some really horrible experiences in the past with things we (a society of ghost hunters and myself) dubbed as paranormal. We had to move from 2 places because the weirdness just got too out of hand.

^ No, I think they are real people. When I was really little I did not know others were actually "people" but instead another inanimate thing about the room or environment. When I began pre-school I learned, the hard way, those are sentient. And they communicate with other in indirect ways.

But about what you related, I honestly do not know. To me, real people can be scary and often take me by surprise. Machines and animals are safe though. I do not dream of people and not in voice/language. As I understand, NTs mostly dream about each other. NTs think with a voice in their head too.

Very interesting. I dream of scenes from favorite movies, shows I'm watching, etc. I'm part of the cast or something. I usually dream of people, but quite often it's people I don't know and have never seen before... or it's someone I haven't talked to in 10+ years. But very very rarely do I dream of anyone I still have a lot of contact with. Most of my dreams involve water, too, lol, which is rather interesting.

So... it makes me wonder how many NTs see this kind of stuff, too? I've met many who believe they have a "gift" or 6th sense due to these types of things... but I'm not positive it is the same thing as what they are seeing, as there is no way to make sure, of course.

I experience this sort of thing, quite often.

i mentioned my fleeting shadowy peripheral visions to a shrink long ago, and he told me it was "only a temporal lobe phenomenon" in a "now now, it's all right, son" tone of voice. i later did some reading and found that a few folk with mild temporal lobe seizures [like "spacing out"] were prone to seeing shadowy images in the periphery of their vision, especially when quickly turning one's eyes left or right.
there are others who say these are spectral beings but i prefer not to think about that, as i scare easily.

I experience this too. Also I've noticed that before it happens I get this kind of disconnected feeling, like I'm standing next to myself (I know it's weird!) and then after I see it, it's like I'm back standing within myself but I get this really heavy sensation like the gravity on earth is suddenly a bit stronger. It seems like moving takes a bit more effort than before the whole thing started and I catch myself for several hours afterwards, just standing somewhere realizing that I've been staring into space for who knows how long.

Once I started to believe that I was being abducted by aliens but now I don't know why this happens, no one seems to.