[CadmiumYellow]

During the initial covid lockdown I lived alone. I didn't see another person face to face from the first week of March 2020 til the end of May. In the grand scheme of things it wasn't that long but by the end of that period of time I was experiencing mild hallucinations the majority of the time. I saw things moving in my peripheral vision that weren't really there and I frequently heard what I thought was music playing, but when I went to investigate it it would just be some very minor environmental noise like a tree branch scraping the side of my apartment building. I completely believe that isolation does weird things to your brain. I'm glad I didn't have to experience it any longer than that!

[Llamamoe]

This is so weird to me. My life has gone bad, and I've spent close to a decade in social isolation, often many months at a time. While I'm definitely not fine, it's weird to read about how badly much shorter and less intense experiences affect people.

[recuter]

I got stuck in a severe lockdown of about 5 months. No hallucinations.

Can sort of understand how that might happen, seems similar to being marooned on an island. I had something like that happen to me as well but only for two days where it was touch and go, perhaps that prepared me for covid.

Worth considering what kind of mentality is necessary to survive in such situations and whether you can adopt it when you notice the start of the spiral.

This is written with empathy. In case of any future lockdowns or life curveballs.

[ROTMetro]

I live like this right now. I'll sometimes smell someone cooking things? No, not toast ;)

In solitary in prison it would get to the point I could look at the paint texture on the walls and see everything from a simple face to whole landscapes. The one thing I never saw was words or even letters.