Does anyone else hallucinate smells?

It happens to me, and I believe it's memory-related. Sometimes, like most people, I smell something and it brings memories back, but sometimes I'm in a particular situation and start "hallucinating" a smell, which is actually quite real but yet imaginary. I have put a lot of thought into this, and I concluded that it happens mostly (but not always) when something I'm experiencing has some connection with the smell I'm "imagining".

Originally posted by asmeone2
reply to post by zysin5

 

I can imagine it did make an impression... poor guy, seeing death when you're still coming into life... it sounds like yours is maybe a mild form of PTSD rather than a true hallucination.

Thanks for your thoughts... Yeah I can say thats truely part of it..
But its not just death that I can taste and selll...


There are many things in this world, that give off smells that are otherwise not there... Something out our minds tripper these sensations..

I will tkae some more time to thin this over, and I wll get back with you..
Very kind of you to think of me, and give me some advice!

Hallucinating spells can be a symptom of epilepsy. Especially almonds and oranges, but other smells as well. In fact, it is so common in epilepsy it is a red flag for the disease. It is probably not he case with you but you should get checked out.

I hallucinate smoke smells. Sometimes I smell smoke for months at a time; it's very annoying. I am always looking around to make sure the house isn't on fire. After all, how would I know if everything smells like smoke all the time?

Here's an interesting article released by the NHS today.

Too much coffee can make you hallucinate and sense dead people,” says the Daily Express. This bizarre claim is based on research into 219 students who answered questionnaires on caffeine intake, hallucinations and feelings of persecution. Various other news sources have reported the study, including the Daily Mail, which says that “drinking cup after cup of coffee dramatically increases the risk of hallucinating”.

The study itself was investigating a theory that caffeine might heighten the body’s response to a hormone released during times of stress. Researchers found that caffeine intake was linked to both stress and being prone to hallucinating. When results were adjusted to discount stress levels, caffeine intake alone predicted tendencies towards hallucination.

However, this is preliminary research only, and as the authors state, the effect was only weak. Also, the questionnaire assessed the students ‘predisposition to hallucinations’, rather than their prior experiences of having actual hallucinations. The study’s limitations also mean that it cannot prove that caffeine causes increased susceptibility to hallucinations; therefore it should not be a cause for alarm in people who drink coffee or other beverages containing caffeine.

It should be noted the research paper contained no specific claims about the supernatural.

Where did the story come from? Simon Jones and Charles Fernyhough of the Department of Psychology, Durham University carried out this research. No sources of funding were reported. The study was published in the peer-reviewed journal Personality and Individual Differences.

What kind of scientific study was this? This was a cross-sectional study designed to investigate the theory that the release of cortisol in response to stress factors (or stressors) plays a role in the development of psychotic experiences. By extension, an individual’s propensity towards psychosis may be expected to be in relation to their cortisol response.

Caffeine is believed to heighten the cortisol response to any given stressor. This investigation aimed to see whether, at a controlled stress level, caffeine intake was related to hallucinations and ideas of persecution. Previous studies investigating caffeine and psychotic experiences have produced mixed findings.

A total of 214 students (70% female; average age 20 years) were recruited, and filled in questionnaires on caffeine use. All respondents remained anonymous and only age, sex and weight of the participants was known. Smokers were excluded.

The questionnaire on caffeine intake used a tool known as the Durham Caffeine Inventory, which presents caffeine-containing food and drinks and asks respondents to rate their typical intake over the past year on a 12-point scale from none to 8+ times per day. Set values of caffeine content were determined for each item, either from the FSA or sourced from the manufacturers.

The questionnaire also contained questions using the Launay-Slade Hallucination Scale, which is a 16-item tool designed to measure predisposition to hallucinations on a 5-point scale from ‘certainly doesn’t apply to me’ to ‘certainly does apply’.

Persecutory ideas were assessed using the Persecutory Ideation 10-item Questionnaire (responses from ‘very untrue’ to ‘very true’). Stress was assessed using the Perceived Stress 30-item Questionnaire, which looked at several aspects of stress, tension and worry over the past year (responses ‘almost never’ to ‘usually’).

Researchers then looked at the relationship between the level of hallucinations, feelings of persecution, stress reported, and caffeine consumption per kilogram of bodyweight.

Originally posted by cancerian42
I don't hallucinate anything, unless this is all a hallucination. However, I have recently had a weird connection with smells around me. They have been bringing back memories for like a split second, but when the smell is lost the memory is lost again too. It's not a normal thing for me, until the past few weeks. And I hate it when I know I just remembered something from my past related to the smell and cannot, no matter how hard I try, get it back.

[edit on 15-10-2008 by cancerian42]

They have proven that smell is the greatest link to one's memories.

Most times, a smell brings on a memory. However, perhaps, at the times when these smells come, you are subconsciously thinking of a memory, or consciously, I suppose, and that triggers a smell that actually isn't there.

Just an idea.


(All, as stated almost, I just realized, by seb at the top of this page.)

[edit on 15-1-2009 by kagutuchi]

i sometimes smell cigarette smoke , usually at 12.10 am .. just as im getting into bed the smell of cigarettes surrounds me for 30 seconds or so.. i dont smoke and nobody in my house smokes.. my wife wont even allow others to smoke in my house...

I remember reading somewhere that most stroke victims recalled smelling burnt toast shortly before thet were struck down. Also does anyone remember a very old David Niven film where he is a bomber pilot who bails out over the channel without a parachute and somehow survives? The premise of the movie has a spirit returning to earth to regain Nivens soul but he refuses stating that he has fallen in love. Good movie. . . The reason I mention it is in the movie every time one of the spirits puts in an appearance he, Nivens character, smells fried onions!