Sunday, June 11, 2006
Virtual Hallucinations
One of the Pharm companies brought breakfast pastry and coffee along with a fancy little techno-device they called the "virtual hallucination machine". You hold it on your head sort of like a virtual reality mask. I chose the bus ride scenario - there was another where you try to fill a prescription at the pharmacy. Voices come in your head and tell you you're basically a worthless piece of crap and shadow people wait for you at the bus stop. Miserable.Interestingly, if you paid close attention there were some wild details like names of streets and freeway signs putting you down too.
Here's a news article showing a police officer using one if you'd like to see what it looks like.
Make your own street signs at the street sign generator.
Posted by HypnoKitten at 9:56 PM
Make more street signs on http://www.CustomSignGenerator.com ;)
I saw that last month. I think it was the Risperdol people, the same ones who gave us a case of M-tab branded popcorn earlier in the year, and the scenario was riding the bus to the pharmacy to get meds. The bus driver would turn around and say what a loser I was. That's why I drive.
In my previous life, I was a sales rep. One of the other reps left to work as a drug rep about the same time I left to go back to school. She does nothing but take people to lunch (or have it catered), and pass out pills, begs for signatures and occasionally lecture on the new wonder drug and earning over $100,000 per year. I'm on butt clean. What's wrong with this picture? I don't need a street sign to know that unless you're a nursing student, particularly a middle aged change of career person, most would question my decision. I still know I made the right one.
You know, a machine like this could help reasonable people understand what it is like for people that hallucinate. I know they suffer beyond anything I've suffered. I feel for them greatly. I hope to never have to peer into their world but for those who laugh due to lack of understanding, they might show those basically reasonable but uninformed people what its like to live that way.
I appreciate the compassion in entries. I've stumbled across a few psych blogs that have given me a new respect for health workers. We get to see into the heart of the workers, how they truly feel about mental health, how they deal with it outside the office, how they really do care or they wouldnt keep going back day after day. So thank you for caring enough to help.
Austin of Sundrip Journals
Sounds scary. It sounds too much like what I go through in the OR - except I'm NOT hallucinating!