The important clarification about hallucinations are when they are occurring and in what context, ie visual only, visual and auditory, etc.

Many people are sometimes traumatized by observing something visually graphic in nature, whether in real-time or in a photograph. The consequences usually appear in the form of nightmares, etc, but can sometimes be present otherwise.

The periods just before sleep occurs and just after are points at which hallucinatory experiences most often arise. Hypnogogic and hypnopompic hallucinations are formed when the brain is either entering or leaving the sleep cycle and the formations can produce startling real images in some cases. Panic threshold as a consequence is not uncommon.

If the hallucinations are occurring at times other than described above, then consideration of evaluation may be warranted if the visual imagery is vivid or real to you, if auditory hallucinations accompany the visual content and if you experience other sensations such as tactile, etc. during the episodes. It is uncommon for hallucinations to occur under normal waking hours and rarely can exposure to photographic content such as that described result in active hallucinations in the absence of a previously known disorder.

Best regards,

J Cottle, MD