The Evil Hallucination – Phantom of Brain or Mind?

The Adlerian Society UK presents.; ‘The Evil Hallucination – Phantom of Brain or Mind?’ presented by Albyn Leah Hall; “I awoke surrounded by brown and black cats who tried to suffocate me. Fortunately the pope appeared to shoo them away. He sat by my bedside and told me that my husband was being unfaithful.’ This is not a dream. Nor is it a schizophrenic phantasy though you may be forgiven for thinking so. It is a hypnogogic hallucination of a woman suffering from narcolepsy. This woman is not mentally ill; her delusion is attributable to her crippling sleep disorder. By contrast an identical delusion from a schizophrenic is seen as a stereotypically psychotic symptom. And yet how is it that their hallucinations can be so similar? Do evil warring and persecuting images arise from some shared pool which we all experience at some level of consciousness? Conversely could it be that illnesses such as narcolepsy – a deeply isolated state of being – create their own pathology or mental disorders?; While we understand the causes of hypnogogic hallucinations it is more difficult to explain the contents of the visions itself. Examining these from a social psychoanalytic and neurological perspective I hope to raise questions about why specific persecutory phantoms prevail across a range of states from mental illness to physical illness to simply the ordinary terror of being alive. Albyn Leah Hall is a novelist and integrative psychotherapist. She is the author of novels Deliria and The Rhythm of the Road and a film Rose of Tralee currently in development; she is also researching for a novel-in-progress. As both a writer and therapist she has always been interested in human extremes; unusual behaviours or people living on the margins of society. In addition to her private practice she has worked with prisoners and political prisoners in Northern Ireland as well as researched a variety of topics for her fiction (including stalking beauty pageants fertility treatments addiction itinerancy truck drivers the police and rare neurological disorders.); Admission £7 (concessions £4). Doors 7pm. All welcome. No need to book. CPD certificates are available. Lecture enquiries: evans_patel@hotmail.co.uk