It was an ordinary moment that turned into an unexpected lesson about the human mind. I was sitting next to a person who appeared to be having a conversation—but not with anyone physically present. He was speaking, listening, responding, and reacting as though others were in the room. However, there was no one there.
The man was experiencing both visual and auditory hallucinations. He spoke with people I could not see or hear. What caught my attention was when he began describing me to the unseen participants in his conversation.
“I am here with David. He is a nice man. He made me good eggs and snacks.” Then he turned toward me, gave me a high-five, and continued talking to the unseen voices.
That moment sparked a deeper question: Do we really pay attention to the conversations people are having when those conversations involve things we cannot see or hear?
This experience raises important issues about perception, mental health, public awareness, and safety.
Hallucinations occur when someone perceives something that is not present in the external environment. These perceptions can involve any of the senses:
When someone is responding to voices, they may appear to be talking to themselves. In reality, they may be engaged in a two-way conversation in their mind. They might:
The observation raises another difficult but important question. If someone is interacting with voices that others cannot hear, what are those voices saying?
In some cases, hallucinated voices can be neutral or supportive. In other cases, they may be critical, threatening, or commanding.
Psychiatrists sometimes refer to harmful command hallucinations as “command voices”—voices that instruct a person to do something like hit, kill, strangle, etc.
However, it is crucial to understand a key point: Most people who experience hallucinations are not violent and are far more likely to harm themselves than others.
When people see someone talking to unseen voices, they often respond in one of two ways:
In the moment I witnessed, the voices in that man's experience were describing kindness. He told them I was a good person who made him food. His hallucinated conversation reflected gratitude rather than hostility.
That observation reminded me of something important: hallucinations often reflect a person’s emotional world.
We often assume that everyone shares the same reality. Hallucinations remind us that the brain can create experiences that feel just as real as the physical world.
For someone hearing voices, the conversation is not imaginary—it is happening in their lived experience. Sitting next to that man changed how I thought about these situations.
He was speaking to people I could not see. Yet in his conversation, he chose to speak kindly about me.
It made me realize that when someone appears to be talking to “no one,” they may actually be navigating a complex internal dialogue that we simply cannot access.
Instead of dismissing or fearing those moments, society can benefit from learning more about them. Because sometimes, listening to what we cannot hear teaches us the most about what it means to be human.
The man was experiencing both visual and auditory hallucinations. He spoke with people I could not see or hear. What caught my attention was when he began describing me to the unseen participants in his conversation.
“I am here with David. He is a nice man. He made me good eggs and snacks.” Then he turned toward me, gave me a high-five, and continued talking to the unseen voices.
That moment sparked a deeper question: Do we really pay attention to the conversations people are having when those conversations involve things we cannot see or hear?
This experience raises important issues about perception, mental health, public awareness, and safety.
Hallucinations occur when someone perceives something that is not present in the external environment. These perceptions can involve any of the senses:
- Auditory hallucinations – hearing voices or sounds that others cannot hear.
- Visual hallucinations – seeing people or objects that are not physically present.
- Tactile hallucinations – feeling sensations that are not actually occurring.
- Olfactory or gustatory hallucinations – smelling or tasting things that are not there.
When someone is responding to voices, they may appear to be talking to themselves. In reality, they may be engaged in a two-way conversation in their mind. They might:
- answer questions.
- respond to COMMANDS and comments.
- argue with voices.
- receive encouragement or criticism.
- react emotionally to what they “hear”
The observation raises another difficult but important question. If someone is interacting with voices that others cannot hear, what are those voices saying?
In some cases, hallucinated voices can be neutral or supportive. In other cases, they may be critical, threatening, or commanding.
Psychiatrists sometimes refer to harmful command hallucinations as “command voices”—voices that instruct a person to do something like hit, kill, strangle, etc.
However, it is crucial to understand a key point: Most people who experience hallucinations are not violent and are far more likely to harm themselves than others.
When people see someone talking to unseen voices, they often respond in one of two ways:
- Dismiss it completely (“They’re just talking to themselves.”)
- Fear it immediately (“They might be dangerous.”)
In the moment I witnessed, the voices in that man's experience were describing kindness. He told them I was a good person who made him food. His hallucinated conversation reflected gratitude rather than hostility.
That observation reminded me of something important: hallucinations often reflect a person’s emotional world.
We often assume that everyone shares the same reality. Hallucinations remind us that the brain can create experiences that feel just as real as the physical world.
For someone hearing voices, the conversation is not imaginary—it is happening in their lived experience. Sitting next to that man changed how I thought about these situations.
He was speaking to people I could not see. Yet in his conversation, he chose to speak kindly about me.
It made me realize that when someone appears to be talking to “no one,” they may actually be navigating a complex internal dialogue that we simply cannot access.
Instead of dismissing or fearing those moments, society can benefit from learning more about them. Because sometimes, listening to what we cannot hear teaches us the most about what it means to be human.
