Ever have strange violent visions?

[TXlib]

Every once in a while, I'll have disturbing violent visions.

For example, I'll be talking to somebody (anybody, a friend, family member, coworker) and I'll suddenly visualise myself punching them for no reason. It's not like I'm considering doing it; it's like watching a video of it from a 3rd person's perspective.

I want to emphasize that there is no compulsion behind such thoughts; I do not want to do it, the thoughts do not compel me to do it, and I have never had any desire to act on them.

Nonetheless, I find them rather disturbing when they enter my head. It happens very infrequently now, but it was not so uncommon when i was younger.

A woman I know who recently had her first child described a similar thing: she'd be giving her newborn baby a bath, and suddenly imagine turning the water to scalding hot. She'd imagine herself (as if she were watching a movie) doing other horrible things to hurt the baby, and it made her feel awful. But when i questioned her more about it, she described the thoughts the same way i just described mine: there was never any compulsion or desire to carry them out. If anything, she did the opposite; she'd finish up the baby's bath quickly, etc. I didn't think she posed any sort of a threat to the baby; since i had gone through the same sort of thing, I understood what she was talking about.

Does anybody else have these violent visions? Is this normal?

[Nicholas D Wolfwood]

1. I have a voice in my head

His name is Bob. He tells me how great it would be to chop my co-workers to bits with a samurai sword. He also thinks it would be a fantastic conquest to set a small Pennsylvania town on fire.

[smirkymonkey]

13. LOL - I think Bob gets around

doesn't he!

Seroiously though, I have those thoughts - like when I am waiting in line and someone is being really slow or doesn't move when the rest of the line moves, I always have this impulse to grab them by the neck and strangle them. Really. I have never done it, but sometimes I think I come dangerously close to inflicting physical harm on someone.

[trotsky]

2. I have heard this is normal.

And more importantly, your acknowledgement of how ridiculous it is to even be considering it is a good sign.

A healthy mind is always analyzing multiple courses of action, and selecting the most appropriate one to carry out.

At least that's what the voices tell me.

[qb]

3. Sure. This phenomena is certainly hard to quantify -

not everyone will admit to having Mansonesque visions. I'll bet it's fairly common. It is only those with sociopathic disorders who actually act out their visions.

[TNDemo]

4. It's supposed to be a symptom of OCD.

Obsessive compulsive disorder. I heard a report on it on TV about it awhile back. Try googling it with OCD and see what you come up with.

[TrogL]

5. Low-grade Tourettes?

I get those too. It's an impulsive thing.

[BigMcLargehuge]

6. yes

I am not sure why this is, but I have had the same experience. I don't find it all that disturbing unless I am trying to get to sleep.

[Dead_Parrot]

7. Constantly...

I figure letting my darker side run wild with my imagination stops it from running wild in reality. I reckon, as an end result, I'm quite a nice person: no bottled up anger, I just blow off steam in a different direction.

[On the Road]

8. Not Exactly, But Close

I know the kinds of scenarios that are coming to you. I don't believe they are dangerous, at least not as you've described them.
I have sometimes had the same thing, although I'm more likley to visualize jumping off a building. I do remember carrying my infant daughter down the stairs long ago and having a momentary impulse to throw her down. Talking to a professional might be wise only if the images become intrustive or unrelenting.

They probably represent aggression of some kind that you've suppressed. Taking care of a baby is inherently frustrating, for example, but most people do not even want to admit to being that angry at their beloved child. In some cases, you may be able to identify the source of the feelings just by thinking about the situation and your entire history with the person.

It may also come from generalized suppressed anger. In some cases, it may not even be directed at the person you're talking to. It's part of the cost of being a civilized person.

[AlienGirl]

11. I don't think it necessarily has anything to do with anger

I've also had the impulse to yell in quiet classrooms or do other socially inappropriate, yet not aggressive, things.

Tucker

[sangh0]

9. Are you a vet? See any combat?

Could it possibly be mild PTSS?

[AlienGirl]

10. Completely normal

Everyone gets those weird flashes from the id.

Tucker

[pagerbear]

12. My therapist told me

....the insane ones are the ones who don't know the voices/visions are not real.

[amandae]

15. Good advice

a comfort to those of us who always feel like we're losing our minds :)

[amandae]

14. I think it's normal

I had thought's like your friends' after my first child was born. I never did anything to my child, but there were those moments where I was afraid of what would happen if x happened, so I'd do the same thing as your friend and remove myself and the baby from the situation immediately.

I think I was highly afraid of death at that time also though, due to some highly unusual circumstances that occurred around the same time I got pregnant with my first. I've always been told that it's normal though, either way.

[devilgrrl]

16. Yes, especially when I think of kids I hated when I was a teen.

:shrug:

[Duckiesplaything]

17. I don't find them that disturbing

I kind of enjoy watching them. But most of mine are a bit more graphic than just a quick punch. I know.....I'm probably very disturbed.....But I like it...

[MAlibdem]

18. No, it isn't.

I would suggest seeing a psychotherapist or psychoanalyst.

I'm not being facetious, I am serious.

[GoddessOfGuinness]

19. Violent, no...

sexual, yes...

And I'm terribly embarrassed by it, even though I'd never want to act on those visions.

[SarahB]

20. Underlying, unresolved issues

As someone who's been close to someone who is not violent (except for what happened to the siding once), but has said similar things, that's my best guess.

[bloodyjack]

21. because i was a cowardly child

i slept in my parents' bed till about the age of six or seven. in the middle of the night, as my mom and dad slept, i would be overcome by terrible 'visions' of stabbing them in their sleep. i imagined myself sobbing over their bodies, thinking how kind they had been to me in life. it was rather disquieting, but i'm heartened to know this sort of thing is normal.