Have you heard anything about Pareidolia?

[biege]

Have you heard anything about Pareidolia, or is this the first time you heard about this medical Jargon?


I'm sure, almost everyone most specially creative people experience this. If you're asking what this is, as per Wikipedia it is:

A psychological phenomenon involving a stimulus (an image or a sound) wherein the mind perceives a familiar pattern of something where none actually exists.

Some examples of this to make it understandable are:

Perceived images of animals, faces, or objects in cloud formations, the man in the moon, the moon rabbit, and hidden messages within recorded music played in reverse or at higher- or lower-than-normal speeds.

Me, if I stare at something like a wall for example I can draw outline of faces and objects and sometimes I take a pen and notebook to draw it.


So, that's it guys. I'm sure you've experienced this at least once in your lifetime. Please share us about your experience/s.

 

[Azelma]

I should have known this too would have a name of its own  :laugh:  But yeah, I've experienced it. I actually see a face in a specific tile in my bathroom.


Still not sure what this has to do with anxiety or mental illnesses...?  :blink:

 

[biege]

I should have known this too would have a name of its own  :laugh:  But yeah, I've experienced it. I actually see a face in a specific tile in my bathroom.


Still not sure what this has to do with anxiety or mental illnesses...?  :blink:

Just as I thought. People would really ask what this post have something to do with anxiety or mental illness but I believe that I'm still in the correct section of the forum. I'm sure you've heard about the Jesus Pareidolia where people sometimes worship images of Jesus on walls and or bark of a tree. Pareidolia can be a normal daily occurrence to most people but when it becomes something weird or unusual this can often lead to anxiety and different types of delusions or mental illnesses.

Another case would be when people play songs backwards and they hear different words. Some may say that it's a work of a devil. You'll agree if I say this is crazy.

 

[janemariesayed]

Well, I never realised that this was a condition with a name. 


I often look at clouds and see all sorts of faces and animals. I was sat on my balcony one afternoon with my Husband in Egypt and saw a cloud hovering above that looked just like a dragon, complete with its wings outspread flying across the sky. It was amazing to see and pointed it out to my Husband who thought I was going crazy. He had a good look, and one I had explained which bit of the cloud was which bit of the dragon, he could see it too.


We sat there, drinking tea and watch this dragon fly overhead. It was lovely. 

 

[biege]

Well, I never realised that this was a condition with a name. 


I often look at clouds and see all sorts of faces and animals. I was sat on my balcony one afternoon with my Husband in Egypt and saw a cloud hovering above that looked just like a dragon, complete with its wings outspread flying across the sky. It was amazing to see and pointed it out to my Husband who thought I was going crazy. He had a good look, and one I had explained which bit of the cloud was which bit of the dragon, he could see it too.


We sat there, drinking tea and watch this dragon fly overhead. It was lovely. 

I believe yours is normal but if what you're seeing bothers you or makes you anxious, of course its no longer normal. Most schizophrenic people have problems like this as well as those people with killing tendencies. I believe some people may attribute Pareidolia with visual Hallucinations.

 

[jy76]

I see this stuff all the time.  There might be patterns on my bedroom ceiling, and I might interpret those as an animal or something.  I don't think this type of disorder is really a disorder.  It's a totally normal thing, and I think most people have it.

 

[biege]

I see this stuff all the time.  There might be patterns on my bedroom ceiling, and I might interpret those as an animal or something.  I don't think this type of disorder is really a disorder.  It's a totally normal thing, and I think most people have it.

True, it's normal for most but other people see this as something bothersome. Worst is, it cause other people to develop psychosis. It's not just about the images, it can also be something auditory.

 

[Jasmin Cottontail]

I actually haven't heard of this before and not familiar with the term. But reading the description, I'm quite amaze because I am actually experiencing this since I was a child. I can form images of faces on certain things like the floor, tiles, curtains, woods, and other things. I didn't really look it up as sort of a big deal since I thought it was just part of my imagination since I used to tell people what I'm seeing in certain stuffs as well and yet they can't see them. Is this similar with being neurotic? Because I've also read similar conditions or mental illness and I remember it being mentioned.

 

[SparklyStarfish]

I also do this alot, I can see images in tiles, wallpaper, paint, the sky, stones, anything really, I always thought it was kind of fun