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Oliver Sacks – Hallucinations

My colleague Steven Frucht described to me a hallucination experienced by a patient of his, an intellectually intact woman who has been treated with medications for Parkinson's disease for more than fifteen years. Her hallucinations, however, started only a year ago.

She sees a cat – a grey cat with "beautiful" eyes which wears a serene/ beautiful expression on its face and seems to be of a most friendly disposition.

To her own surprise (for she has never liked cats), she enjoys visits from the grey cat and worries that "something may happen to him'" Though she knows the cat is a hallucination, he seems very real to her: she can hear him coming, feel the warmth of his body, and touch him if she wishes.

The first time the cat appeared, wanting to rub against her legs, she said, ‘Don't touch me, don't get too close."

And since then the cat has kept a decorous distance.

Occasionally, in the afternoon, the cat is joined by a large black dog.

When Dr. Frucht asked her what happens when the cat sees the dog, she replied that the cat "looks away and is peaceful."

She later remarked, "He is fulfilling his purpose in coming to visit me."