ABSTRACT
Hallucinations are perhaps the most bizarre manifestations of the altered patterns of perception and thought that characterise grief. In this quotation, the sister of a young man killed in the Vietnam War describes waking up and seeing a vision of her dead brother who has come back to reassure her. As to its reality, she goes on to say ‘I know what I saw’ (ibid.). The generation of these perceptual changes as part of the grief process can be understood by referring to research on hallucinations under other circumstances.
