Ok, so I want to fully agree with this, but unfortunately, it is different for everyone...everyone has their own way of interpreting their reality.

I was diagnosed with borderline schizophrenia last week or so. My story is pretty complicated, so I won't bore with unnecessary details, but know that this whole mental transformation has been a tremendous upheaval in my life. I lost a sister to suicide two years ago, and I haven't been the same since. I was pretty normal before, now I feel very different.

I hear voices, though not in the traditional sense of schiz when you think about it. These voices come out of background noise. A TV going in the background (where I can't really hear what they are saying) can sound like someone talking to me from the TV. It is a common occurrence for schizophrenic individuals to experience TV voices, though. It is very surreal. If I zone out, I can kind of control what they say, but when I start listening too hard it goes back to normal. It is hard to describe.

One awful side effect of this is that sometimes I truly don't know what is producing the voice. Usually it is clear, but sometimes I either forget or can't determine the source of noise. In this case, it is distressing. Another side effect that sucks is that sometimes I think my friends are talking badly about me, even if I am sitting right next to them and heard something but didn't quite catch what they said. My mind can twist these things into hurtful things. It is all kinda surreal.

I am excellent with recognizing patterns; I can usually find a pattern where none are apparent, given a bit of time. I wonder if my brain has wired itself to experience other types of patterns, which might explain the TV voice phenomenon. When I look at something, I can see odd patterns that most people would never imagine...this is, I think, where a line needs to be drawn between my experience and that of a full-fledged schizophrenic. I don't see odd shapes in everything, only when I actually allow myself to imagine them. I am borderline, so it does happen to me out of the blue sometimes, though. That is some weird stuff, too. I've seen faces in tons of ordinary things, and at times it is startling, but at others it is interesting.

I am a classically trained musician, too. Perhaps the most curiously useful side effect of hearing things is that my musical side can explode sometimes out of random. If there is some type of continuous background noise, I can hear a full symphony playing in my head. Its melodies and tone are completely controllable, but will take their own form if I don't try to control them. Again, it is hard to describe, but take my word for it.

My mind goes on tangents a lot, and it is generally very difficult to multitask. I easily get obsessed over small things that seem fascinating, but in reality this is very debilitating. I don't have much normal functionality, but I have a high level of functionality in detail-oriented tasks that demand careful observation and analysis.

I find that the mind is what you allow it to be. I am aware of my mind's state, so I don't allow it to go deeper into schizophrenia. However, I explore what it has already unveiled to me, and that is interesting in a lot of ways.

TL;DR As a borderline schizophrenic, I have experienced some otherworldly events, mainly through my mind twisting it into something completely different than it was.