so every time i close my eyes, especially in the dark or exercising for some reason, i feel the presence of a “ghost” and see an image of a dead/zombie woman etched into my mind. she is hanging and “staring” at me but she has sunglasses and i can’t see her eyes, but i can feel her vacant stare. “she” is not real but it feels like an actual entity is haunting me and the more i think about “her”, the more she appears. but to think “she” isn’t real scares me too…
Well, since you posted here, I assume you’re looking at this as a mental health issue and we can dispense with the woowoo stuff? If not, I got nothing for you.
But, you’re describing a pretty damn strong visual. The way you describe it isn’t hallucinatory, more like an intrusive image/thought.
My first instinct is to ask if you’ve changed medications (not necessarily psychiatric ones) recently, or may have been exposed to environmental toxins.
That’s where I’d start looking for a cause, and I’d want to do it with the usual assortment of medical specialists; neurology, psychiatry, and probably a general workup across the board to rule out something unusual like a hormonal cause. That would be weird, but not impossible.
In any case, it’s definitely something that merits diagnosis and at least bare minimum attempts to control it if the origin is psychological.