7 Year Old hearing voices/images at bed time

[Garandnatesmom]

My son is 7 and has been hearing voices and seeing images off and on for a couple years.  He saw a man holding a coffee cup walking down the hallway late one night.  Last night he told me he had been seeing arrows with names, and the arrow always stops on his name.  Then he hears a voice say "GO".  As I said, it is off and on, and at times he doesn't sleep well for weeks at a time.  Last night, it took 4 hours for him to sleep.

I have OCD, and am not unfamiliar with intrusive thoughts, however, this does not seem like intrusive thoughts to me.  This is very strange.
Any answers out there for me?  

[Garandnatesmom]

I will definetly look into the Melatonin, that sounds lovely.

[angelinamarina]

RE; sleep

have you tried children's chewable melatonin?  Trader Joe's has a minty tasting chewable that is 500 mcg's  (half of a mg) that we cut in half again...and give to our 6 yr old to help her fall asleep.  Without it, she can be awake for hours and hours.

A developmental pediatrician suggested the melatonin.  Ask yours.

Angi

[angelinamarina]

Hi,
it could be that he is a very creative kid.  Or, he could have ocd, bipolar, or ???  The best bet is to talk to the pediatrician.  It is probably nothing, but it would be best for all involved to know for sure.

[Garandnatesmom]

Thank you, it's good to know that there are other people with these experiences out there.  I know for me, my OCD became much more pronounced with intrusive thoughts was post-partum my second child, and my thoughts were violent, which made me seek out help.  His aren't violent at all, but are distressing to him.  I feel so helpless when he is unable to sleep and I don't have any answers to help him.

I don't want to be like my parents were (naieve?  In Denial?) and have him suffer the way I did growing up.  They never sought out help for me, which is sad.  However, I am fine today.  I still can't help but wonder what could have been though.  

Would I be different and not have had so many trials during my childhood and adult life, knowing what I know now?  What if I were treated at an early age?

Here is my OCD coming out:) Sorry.

[RockRose]

Garandnatesmom  I'm not sure this is a huge worry.    I had very imaginative thoughts at his age,  and although my bedtime was 8:30,  I was never asleep before 2 a.m. at his age.    Never.    I had imaginary images also,  and like your son,   they were benign.  I would imagine two men telling jokes to each other,  leaning their heads back in laughter.  This all passed by the time I was 9.  

Your son's images aren't violent images,  and from your post he's not harboring violent thoughts.  These are just   images in his mind of a man carrying a cup of coffee or an arrow spinner in a game that always lands on his name.  

I think this will work out fine,  and you just have a very creative child.