I see colors when I close my eyes... am I insane???

I brought this up to my optometrist during my last appointment and she just looked at me like I was crazy and said she had never heard of it before.

Ever since I can remember, when ever I close my eyes I see colors. It's hard to describe but I'll give it a shot... The colors are purple and green. There will be a "blob" of one color and it will be surrounded by an aura of the other color. The blob will shrink into nothing and then the aura color becomes the blob, and it continues on like this. The colors arent solid, its almost like colored static on a black background. Sometimes it will be really bright, other times it can get pretty dim. If I'm in a bright area and I close me eyes and have an after-image of what I was looking at, the edges of the after-image become the color of the "dominant blob" and are brighter than the surrounding color, but fade after a few seconds. If I push on my eyes while their closed the colors get extremely bright, sometimes like looking at the sun.

Every once in a while there will be some red mixed in, usually as an outline to the purple or green. I've only had it happen once where there was a full range of colors, needless to say I didn't sleep well that night.

So does this sound familiar to anyone, or am I nuts?

Why would you think you were nuts?I get blobs of red and green sometimes when I close my eyes.Never thought much about it.
I suppose it beats seeing just black.It's more interesting.

Your not nuts, just crazy . Just kidding man. I see colors when I close my eyes from time to time. I don't know what it is, but I've never really thought about it before. Keep on keeping on bro.

Right on, at least I dont feel nuts anymore. The only thing that still concerns me is I see it on a constant, any and evey time I close my eyes. Maybe I'm just strange...

reply to post by Icon_xof

Don't dwell on it.Unless you feel you want a second opinion about it.
Do you get headaches, or vision loss at all?If not..I wouldn't worry too much.

Not really dwelling, just wondering about it. It's never caused any complications (headaches, vision loss, etc.) besides maybe keeping me up a little later than I care for, when its really bright that is (who can fall asleep watching fireworks?).

reply to post by Icon_xof


I was under the impression that EVERYONE sees colors all the time, but the few responses here have started to make me wonder.

I certainly never expected for people to say that they don't pay attention to it.

I am supposing you are talking about this:

When I look at any object, there is a purplish-red/blue glow which traces and borders every aspect. Sometimes if I stare long enough, the "glow" becomes more apparent than the object itself, then as I lose focus, the colors will start to free flow and the perception is that the objects sort of twist with the color until you blink...then it's all just back to the same. Also, anytime I close my eyes, colors flow very freely... sometimes slow, sometimes quickly, forming images like clouds moving in hyper-speed.

I know for a fact that all objects give off a glow and that glow is copied into the visual memory for an amount of time, because when I close my eyes after staring at this cup, the colors bordering this cup are on the back of my eye-lids, except the colors expand and the cup looks way more encompassing, and then eventually expands to cover my entire vision, within which vision will more seemingly random pictures and color movements continue to take place...

Now that I have spent time describing something that -everyone- sees, I wonder why more people haven't responded to this atleast to just say, "Hey. yeah. We do. It's normal."

Well most of the time i see darkness void of colours but sometimes i see it if i'm outside when it's bright and then close or rub it. I'm pretty sure if you rub it lightly it will change colour or change the shape of it. Anyways never really though about it much though

reply to post by TarzanBeta


I sometimes see what you're describing also, the aura around abjects. Its not constant like the colors when I close my eyes, but it comes and goes. I can usually see it better if there's a light colored back ground. It appears like a light, colorless, and emminates from about an eigth of an inch to a few inches off of the object/person. Sometimes there will be traces of color, either red, green, or blue, right on the surface of the person/object, but its rare.

I do and agree it is perfectly normal.

Do you have any problems with your eyesight at all ?
I am shortsighted and experience this often, usually due to brighter lighting.
I don't think it is anything to worry about though so just try enjoy them, as AD said it's more interesting than just seeing them in black

First, do you do drugs?

Second, and no you're not insane, it's just your brain.

I see those sorts of color when I close my eyes, also. I actually look forward to it.

It reminds me of music, so I see it as falling asleep to a symphony of color. I find it comforting.

Originally posted by Icon_xof
I brought this up to my optometrist during my last appointment and she just looked at me like I was crazy and said she had never heard of it before.

Ever since I can remember, when ever I close my eyes I see colors. It's hard to describe but I'll give it a shot... The colors are purple and green. There will be a "blob" of one color and it will be surrounded by an aura of the other color. The blob will shrink into nothing and then the aura color becomes the blob, and it continues on like this. The colors arent solid, its almost like colored static on a black background. Sometimes it will be really bright, other times it can get pretty dim. If I'm in a bright area and I close me eyes and have an after-image of what I was looking at, the edges of the after-image become the color of the "dominant blob" and are brighter than the surrounding color, but fade after a few seconds. If I push on my eyes while their closed the colors get extremely bright, sometimes like looking at the sun.

Every once in a while there will be some red mixed in, usually as an outline to the purple or green. I've only had it happen once where there was a full range of colors, needless to say I didn't sleep well that night.

So does this sound familiar to anyone, or am I nuts?

Mail me

I have that too! I was just trying to figure out why. :3

Your Head may explode in the next 26 - 98 days....

be optimistic, though...

I see them to, it's mostly at night when I am in bed trying to sleep when I see them. Mine contain all the colors you see on a rainbow and just move in blobs changing shapes untill one disappears and another one takes its place.

Thats funny you bring this up. I used to think about this a lot when I was younger and just sort of figured it was normal as I got older, I never had asked if if they experienced the same thing.

I see a shade of deep red and an off-color black, in the exact formation as you describe (like fireworks) when I close my eyes. It is always much more vivid when I am in a pitch black room trying to go to sleep. It used to keep me up many nights, trying not to concentrate on them. Now days I usually sleep with my tv on and that seems to dull them out.

As for rubbing on the eyes I get the same thing you described as well. The color starts to white out very bright and takes a moment to go away after I stop rubbing.

I am fairly confident all of this is normal.

My Dad's wife had this symptom for years and never paid it any real attention...

She's now recovering from a procedure to reattach the retinas in both eyes.
According to her doctor seeing rainbows with your eyes closed can be an early warning of retinal detachment.
I'm no doctor, but your symptoms sound very similar.

The specialist she saw is in a clinic based near Reno NV. - Nevada Retina Associates. Here's their website - www.nevadaretina.net...

Best of luck.
Chris

I see colors often when I close my eyes but quite frequently I will see a violet in color cloud shape that goes from large covering the entire closed eyes visual pattern to shrinking, disappearing and coming back to full visual with eyes closed and goes thru this violet colored cycle about ever 2 seconds.

I believe what I am seeing is the frequency of my Soul or Spirit. Some will say the Soul and Spirit are 2 different intities.

These are images temporarily burned into your brain's vision. In real life, you only see less than 50% of reality. Your brain guesses and fill in the rest.. Pretty amazing huh? The brain is a freaking amazing tool, but it also doesn't just refresh like an LCD screen, it continues to try to fill in vision even if you aren't looking at anything.

One very important thing I learned is the potential to use this "electricity" (as I call it) in meditation. Next time you see these colors, focus with all you have and try to see where they go. Regulate your breathing and stay calm. This is the stuff that remote viewing and astral projection are made from.