If not you, then for sure one of your friends

May 29, 2015 10:53 GMT  ·  By

We're going to go out on a limb here and assume you know at least 20 people who, at least at first glance, look perfectly ordinary. 

Which is why you'll probably be surprised to learn that, according to a recent investigation carried out by World Health Organization researchers, the fact of the matter is that 1 in 20 people has hallucinated at least once in their life.

If this has never happened to you, this means that, statistically speaking, it is very much possible that one of your friends is no stranger to imagining things.

Not that there is anything wrong with hearing noises that didn't really happen and seeing things that aren't really there. Au contraire, specialists say that hallucinations aren't always triggered by mental illnesses.

Further, it appears that these auditory and visual hallucinations that scientists now say that 1 in 20 people experiences at least one in their life aren't necessarily connected to drugs or alcohol.

“We used to think that only people with psychosis heard voices or had delusions, but now we know that otherwise healthy, high-functioning people also report these experiences,” study co-author Dr. John McGrath said in a statement.

Interestingly, it appears that hallucinations are more common in women than in men, EurekAlert informs. They are also more likely to affect those who don't have a life partner or who are unemployed.

Medical experts say that, although experiencing hallucinations does not always correlate with mental illnesses, those who go through more than a couple such episodes should probably seek help.