Different Stages of Hallucination
Hallucination is the well
known psychological disorder which is one the interesting psychological
disorder that make every one watch the person eagerly at disorderd person, in
the broadest sense of the word, is a perception in the absence of a stimulus.
In a stricter sense, hallucinations are defined as perceptions in a conscious
and awake state in the absence of external stimuli which have qualities of real
perception, in that they are vivid, substantial, and located in external objective
space. The latter definition distinguishes hallucinations from the related
phenomena of dreaming, which does not involve wakefulness; illusion, which
involves distorted or misinterpreted real perception; imagery, which does not
mimic real perception and is under voluntary control; and pseudohallucination,
which does not mimic real perception, but is not under voluntary control.
Hallucinations also differ from "delusional perceptions", in which a
correctly sensed and interpreted stimulus (i.e. a real perception) is given
some additional (and typically bizarre) significance.
A mild form of
hallucination is known as a disturbance, and can occur in any of the senses
above. These may be things like seeing movement in peripheral vision, or
hearing faint noises and/or voices. Auditory hallucinations are very common in
paranoid schizophrenia. They may be benevolent (telling the patient good things
about themselves) or malicious, cursing the patient etc. Auditory
hallucinations of the malicious type are frequently heard like people talking
about the patient behind their back. Like auditory hallucinations, the source
of their visual counterpart can also be behind the patient's back. Their visual
counterpart is the feeling of being looked-stared at, usually with malicious
intent. Frequently, auditory hallucinations and their visual counterpart are
experienced by the patient together.
Hypnagogic hallucinations
and hypnopompic hallucinations are considered normal phenomena. Hypnagogic
hallucinations can occur as one is falling asleep and hypnopompic
hallucinations occur when one is waking up.
Hallucinations can be
associated with drug use (particularly deliriants), sleep deprivation,
psychosis, neurological disorders, and delirium tremens.
How Does It Affect the Patient?
The patient may have
conflicting emotions or feelings. Sometimes they are unaware that they're
hallucinations believe that they physically exist. Sometimes hallucinations may
link to Dissociative Identity Disorder and this can be so overwhelming that the
patient may be controlled or influenced by what he/she sees. In some serious
cases, patients can be known to take "orders" from what he/she sees
and act on what they are seeing. They may also become extremely violent due to
their confusion and conflicted emotions.
Classification
Hallucinations may be
manifested in a variety of forms.[2] Various forms of hallucinations affect
different senses, sometimes occurring simultaneously, creating multiple sensory
hallucinations for those experiencing them.
Visual
The most common modality
referred to when people speak of hallucinations. These include the phenomena of
seeing things which are not present or visual perception which does not
reconcile with the physical, consensus reality. There are many different
causes, which have been classed as psychophysiologic (a disturbance of brain
structure), psychobiochemical (a disturbance of neurotransmitters), and
psychological (e.g. meaningful experiences consciousness), this is also the
case in Alzheimer's disease. Numerous disorders can involve visual
hallucinations, ranging from psychotic disorders to dementia to migraine, but
experiencing visual hallucinations does not in itself mean there is necessarily
a disorder. Visual hallucinations are associated with organic disorders of the
brain and with drug and alcohol related illness.
Sometimes internal imagery
can overwhelm the sensory input from external stimuli when sharing neural
pathways, or if indistinct stimuli is perceived and manipulated to match one's
expectations or beliefs, especially about the environment. This can result in a
hallucination, and this effect is sometimes exploited to form an optical
illusion.
Auditory
Auditory hallucinations
(also known as paracusia) are the perception of sound without outside stimulus.
Auditory hallucinations can be divided into two categories: elementary and
complex. Elementary hallucinations are the perception of sounds such as
hissing, whistling, an extended tone, and more. In many cases, tinnitus is an
elementary auditory hallucination. However, some people who experience certain
types of tinnitus, especially pulsatile tinnitus, are actually hearing the
blood rushing through vessels near the ear. Because the auditory stimulus is
present in this situation, it does not qualify as a hallucination.
Complex hallucinations are
those of voices, music, or other sounds which may or may not be clear, may be
familiar or completely unfamiliar, and friendly or aggressive, among other
possibilities. Hallucinations of one or more talking voices are particularly
associated with psychotic disorders such as schizophrenia, and hold special
significance in diagnosing these conditions. However, many people not suffering
from diagnosable mental illness may sometimes hear voices as well. One
important example to consider when forming a differential diagnosis for a
patient with paracusia is lateral temporal lobe epilepsy. Despite the tendency
to associate hearing voices, or otherwise hallucinating, and psychosis with
schizophrenia or other psychiatric illnesses, it is crucial to take into
consideration that even if a person does exhibit psychotic features, they do
not necessarily suffer from a psychiatric disorder on its own. Disorders such
as Wilson's disease, various endocrinological disorders, numerous metabolic
disturbances, multiple sclerosis, systemic lupus erythematosis, porphyria,
sarcoidosis, and many others can present with psychosis.
Musical hallucinations are
also relatively common in terms of complex auditory hallucinations and may be
the result of a wide range of causes ranging from hearing-loss (such as in
musical ear syndrome, the auditory version of Charles Bonnet syndrome), lateral
temporal lobe epilepsy,arteriovenous malformation, stroke, lesion, abscess, or
tumor.
The Hearing Voices Movement
is a support and advocacy group for people who hallucinate voices, but do not
otherwise show signs of mental illness or impairment.
High caffeine consumption
has been linked to an increase in the likelihood of experiencing auditory
hallucinations. A study conducted by the La Trobe University School of
Psychological Sciences revealed that as few as five cups of coffee a day could
trigger the phenomenon.
Command hallucinations
Command hallucinations are
hallucinations in the form of commands. The contents of the hallucinations can
range from the innocuous to commands to cause harm to the self or
others.Command hallucinations are often associated with schizophrenia. People
experiencing command hallucinations may or may not comply with the hallucinated
commands, depending on circumstances. Compliance is more common for non-violent
commands.
Olfactory
Phantosmia is the
phenomenon of smelling odors that aren't really present. The most common odors
are unpleasant smells such as rotting flesh, vomit, urine, feces, smoke, or
others. Phantosmia often results from damage to the nervous tissue in the
olfactory system. The damage can be caused by viral infection, brain tumor,
trauma, surgery, and possibly exposure to toxins or drugs. Phantosmia can also
be induced by epilepsy affecting the olfactory cortex and is also thought to
possibly have psychiatric origins. Phantosmia is different from parosmia, in
which a smell is actually present, but perceived differently from its actual
smell.
Olfactory hallucinations
can also appear in some cases of associative imagination, for example, while
watching a romance movie, where the man gifts roses to the woman, the viewer
senses the roses' odor (which in fact does not exist).
Olfactory hallucinations
have also been reported in migraine, although the frequency of such
hallucinations is unclear.
Tactile hallucinations
Tactile hallucinations are
the illusion of tactile sensory input, simulating various types of pressure to
the skin or other organs. One subtype of tactile hallucination, formication, is
the sensation of insects crawling underneath the skin and is frequently
associated with prolonged cocaine or amphetamine use or with withdrawal from
alcohol or benzodiazepines. However, formication may also be the result of
normal hormonal changes such as menopause, or disorders such as peripheral
neuropathy, high fevers, Lyme disease, skin cancer, and more.
Gustatory
This type of hallucination
is the perception of taste without a stimulus. These hallucinations, which are
typically strange or unpleasant, are relatively common among individuals who
have certain types of focal epilepsy, especially temporal lobe epilepsy. The
regions of the brain responsible for gustatory hallucination in this case are
the insula and the superior bank of the sylvian fissure.
General somatic sensations
General somatic sensations
of a hallucinatory nature are experienced when an individual feels that his
body is being mutilated i.e. twisted, torn, or disembowelled. Other reported
cases are invasion by animals in the person's internal organs such as snakes in
the stomach or frogs in the rectum. The general feeling that one's flesh is
decomposing is also classified under this type of hallucination.
Stages of a hallucination
1. Emergence of surprising or warded-off
memory or fantasy images
2. Frequent reality checks
3. Last vestige of insight as
hallucinations become "real"
4. Fantasy and distortion elaborated upon
and confused with actual perception
5. Internal-external boundaries destroyed
and possible pantheistic (or personally felt or believed, possibly profound,
internal spiritual or religious) experience.
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