There are lots of various types of hallucinations. A hallucination is a sensory experience without the usual sensory cause. Hallucinations can be visual (seeing things not present), auditory (hearing things not present), tactile/kinesthetic (feeling things not present), olfactory (smelling things not present) and gustatory (tasting things not present).
The most common types of hallucinations have to do with sleep disturbance and are auditory or visual in nature and occur at the onset or ending of sleep. These experiences are disturbances in dream states. While the person believes they are awake when this occurs, their body is actually asleep and dreaming.
Some types of hallucinations are related to neurological disorders. These include tactile hallucinations and a specific type of auditory hallucination of music.
Hallucinations related to mental illness often relate to associated sleep disturbance. Depression and manic states include symptoms of significant sleep disturbance. Problems falling asleep, staying asleep, and waking several hours too early can contribute to hallucinatory phenomena. Medications designed to help improve the loss of energy associated with depression incorrectly taken at bedtime will worsen the sleep disturbance and worsen the hallucinations. Maintaining good sleep hygiene will go a long way to improving hallucinations that are the result of sleep disturbance.
Many people can experience hallucinations as a side effect of medication. Antibiotics, pain killers, and medications that are sedating can cause hallucinations. Substance abuse causes hallucinations in several ways. The actual substance can produce hallucinations. The substance can disturb sleep. And when the substance wears off the withdrawal can cause hallucinations. Alcohol can cause visual, auditory and tactile hallucinations. Seeing pink elephants are likely occurring at the onset of sleep or waking. Hearing your name called or hearing whispers. Getting confused and having the sensation of bugs on skin or snakes wrapping around your arms or legs is a late stage of nerve problems from alcohol abuse and alcohol withdrawal.
There’s a difference between hallucinations and illusions. Illusions are things you experience that seem outside of you but you are producing. They are not a sensory experience. These are dissociated experiences. Traumatic events produce problems encoding cohesive memory. People feel unreal at the time of the event or outside themselves. When similar things trigger the memory of the event the person has an illusion. They may replay the event again in it’s entirety. This is a flashback. They may have only parts of the visual picture as a flash. This is a visual illusion. They may have only the auditory soundtrack. This is an auditory illusion. They may hear a commentary on the event. They may hear conversations of others present at the event. These are fragments of the event that occurred that haven’t been adequately processed. By identifying the triggers for the illusions, the information from the trauma can be more adequately processed.
Some traumatic events cause head injury. Often people hit the back or front of their head. The olfactory bulb which controls smell and 85% of the sense of taste sits right over the bridge of the nose. If this area is damaged by an impact either being hit in the face or head from the front, or hit in the head in the back and having the brain bounce to the front can damage this area. Smell and taste hallucinations can occur as a result of impact. Nerves heal over a long period of time. The sense of smell and taste may return to normal years after the accident or injury.
Infections especially dental or sinus infections can cause inflammation which disturbs the sense of taste and smell causing hallucinations or illusions.
Hallucinations associated with mental illness have unusual qualities to them. There are other symptoms that go along with the hallucinations that correlate with the illness. Delusional material goes along with schizophrenia. Sad mood goes along with depressive psychosis. Grandiosity goes along with manic psychosis.
Extrasensory experiences are not hallucinations although they may include delusional material. Seeing ghosts or dead people are often part of a cultural experience. These events may be experienced by a number of people who report the same phenomena. A trained psychologist or psychiatrist should be able to evaluate the experience and differentiate one phenomena from another.
For most people, hallucinations are an annoying or scary event that quickly passes. Large percentages of people have a single experience of a hallucination. It’s common. Hallucinations that interfere with daily life and interpersonal relationships should be professionally evaluated.
The most common types of hallucinations have to do with sleep disturbance and are auditory or visual in nature and occur at the onset or ending of sleep. These experiences are disturbances in dream states. While the person believes they are awake when this occurs, their body is actually asleep and dreaming.
Some types of hallucinations are related to neurological disorders. These include tactile hallucinations and a specific type of auditory hallucination of music.
Hallucinations related to mental illness often relate to associated sleep disturbance. Depression and manic states include symptoms of significant sleep disturbance. Problems falling asleep, staying asleep, and waking several hours too early can contribute to hallucinatory phenomena. Medications designed to help improve the loss of energy associated with depression incorrectly taken at bedtime will worsen the sleep disturbance and worsen the hallucinations. Maintaining good sleep hygiene will go a long way to improving hallucinations that are the result of sleep disturbance.
Many people can experience hallucinations as a side effect of medication. Antibiotics, pain killers, and medications that are sedating can cause hallucinations. Substance abuse causes hallucinations in several ways. The actual substance can produce hallucinations. The substance can disturb sleep. And when the substance wears off the withdrawal can cause hallucinations. Alcohol can cause visual, auditory and tactile hallucinations. Seeing pink elephants are likely occurring at the onset of sleep or waking. Hearing your name called or hearing whispers. Getting confused and having the sensation of bugs on skin or snakes wrapping around your arms or legs is a late stage of nerve problems from alcohol abuse and alcohol withdrawal.
There’s a difference between hallucinations and illusions. Illusions are things you experience that seem outside of you but you are producing. They are not a sensory experience. These are dissociated experiences. Traumatic events produce problems encoding cohesive memory. People feel unreal at the time of the event or outside themselves. When similar things trigger the memory of the event the person has an illusion. They may replay the event again in it’s entirety. This is a flashback. They may have only parts of the visual picture as a flash. This is a visual illusion. They may have only the auditory soundtrack. This is an auditory illusion. They may hear a commentary on the event. They may hear conversations of others present at the event. These are fragments of the event that occurred that haven’t been adequately processed. By identifying the triggers for the illusions, the information from the trauma can be more adequately processed.
Some traumatic events cause head injury. Often people hit the back or front of their head. The olfactory bulb which controls smell and 85% of the sense of taste sits right over the bridge of the nose. If this area is damaged by an impact either being hit in the face or head from the front, or hit in the head in the back and having the brain bounce to the front can damage this area. Smell and taste hallucinations can occur as a result of impact. Nerves heal over a long period of time. The sense of smell and taste may return to normal years after the accident or injury.
Infections especially dental or sinus infections can cause inflammation which disturbs the sense of taste and smell causing hallucinations or illusions.
Hallucinations associated with mental illness have unusual qualities to them. There are other symptoms that go along with the hallucinations that correlate with the illness. Delusional material goes along with schizophrenia. Sad mood goes along with depressive psychosis. Grandiosity goes along with manic psychosis.
Extrasensory experiences are not hallucinations although they may include delusional material. Seeing ghosts or dead people are often part of a cultural experience. These events may be experienced by a number of people who report the same phenomena. A trained psychologist or psychiatrist should be able to evaluate the experience and differentiate one phenomena from another.
For most people, hallucinations are an annoying or scary event that quickly passes. Large percentages of people have a single experience of a hallucination. It’s common. Hallucinations that interfere with daily life and interpersonal relationships should be professionally evaluated.
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