#Hallucination definition skin#
#Hallucination definition full#

In schizophrenic reactions and toxic states, an arm may feel twisted, the legs six feet long, or the inside of the body completely hollow. Various parts of the body feel as if they are changing their shape, size or movement. See FORMICATION.(6) Kinesthetic hallucinations. Sexual sensations are also hallucinated in some cases of schizophrenia.

#Hallucination definition skin#

The patient feels electric impulses in various parts of his body, or insects crawling on or under his skin (“ formication hallucinations”). Hallucinations of taste are usually associated with hallucinations of smell.(5) Tactile or haptic hallucinations.

#Hallucination definition full#

The patient tastes poison in his food, or complains that his mouth is full of acid or lye. Such hallucinations seem to be associated with unconscious feelings of guilt, and may be accompanied by accusatory voices.(4) Gustatory hallucinations. Most hallucinated odors are strongly objectionable or downright repulsive for example, decaying flesh, garbage, poison gas, carbolic acid. See DELIRIUM TREMENS.(3) Olfactory hallucinations. These are termed Lilliputian hallucinations. The most vivid examples are found in delirium tremens, in which tiny, fast-moving animals terrify the alcoholic patient. Visual images are sometimes of a pleasant nature-angels or circus animals, for example-but in most instances they are disgusting or frightening. Occasionally the voices may issue commands which lead to atempted suicide or violence against others.(2) Visual hallucinations. Sometimes the patient answers back or conducts a lengthy conversation with an imagined interlocutor. In some cases the remarks are of a pleasant nature, even to the point of assuring the patient that he has been given extraordinary powers or has been appointed by God to save all mankind but more often he is berated or accused of heinous crimes and unforgivable sins, often in obscene language. They may also emanate from various parts of the patient’s own body, or from all directions at once. The voices are usually attributed to particular persons, to God or simply to “enemies.” They may appear to come from external objects, such as light fixtures, the heating system, or an imaginary telephone. Sometimes the patient hears strange noises, muffled voices, disconnected words, or his own thoughts in speech (“ echo des pensees”), but most frequently he clearly hears remarks addressed to him. A person who is ridden by guilt generally hears condemnatory voices one who is beset by fear may have visions of terrifying animals and a victim of sexual anxieties usually sees himself surrounded by sexual symbols.Hallucinations fall into six categories, of which the auditory type is by far the most common:(1) Auditory hallucinations. Moreover, the type of hallucination itself seems to be determined to some extent by psychological factors.

Personality needs of this kind may influence the content not only of psychogenic hallucinations, but of hallucinations produced by physiological conditions such as toxic or organic states. They may reflect, for example, a need to escape from reality, to enhance self-esteem, to relieve a sense of guilt, or to fulfill aspirations. Hallucinations of this type are considered by many authorities to be perceptual expressions of underlying wishes, feelings, and needs.

If he hears a voice accusing him of sin, he may cower in the comer if he sees himself as a saint, a beatific expression will spread over his face if he smells poison in the surrounding air, he may borrow a nurse’s mask. In either case the individual accepts these false perceptions as reality, and responds accordingly. They also have limited significance as expressions of the personality and are not considered symptomatic of persistent or deep-seated mental disorder.Psychiatric hallucinations may be associated with either psychogenic or organic disorders. In most of these cases the hallucinations are poorly formed and may lack a full sense of reality. Hallucinations may also be experienced by normal individuals when they are subjected to special conditions, such as sensory deprivation, solitary confinement, extreme exhaustion or hallucinogenic drugs. In response to command some subjects will see a person who is not present, or fail to see one who is present. Children who lead a particularly active fantasy life may occasionally think they hear voices or see persons or objects that are not there, especially when they are undergoing emotional difficulties.Both positive and negative hallucinations can be produced by hypnotic suggestion. Transient hallucinations may occur in healthy persons in the form of dreams, and in the “ hypnagogic state” between sleeping and waking. A false perception occurring without external stimulation: seeing, hearing, tasting, smelling or feeling things that are not there.