Hallucinations: Types, Causes, Symptoms and Treatment

Hallucinations

What are hallucinations?

Hallucinations are a sensory experience that appears real but is created by your mind. Five senses can be affected by them. It is possible to hear or see something that nobody else in the room can hear or see something that isn’t real.

Psychological disorders, medications, and physical disorders such as epilepsy and alcohol use disorder can cause these symptoms.

To diagnose your hallucinations, you might need to consult a psychiatrist, general practitioner or neurologist.

Medications may be used to treat certain medical conditions. Getting more sleep and reducing alcohol consumption may also be suggested by your doctor in order to reduce hallucinations.

Read: Pervasive Developmental Disorder

Hallucinations vs. delusions

Delusions and hallucinations are closely related, but they are different. Delusions are false beliefs, while hallucinations are false perceptions.

There are many mental tricks and optical illusions out there, and many people fall for them. However, it is important to note that a hallucination is not just a perception error.

Hallucinations occur when something is seen or heard that isn’t actually there.

Also, they may believe that their hallucinations are real or attach meaning to them and form false beliefs about them. False beliefs attached to these attachments are called delusions.

Difference between a hallucination and an illusion

Illusions are misinterpretations of sensory input, whereas hallucinations are not based on sensory input. Thus, hallucinations are experiences that exist but are not real.

The illusions you experience in your environment are caused by your misinterpretation of something real.

For example, the difference between an empty black bag and a black cat could be easily misunderstood. You realize it’s actually a bag instead of a cat upon closer inspection. This is an illusion.

Types of hallucinations

Symptoms of hallucinations include altered vision, hearing, taste, smell or body sensations.

Visual hallucination

Visual hallucinations are the perception of things that do not exist. A hallucination may be of an object, visual pattern, person or light.

For instance, you might see someone who’s not there or lights flashing only you can see.

Olfactory hallucination

Hallucination triggered by smell is called olfactory hallucinations. A strange odor could wake you up in the middle of the night or you might feel that, even when your body is not smelling, you do.

Some smells you enjoy, like the smell of flowers, can also be a part of this type of hallucination.

Gustatory hallucination

A gustatory hallucination is like an olfactory hallucination, but it involves your sense of taste rather than smell.

Strange or unpleasant tastes are often associated with these food types. It is relatively common for people with epilepsy to experience gastrointestinal hallucinations (usually with a metallic taste).

Read: Learning Disorder

Auditory hallucination

Audio hallucinations are more common than visual hallucinations. Someone might speak to you or tell you to do something. There may be anger, neutrality or warmth in the voice.

Another type of hallucination is hearing repeating clicking or tapping sounds, such as someone walking through the attic.

Tactile hallucination

It may feel as though you are touching or moving your body when you experience tactile hallucinations. Your skin may appear to be crawling with bugs or your internal organs may feel like they are moving. It’s also possible to imagine someone’s hands touching your body.

Also, check: Side Effects of Overthinking

What causes hallucinations?

Girl having hallucinations
Girl having hallucinations

Mental health conditions

Hallucinations are caused by a number of mental illnesses. Dementia, schizophrenia and delirium are some examples.

Substance use

Hallucinations can also be caused by substance abuse. When someone drinks too much alcohol or uses drugs such as cocaine, they see or hear things that are not there.

Several psychoactive drugs can cause hallucinations, including LSD and PCP.

Lack of sleep

This can also be caused by not getting enough sleep. When you don’t get enough sleep over a prolonged period of time, you may be more likely to experience hallucinations.

You may also experience hypnagogic hallucinations as you are falling asleep, or hypnopompic hallucinations as you are waking up.

You should know about Insomnia disorder.

Medications

Some medications can cause hallucinations in those suffering mental or physical health problems. Parkinson’s disease and epilepsy and depression and psychosis medications may sometimes result in hallucination symptoms.

Other conditions

This can also be caused by other conditions. Some of these can be:

  • Particularly in children and the elderly, high fevers occur
  • Migraine
  • Social isolation
  • Seizures
  • Blindness, deafness or vision problems
  • Epilepsy
  • Terminal illnesses, such as brain cancer, stage 3 HIV (AIDS), or kidney and liver failure

Check: Types of Overthinking

What is the diagnosis of hallucinations?

When you aren’t sure whether your perceptions are real, you should call your doctor right away. You will have a physical exam and discuss your symptoms with your doctor. You might also need a blood or urine test, as well as possibly a brain scan.

Using the FindCare tool, you can find a physician near you if you do not already have one.

Hallucinating people should not be left alone. This may lead to paranoia, fear, and dangerous behaviors in severe cases.

Support the person emotionally by staying with them and going with them to the doctor. Additionally, you can assist them with finding out how often they experience their symptoms.

What is the treatment for hallucinations?

Once your doctor determines what the source of your hallucinations is, he or she will be able to recommend a treatment that’s right for you.

Medications

Hallucinations can be treated depending entirely on the cause. A doctor might prescribe medication to help calm down your nervous system if you are experiencing severe alcohol.

This same type of medication is unlikely to be effective for a person with dementia whose this illness is caused by Parkinson’s disease. Instead, the person may need to try other medications.

It is crucial to diagnose the condition correctly in order to treat it effectively.

Recommended: Multiple Strategies to Control Overthinking

Counseling

Treatment plans may also include counseling. Especially if you suffer from mental health problems, you need to seek help.

If you are having trouble coping with what’s going on, you may benefit from speaking with a counselor. Furthermore, a counselor can help you develop coping strategies, especially when you feel frightened or paranoid.

Recommended: How to help someone with Depression

Is it possible to prevent hallucinations?

It may not be possible to prevent hallucinations altogether, but there are some strategies you can use at home to reduce their frequency for those with neurological conditions likely to cause hallucinations, such as:

  • It is important to have good lighting in the evenings and to engage in stimulating activities.
  • Identifying possible misinterpretations of sounds, such as those from televisions or appliances.
  • Fixing shadows and reflections that are cast by lighting.
  • People who think they’re seeing a stranger should cover mirrors with a cloth or remove them altogether.

Take your medication as prescribed by your doctor if you’re taking it to treat hallucinations unless otherwise advised. It is possible to experience more intense hallucinations if you suddenly stop taking the medication.

What should I expect in the long term?

Hallucinations can be recovered depending on their cause. You can change bad behaviors like sleeping too little or drinking too much.

The right medication can improve your hallucinations significantly if you suffer from a mental illness, like schizophrenia. A positive long-term outcome is more likely if you see a doctor as soon as possible and follow a treatment plan.

Summary

Many people don’t realize how common hallucinations are. The presence of these symptoms does not always imply a serious mental health issue or brain disorder.

Tracking symptoms and finding out what triggers hallucinations are important for people who suffer from hallucinations as well as loved ones. It is important for doctors to keep records of their patients’ symptoms in order to provide better treatment.

2 thoughts on “Hallucinations: Types, Causes, Symptoms and Treatment

  1. What i do not understood is in reality how you’re no longer actually a lot more smartly-favored than you may be now. You’re very intelligent. You recognize therefore considerably when it comes to this topic, produced me personally believe it from numerous varied angles. Its like men and women are not fascinated unless it is one thing to do with Lady gaga! Your individual stuffs outstanding. At all times handle it up!|

Comments are closed.