What are visual hallucinations. Visual hallucinations. Types of hallucinations by the way they are perceived

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Hallucinations are an image that appears in the consciousness of an individual without the presence of an external stimulus. They can arise as a result of severe fatigue, when using a number drugs psychotropic effects and with certain neurological ailments and some mental illnesses. In other words, hallucinations are unreal perceptions, an image without an object, sensations that arise without stimuli. Images that are not supported by really existing stimuli can be presented as an error in the processes of perception of the sense organs, when the patient feels, sees or hears something that does not really exist.

There are hallucinations that have a sensually bright color, persuasiveness. They can be projected outside, do not differ from true perceptions and are called true. In addition, there are hallucinations perceived by the internal auditory analyzer or visual, localized in the inner sphere of consciousness and felt as a result of the influence of some external force that provokes visions, for example, a voice. They are called pseudo-hallucinations.

Causes of hallucinations

Imaginary images, not supported by really present stimuli and associated with the visual system, are characterized by the patients' seeing various non-existent objects or events in which they can take part.

These hallucinations in a person arise as a result of poisoning with alcohol-containing substances (that is, it is one of the manifestations of alcohol), with the use of narcotic drugs, as well as psychostimulants such as LSD, cocaine, etc., medications with M-anticholinergic effects (for example, antidepressants), some organic structures of tin. In addition, visual imaginary images, as well as auditory hallucinations, characteristic of some ailments (peduncular hallucinosis).

Visual hallucinations, therefore, are the so-called visual illusion, a disturbed perception of reality. With this ailment, the patient cannot separate real-life objects from imaginary images.

Orders given by "a voice from above", words of praise from invisible friends, shouts - refer to hallucinations from the auditory system. They are often observed in schizophrenic disorders, simple partial seizures, occur with alcoholic hallucinosis, are the result of various poisonings.

The sensation of imaginary smells is characteristic of olfactory erroneous perceptions, which are also encountered when patients often make them feel extremely unpleasant "aromas" of rot, rottenness, etc. In addition, olfactory hallucinations can provoke brain defects, namely, damage to the temporal lobe. Partial seizures and encephalitis caused by the herpes virus, along with imaginary olfactory perceptions, also cause gustatory hallucinations, characterized by patients feeling a pleasant or disgusting taste in the mouth.

Tactile hallucinations in individuals are expressed in the feeling of objects that do not really exist. The cause of their occurrence is alcohol withdrawal syndrome, which can also be accompanied by auditory erroneous perceptions and visual visions.

Bodily hallucinations are characterized by the patient feeling a variety of unpleasant sensations, for example, the passage of an electric current through the body. In addition, it can be sensations of grasping limbs, touching the body, exploding bubbles in the intestines. These hallucinations can give rise to schizophrenia or encephalitis.

Regardless of the factors that provoke the emergence of erroneous perceptions, hallucinations are characterized by different specificities and affect patients in different ways.

Some may have a neutral color or be devoid of emotionality. Patients suffering from such hallucinations treat them calmly, often even indifferently. However, there are exceptions in which imaginary images are emotionally manifested quite clearly.

Scientists, discussing the factors provoking the appearance of hallucinations of various types, always emphasize that today this phenomenon is poorly understood, and the disorders that arise with erroneous perceptions are not clear enough. Separately, experts identify imaginary perceptions inherent in healthy individuals. For example, mass hallucinations. In the course of their inception, the phenomenon of mass suggestion is observed, in which people seem to "infect" or "turn on" each other, and the crowd at the same time represents a single organism. It has long been established that human individuals in the mass are quite easily amenable to suggestion, and when alone, they are able to behave like a critically thinking person.

Often, age becomes the cause of this condition. Old age is an inevitable process in the life of every person and is accompanied by serious changes taking place in the body. However, this does not mean that all elderly individuals will become feeble-minded or incapable of independent existence. But still, subjects who have passed the sixty-year age range often develop mental disorders inherent in old age. The first position among such disorders is occupied by paranoia, which causes a modification of the behavioral response of older people and causes various imaginary perceptions.

Also, a constantly lowered background of mood, stable pessimism, high anxiety do not contribute to the improvement of the current situation. In addition, at times, the elderly perceive hallucinations as entertainment, an opportunity to hide from the unpleasant reality.

In addition to the above reasons, there are also drugs, hallucinations are often provoked by the intake of narcotic drugs. Therefore, before making a diagnosis, you should exclude the possibility of false perceptions due to excessive drug use or side effects of other drugs.

Symptoms of hallucinations

Since illusory perceptions are subdivided according to analytic systems, their symptoms will also correspond to the analytic system in which there is a violation of perception. From a practical standpoint, the following hallucinations are the most important.

Hypnagogic imaginary images - visual or auditory erroneous perceptions that occur when falling asleep, that is, with closed eyes, often portends the development of alcoholic delirium.

In addition, imaginary perceptions are true and false (pseudo-hallucinations). A patient with true hallucinations is confident in their reality. For him, they are displayed in the space that surrounds him, and are identical to everyday sounds, voices and visual images. And pseudohallucinations are limited to the patient's body, they are accompanied by a feeling of alienation (for example, they can hear voices from space in their own head, they are sure of an extraneous influence on their thought-sensitive processes). As a rule, pseudo-hallucinations are observed in combination with exposure delusions. True illusory perceptions are more characteristic of psychoses of an alcoholic, traumatic and organic nature. Pseudohallucinations are characteristic exclusively of schizophrenia.

The psychopathological syndrome, consisting in pronounced, profuse (of various types) hallucinations that prevail in the clinical picture of the disease, is called hallucinosis. Delusions are often associated with this syndrome.

Acute hallucinosis develops as a result of an infectious or intoxication nature. Acute hallucinosis can turn into a chronic course against the background of organic brain disorders or vascular diseases with insufficient treatment. In the chronic course of the described syndrome, the symptoms are dominated by auditory illusory perceptions and, less often, tactile imaginary sensations. At the same time, the behavior of patients is characterized by orderliness, perhaps even a critical attitude towards non-existent "voices" in the head. Patients are often able to remain functional.

Verbal hallucinations of a threatening nature are expressed in the patient's persistent perception of verbal threats to their own address, for example, it seems to them that they are going to be hacked to death, castrated, forced to drink poison.

Contrasting imaginary perceptions have the character of a collective dialogue - one set of voices vehemently condemns the patient, demands to subject him to sophisticated torture or put him to death, while another group uncertainly defends him, timidly asks for a reprieve of torture, assures that the patient will correct himself, stop drinking alcoholic drinkswill become kinder. A characteristic feature of this type of disorder is that the group of voices does not speak directly to the patient, but communicate with each other. Often they give the patient directly opposite orders (to fall asleep and dance at the same time).

Reverse motor hallucinations are characterized by the patient's conviction that someone has taken possession of his own vocal apparatus by acting on the muscles of the tongue and mouth. Sometimes the articulation apparatus speaks voices that are not heard by others. Many researchers attribute the described imaginary perceptions to variations of pseudo-hallucinatory disorders.

Visual hallucinations in individuals, in terms of their prevalence, occupy the second position in psychopathology after auditory hallucinations. They can also be elementary (for example, a person sees smoke, fog, flashes of light), that is, with unfinished objectivity and with the presence of objective content, namely zoopsia (visions of animals), polyopic (multiple images of illusory objects), demonomanic (visions of mythological characters , devils, aliens), diplopic (visions of doubled illusory images), panoramic (visions of colorful landscapes), endoscopic (visions of objects inside their bodies), scene-like (visions of plot-related imaginary scenes), autovisceroscopic (seeing their internal organs).

Autoscopic imaginary perceptions consist in the observation by the patient of one or more of his counterparts, completely copying his behavioral movements and manners. There are negative autoscopic misperceptions when the patient is unable to see his own reflection in the mirror surface.

Autoscopies are observed in organic disorders in the temporal lobe and parietal part of the brain, in alcoholism, in the phenomena of postoperative hypoxia, due to the presence of pronounced traumatic events.

Microscopic hallucinations are expressed in deceptions of perception, representing an illusory decrease in the size of people. Such hallucinations are most often encountered in psychosis of infectious genesis, alcoholism, chloroform poisoning, ether intoxication.

Macroscopic illusion of perception - the patient sees enlarged living beings. Polyopic imaginary perceptions consist in the patient's vision of many identical imaginary images, as if created under a carbon copy.

Adelomorphic hallucinations are visual distortions devoid of clarity of forms, brightness of colors and volumetric configuration. Many scientists attribute this type of disorder to a special type of pseudo-hallucinations that is characteristic of schizophrenia.

Extracampal hallucinations consist in the patient's vision with angular vision (that is, outside the usual field of vision) of any phenomena or people. When the patient's head is turned towards a non-existent object, such visions instantly disappear. Hemianopsic hallucinations are characterized by the loss of one half of vision, are observed with organic disorders occurring in the central nervous system person.

Charles Bonnet's hallucinations are true distortions of perception, observed when one of the analyzers is affected. So, for example, with retinal detachment or glaucoma, visual hallucinations are noted, and with otitis media - auditory illusions.

Olfactory hallucinations are a deceptive perception of very unpleasant, sometimes disgusting and even suffocating odors (for example, the patient smells a decomposing corpse, which in reality does not exist). Often, hallucinations of the olfactory type cannot be differentiated from olfactory illusions. It happens that in one patient both disorders can be observed, as a result of which such a patient refuses to eat. Deceptive perceptions of the olfactory type can arise as a result of various mental ailments, but for the most part they are characteristic of organic brain defects and are localized in the temporal region.

Gustatory hallucinations are often observed in combination with deceptive olfactory perceptions, manifested in the sensation of a taste of rot, pus, etc.

Tactile hallucinations consist in the patient's sensation of the appearance of some liquid on the body (hygric), touch of something high or low temperature (thermal hallucinations), grasping from the back of the body (haptic), an illusory sensation of the presence of insects or under the skin (internal zoopathy), crawling of insects or other small creatures on the skin (external zoopathy).

Some scientists refer to tactile hallucinations as a symptom of the sensation of a foreign object in the mouth, for example, thread, hair, thin wire, observed in tetraethyl lead delirium. This symptom, in fact, is an expression of the so-called oropharyngeal imaginary perceptions. Tactile illusory ideas are characteristic of cocaine psychoses, delirious clouding of consciousness of various etiologies, and schizophrenia. Often, tactile hallucinations in schizophrenia are localized in the genitourinary region.

Functional hallucinations arise against the background of a real stimulus and live until the end of the stimulus. For example, against the background of a piano melody, the patient can simultaneously hear the sound of the piano and the voice. At the end of the melody, the illusory voice also disappears. Simply put, the patient perceives a real stimulus (piano) and a commanding voice at the same time.

Functional hallucinations are also divided depending on the analyzer. Reflex hallucinations are akin to functional ones, they are expressed in the appearance of imaginary perceptions of one analyzer, when exposed to another, and exist exclusively during stimulation of the first analyzer. For example, a patient may feel the touch of something wet on the skin (reflex hygric hallucinations) when viewing a particular picture. As soon as the patient stops looking at the picture, the discomfort will disappear.

Kinesthetic (psychomotor) erroneous perceptions are manifested in the patients' sensation of movements of certain parts of the body, which occur against their will, but in reality there are no movements.

Ecstatic hallucinations in a person are found when he is in a state of ecstasy. They are distinguished by their colorfulness, imagery, influence on the emotional sphere. They are often characterized by religious, mystical content. They are visual and auditory, as well as complex. Many drugs, hallucinations provoke, but they are not always accompanied by positive emotions.

Hallucinosis is a psychopathological syndrome characterized by the presence of pronounced multiple hallucinations against a background of clear awareness.

Delirium, hallucinations form Plaut's hallucinosis, which is verbal (less often olfactory and visual) imaginary perceptions combined with delusions of persecution with clear consciousness. This form of hallucinosis occurs with an ailment such as syphilis of the brain.

Hallucinosis of an atherosclerotic nature is observed more often in the female part of the population. At the same time, at first, deceptive perceptions are fenced off, as atherosclerosis develops, an exacerbation of characteristic signs is noted, such as a weakening of memory, a decrease in intellectual activity,. The content of distorted perceptions is often neutral in nature and relates to simple everyday activities. With the deepening of atherosclerosis, deceitful perceptions can become more and more fantastic.

Hallucinations in children are often confused with illusions, which are inadequate perception of real objects by babies. In addition, for little crumbs, the vision of illusions is considered a physiological norm, since with their help the development of fantasy occurs.

Hallucinations, on the other hand, are spontaneously appearing types of various objects, characterized by colorfulness, the perception of objects, actions that do not exist in reality.

Hallucinations in children are a constant subject of study by scientists. Recent studies indicate that hallucinations of the auditory type appear in approximately 10% of students in primary grades. The emergence of imaginary perceptions in children does not depend on their gender.

Treatment

For effective treatment disturbances in perception, it is necessary to find out the reason that provoked the appearance of this condition.

Hallucinations, what to do? Today, many methods have been developed to treat different types of hallucinations. But with a number of ailments, therapy is aimed at curing the disease that caused the hallucinations, and at eliminating or alleviating the symptoms. Since in an isolated form, hallucinations are quite rare. They are often an integral part of a number of psychopathic syndromes, often combined with different variations of delusions. Often, the appearance of imaginary perceptions, especially at the beginning of the course of the disease, usually affects the patient and is accompanied by excitement, feeling, anxiety.

Until now, the issue of effective therapy for hallucinations is controversial, but almost all healers agree on one thing that treatment should be individually targeted.

In the first turn, it is necessary to exclude various diseases and intoxication, which are often factors that provoke the appearance of this condition. Then you should pay attention to the drugs used by the patient. Since in clinical practice there have been many cases when, for the treatment of errors in the perception of various analyzers, it was sufficient to cancel the intake of certain drugs.

People suffering from the appearance of hallucinations may be characterized by a critical attitude towards imaginary ideas that arise in consciousness, and not critical. An individual may be aware that the voices he hears or the scenes he observes do not exist in reality, or may think that they are true. Often, patients can see quite real scenes that correspond to reality, for example, observe events involving relatives.

Some patients suffering from this condition are able to distinguish imaginary perceptions from reality, while others are not able, some may feel changes in the body that are harbingers of imminent hallucinations. The close environment can notice the appearance of this disorder in an individual by his behavior, namely, watching his gestures, facial expressions, actions, listening to the words spoken by him, which do not correspond to the surrounding reality. This is very important, since quite often patients, fearing being placed in a "psychiatric hospital" or due to their delusional considerations, try to hide the symptoms, to dissimulate hallucinatory experiences.

A patient suffering from hallucinations is characterized by concentration and alertness. He can gaze intently at the surrounding space, tensely listen to something or silently move his lips, responding to his unreal interlocutors. It happens that this condition in individuals occurs periodically. In such cases, it is characterized by a short-term course, so it is important not to miss an episode of hallucination. The facial expressions of patients often correspond to the content of imaginary perceptions, as a result of which it reflects surprise, fear, anger, less often joy, delight.

With hallucinations characterized by the brightness of perception, they can respond to the voices they hear aloud, plug their ears, hold their nose with their hands, close their eyes, fight off non-existent monsters.

Hallucinations, what to do? At the pre-medical stage, the main thing is the safety of the sick individual and his environment. Therefore, it is necessary to prevent possible dangerous and injurious actions.

Responsibility for the treatment of individuals suffering from erroneous perception of reality, in the first turn, lies with their closest environment - with relatives.

At the medical stage, an anamnesis is first collected, the nature of the visible, audible, felt is clarified, a laboratory examination is carried out in order to accurately diagnose and prescribe therapy, methods of care and observation of the patient.

Treatment focuses on relieving bouts of arousal and is aimed at eliminating symptoms such as delusions and hallucinations. For this purpose, intramuscular injections of Tizercin or Aminazine in combination with Haloperidol or Trisedil can be used. The patient is hospitalized in a psychiatric clinic in the presence of a serious mental illness that provoked the appearance of hallucinations.

Not providing assistance to patients is dangerous because this disorder can progress and can turn into a chronic course (hallucinosis), especially in the presence of aggravating factors, for example, alcoholism. The patient is unable to distinguish all his hallucinations from reality, and over time begins to think that this is the norm.

Physician of the Medical and Psychological Center "PsychoMed"

The information provided in this article is intended for informational purposes only and cannot replace professional advice and qualified medical assistance. At the slightest suspicion about the presence of hallucinations, be sure to consult your doctor!

The appearance of hallucinations is a cause for concern not only for the person suffering from them, but also for his relatives. In some cases, they are considered a sign of severe mental disorders. In no case should this situation be disregarded, you should consult a doctor who, with the help of drug correction, will improve the patient's condition. Our article will tell you how to get rid of hallucinations with medication.

The occurrence of hallucinations requires immediate referral to a specialist. Most often, the responsibility for the treatment falls on the shoulders of the patient's relatives, since usually the latter do not understand the seriousness of the situation and do not rush to see a specialist. Before treating hallucinations, it is necessary to consult a doctor, who, before prescribing treatment, establishes the cause that caused the problem and, in accordance with it, establishes adequate therapy.

If this condition is caused by drugs, then you should not only stop taking them, but also rid the body of intoxication. When auditory hallucinations occur simultaneously with visual hallucinations, then the patient must be hospitalized in a hospital. To date, there are various medications that help cure different types hallucinations.

Important! Before prescribing treatment in the presence of mental illness, dementia, the doctor must be warned, since some types of pills can worsen the course of the disease.

Antipsychotics

Therapy of hallucinations is most often carried out with the help of medications belonging to the group of neuroleptics, which quite successfully cope with this problem. Antipsychotics are psychotropic drugs designed to eliminate neurological and psychological problems. However, these drugs have many side effects, although today there are modern generation of antipsychotics that are safer than the previous one.

The drugs of the new generation help not only to heal hallucinations, but also to relieve muscle tension, to provide a mild hypnotic effect, and to clarify the thought process. The most popular treatments for hallucinatory delusional syndrome today include:

Tranquilizers

Often, the treatment of hallucinations requires the use of tranquilizers, which have a sedative effect. Tranquilizers stop panic, anxiety, stress, depression, and help eliminate hallucinations. These drugs will help to relieve internal tension, while not affecting cognitive processes. Tranquilizers for hallucinations are prescribed if the pathology is caused by an increased anxiety. The most commonly prescribed drugs include:

Antidepressants

Drugs that are active against depression, helping with mental disorders associated with decreased motor activity, autonomic disturbances, decreased mood, loss of reality, are called antidepressants. The most commonly prescribed antidepressants for hallucinations include:

Important! It is impossible to independently use drugs aimed at the therapy of hallucinations, since the human psyche is a rather subtle system, incorrectly selected medicines can unbalance it for a long time.

The occurrence of a hallucination should imply treatment only under the constant supervision of a specialist. With proper monitoring of the patient and systematic treatment, you can get rid of this unpleasant symptomatology for a long time.

Hallucinations are false, distorted sensory experiences that appear to be real perceptions. The English word "hallucination" comes from the Latin verb hallucinari, which means "to wander in the mind." These are emotional experiences that are generated by the mind, and not by any external stimuli. They are olfactory, visual, auditory, and tactile.

It is important to distinguish between hallucinations and illusions (delusions), the terms are often confused in popular journalism. Hallucination is a distortion of sensitive perception, perceived as reality. For example, the elderly often have visions of their loved ones who have died. Illusion is an erroneous or false interpretation of real events. For example, a traveler in the desert sees a pool of water, but in fact, this is just a mirage caused by the refraction of light as it passes through layers of air of different densities. The bluish color is a real sensory stimulus, and the perception of it as water is an illusion.

Delusion is a false belief that a person maintains despite proof to the contrary. For example, some claim that they saw unidentified flying objects, although these could be ordinary airplanes, meteorological balloons, satellites.

Symptoms of hallucinations

It is difficult to describe “typical” hallucinations, as they vary in duration, quality and patient experience. Some visions only last a few seconds. However, some patients with Charles Bonnet syndrome have experienced visual hallucinations for several days. In people taking psychotropic drugs, they lasted for several hours.

There is not always a connection between cause and emotional response. Only 13% of patients rate them as pleasant, and 30% find them terrible. Most patients with narcolepsy, alcoholic hallucinosis, or PTSD report unpleasant, frightening hallucinations.

They arise after emotional stress, stress, medication, severe fatigue or mental illness, during periods of consciousness. There are visions, sounds, voices, tactile sensations, smells, sounds. Patients suffering from dementia, schizophrenia experience fear of hallucinations. Visions are possible in healthy people after nervous overload, fatigue, or meditation caused, deliberately, by taking drugs.

Statistics

Many researchers believe that statistics are underreported for several reasons:

• Fear of being branded as "crazy";
• Some species, mainly in the elderly, are not well understood;
• Many are afraid to confess to taking drugs.

Based on a few studies (13 thousand adults were interviewed) in 2000, the following statistics are known:

• 6% of adults experience it once a month, 2% - once a week;
• 27% experience hallucinations during the day;
• 3% experience tactile hallucinations, 3% visual, 0.6% auditory. Tactile, associated with drug use.

There is no evidence that hallucinations are more likely to occur in certain ethnic groups, not related to gender. Demographic characteristics are as follows:

• The child has. Hallucinations occur in children under eight years of age. About 40% have schizophrenia (all its types), the child is visual or auditory;
• Eye Diseases - 14% of patients receiving drugs for glaucoma or age-related macular degeneration experienced distinct visual vision;
• Alzheimer's disease - in 40% in the later stages;
• Addiction. Among schoolchildren and students, hallucinogens are the third most consumed drug (after marijuana and alcohol). The highest level is in the Caucasus, among men aged 18-25;
• In healthy people, it occurs during the transition from wakefulness to sleep or vice versa. This condition is not considered pathological;
• Migraine. 10% of patients experience visual vision before the onset of an attack;
• Epilepsy. 80% of sufferers feel visual, olfactory, auditory disorders before an attack;
• Post-traumatic - after cranial trauma, 60% experience hearing loss.

Hearing disorders are in the form of individual sounds or verbal - commenting, threatening, ordering. The patient listens, is unable to resist. Sometimes they end in criminal acts or suicide.

Visual - the second in frequency, after speech. There are elementary (flashes, smoke) or objective: visions of animals, imaginary characters, devils, landscapes, internal organs. Vision of plot scenes, dichotomy of objects. Allocate:

• Microscopic - objects and people of reduced size;
• Macroscopic - giant visions;
• Autoscopic - observing your twin;
• Adelomorphic - distortion of the shape and color of objects;
• Charles Bonnet - true distortions with damage to the auditory or visual analyzer.

Olfactory - the sensation of unpleasant odors (corpse smell) that do not exist. They are accompanied by organic brain damage. Often appear along with gustatory.

Tactile - sensation on the body of insects, liquids, internal crawling of animals or insects. There are cases of lead poisoning, delirium, schizophrenia. These include the "foreign body" symptom - the feeling of a thread, wire in the mouth or other organs.

Kinesthetic - movement, apart from the will, of individual parts of the body.

With infectious, inflammatory lesions of the brain, hallucinosis occurs - olfactory, visual vision in combination with delirium against the background of clear consciousness.

Distinguish between atherosclerotic hallucinosis in the elderly, which is accompanied by dementia, memory loss, apathy. Perceptions relate to everyday problems and objects. More common in women.

Visions in a child are associated with knowledge of the surrounding world. For young children, this process of getting to know reality is considered normal. Such states are still being studied.

Causes of hallucinations

Various reasons are offered for explanation, but not common, for all patient groups. Common reasons:

1. Drugs. Hallucinogens - ecstasy, mushrooms, LSD. Other drugs, like marijuana, have a hallucinatory effect. Withdrawal of these drugs can cause visual and tactile visions, as in alcoholics - delirium tremens. Some teens know how to induce hallucinations by inhaling solvents, acetone, or certain types of glue.
2. Stress. Severe and prolonged stress leads to impaired consciousness.
3. Insomnia and / or exhaustion. Physical and emotional exhaustion blurs the line between sleep and wakefulness.
4. Meditation and / or sensory deprivation. The brain compensates for the lack of external stimulation, memories of the subject. This type is found in blind and deaf people.
5. Electrical or neurochemical brain activity. Sensory sensations, aura, appear before a migraine attack. Olfactory and tactile auras warn of the onset of an epileptic seizure.
6. Various types of mental illness, of which 70% of patients with schizophrenia.
7. Brain trauma and inflammation due to impaired brain function.

Diagnostics

Differential diagnosis can be difficult, but the history helps the doctor narrow down the list of possible diagnoses. If the patient is taken to the hospital unconscious, the attendants can provide the necessary information. Before a psychiatric examination, it is necessary to perform a medical examination, which includes:

• Laboratory tests;
• X-ray examination;
• Neurological examination.

If there is a suspicion that the person suffers from dementia, mental disorders or delusions, the doctor conducts a standard assessment of the mental state. It is based on the following features:

• The patient's appearance;
• Cognitive, speech skills;
• The richness of thinking;

The scale assesses the state: delirium, dementia, schizophrenia, severe depression. In older patients, medical examinations include specialist psychiatric counseling and standard vision and hearing screening.

Treating hallucinations

Hallucinations are a manifestation of the underlying disease. Depending on this, treatment consists of anticonvulsants, antidepressants, psychotropic drugs, neurosurgical and otolaryngological methods, as well as drug addiction therapy. Visions associated with normal sleep and wakefulness are not subject to specialized treatment.

Psychiatric patients should be treated by a psychiatrist. Psychotropic drugs are prescribed: tizercin, haloperidol, relanium. Single, transient episodes can be attributed to short-term factors: sleep disturbance, overwork, meditation. Treatment can be dispensed with.

However, if the general condition cannot recover on its own, consultation of a therapist or psychologist is needed. It is necessary to determine the cause and draw up a treatment plan.

Forecast

Usually, chronic visions caused by schizophrenia or other mental illness can be controlled with medication. If the visions do not disappear, the patient should be trained in the correct attitude towards them. Disorders associated with lack of sleep or severe stress stop after the cause is eliminated.

Last updated: 06/09/2015

The word "hallucination" has its roots in latin and means wandering mentally. Hallucinations are defined as "the perception of a non-existent object or event" or "sensory experience that occurs without stimulation of the corresponding senses."

In simple terms, hallucinations refer to auditory, visual, tactile, olfactory, and even taste sensations that are not real. However, auditory hallucinations (voices or other sounds that have no physical source) are the most common type of hallucination.

Most often, hallucinations are associated with a mental illness - schizophrenia. However, hallucinations can also occur in people with bipolar disorder - both during depression and during mania.

Hallucinations are one of the possible symptoms of bipolar I disorder, both for episodes of mania and for episodes of depression (with bipolar II disorder, they can only occur during depression).

Examples of hallucinations

“I do not see pink rabbits, as shown in cartoons, but sometimes during mania I see movement around the periphery - where there is no one or something is moving in the reflection of the mirror. It seems to me that I hear my name or a strange incomprehensible noise. It makes me paranoid - after that I start to notice even more, but in fact I don't see anything. "

“I experienced hallucinations during depression in which I saw dead, decaying flesh on people's faces. I also had auditory hallucinations. Some kind of buzzing, thousands of buzzing voices ... They were talking about me, but I could not make out what they were saying. And sometimes, when I was very excited, it seemed to me that I heard someone's voice whispering my name. "

Imagine the following.

You walk from the kitchen to the bedroom, possibly through the living room. The windows are open, so the silence is broken only by the rustling of curtains in the gentle breeze. Curtains, chandeliers, the leaves of your houseplants, and maybe even your hair, all move in unison. Suddenly, when you are about to go out into the corridor, a shadow enters your field of vision and you turn.

The breeze stopped; everything that moved because of him is now motionless. And on the other end of the room, where a minute ago there was nothing and no one, now a girl in a green sweater is playing with a red ball. Unexpectedly, however, for some reason this does not surprise you. She even smiles at you before returning to her game. You smile back at her and go into the bedroom. Three dogs, a cat, and two hummingbirds overtake you on their way into the room. Whereas just a minute ago you had no pets.

If you are in your 70s and have been diagnosed with Lewy body dementia, this is not unusual for you. Hallucination implies sensation in the absence of a stimulus. As we have said, these can be visual, auditory, tactile, olfactory, or gustatory sensations. For example, with tactile hallucinations, a person feels that something is crawling over his skin, when in fact there is nothing there. A hallucination should not be confused with an illusion - a distorted or misinterpretation of real sensations. In the case of the illusion, the girl in the green sweater, for example, would actually be a houseplant; in the case of a hallucination, there is actually nothing green in this place.

Hallucinations, as a rule, are very vivid and seem to be real - it's almost like a dream, with the only difference that it occurs during wakefulness. Some hallucinations can be pleasant, while others are scary and destructive.

The causes of hallucinations

Hallucinations appear in three cases:

• visual impairment;
• disorders of the brain;
• side effects of drugs;

Visual impairment

In 1760, Charles Bonnet, a Swiss naturalist and philosopher, first described the interesting case of his 87-year-old grandfather who suffered from cataracts. He still retained his mental faculties, however, being almost blind in both eyes, he claimed to see people, birds, animals and buildings.

This syndrome is called Charles Bonnet syndrome, which is characterized by the presence of visual hallucinations in older people with various diseases Eye: Retinal detachment, macular degeneration, cataracts and optic nerve damage. However, the mechanism of its development has not yet been fully understood.

Some scientists speculate that there is no "blockage" in the areas of the brain that normally process images. The visual stimulus that travels from our retina to the brain tends to interfere with our brains' processing of any other image.

For example, if at work you get bored and you decide to dream, you will still see a computer monitor in front of you, and not a beach that you can only try to imagine.

When there is visual impairment and there is no visual stimulation, such control becomes impossible, so the brain ceases to restrain the framework of reality.

Brain disorders

Hallucinations are manifest in many of the brain diseases, although the mechanism of their formation is also poorly understood. The main reasons are:

• Mental illness (in particular, schizophrenia, which is considered one of the factors in the appearance of hallucinations). As far as modality is concerned, hallucinations associated with schizophrenia are most often auditory in nature, although visual hallucinations are certainly encountered.
• Rave- a set of symptoms, defined as an inability to maintain attention along with changes in consciousness. It can occur, for example, with infectious diseases. A hangover can also lead to delirium that usually accompanies delirium tremens. About a third of people who are delusional experience visual hallucinations.
• Lewy body dementia- a type of dementia, which is characterized by symptoms similar to Parkinson's disease, as well as visual hallucinations and pronounced fluctuations in attention and intelligence. In this case, consciousness, as a rule, remains, hallucinations are complex and colorful, but they cannot frighten. Hallucinations also occur in other types of dementia, including Alzheimer's disease.
• Visual hallucinations can result from strokethat occurred either in the visual centers of the brain, which are located in the occipital lobe, or in the brain stem. In the latter case, the mechanism of occurrence of hallucinations is similar to that which experts described for Charles Bonnet syndrome. Auditory hallucinations can occur as a result of strokes affecting the auditory centers of the brain, which are located in the temporal lobes.
• The simplest hallucinations (for example, flickering zigzag lines) can even provoke migraine... They appear before a headache or on their own, they are not accompanied by pain. More complex hallucinations in migraines are called Alice in Wonderland Syndrome because they affect size perception. Objects, people, buildings, or even your own limbs may appear smaller or larger than they actually are - that is, the effect is almost the same as that experienced by the heroine of Carroll's fairy tale.
• Hypnagogic and hypnopompic hallucinations may occur on falling asleep or awakening, respectively. Basically, these are visual or auditory hallucinations, which are usually striking in their quirkiness. They can be associated with sleep disorders such as narcolepsy.
• Various hallucinations (including olfactory and gustatory) can lead epileptic seizures... They are short-lived and, in the event of a more severe seizure, are accompanied by loss of consciousness. Among the olfactory hallucinations, unpleasant odors prevail, most often the smell of burning rubber.

Side effects of medicines

Hallucinogenic drugs, including LSD (d-lysergic acid diethylamide) or phencyclidine, affect receptors, causing distortion of perception of reality and sometimes outright hallucinations.

Moreover, among side effects many over-the-counter drugs have hallucinations. These drugs affect the functioning of the brain, including regulating the production of serotonin, dopamine, or acetylcholine, which are important for normal brain function. For example, drugs used to treat Parkinson's disease are designed to affect the dopaminergic system in the brain, which increases the risk of hallucinations.

Interestingly, drugs to combat hallucinations often work by reducing the effects of dopamine.

conclusions

Whether the image, sound or voice is real or unreal, it is important to understand that all the sensations that we take for granted as true are actually formed in our brain. We see only because we have a whole system that specializes in the processing of light signals.

The slightest change in this mechanism - and all our "truth" will collapse at the same moment.

Have something to say? Leave a comment !.

Hallucinations (from Lat. Hallucination - delirium, vision) - imaginary images of objects and situations perceived as real, but absent in reality, arising spontaneously, without sensory stimulation. Caused by internal psychic factors (as opposed to illusion, which is a distorted perception of external stimuli).

Back in the 7th century. the Indian philosopher Kumarilla Bhatta expressed conjectures in tune with modern conjectures about the deception of human perception. The illusory nature of the image, he argued, is determined by the perversion of the relationship between an external object and an organ.

The causes can be defects in the sense organs, as well as such disorders when memory images are projected into the outside world and become hallucinations. Some hallucinations can have a bright sensory color, persuasiveness and be projected outside and be indistinguishable from real perceptions. Such hallucinations are called true.

Others are perceived by the inner hearing or vision, localized in the inner field of consciousness and felt as a result of the influence of some external force causing visions, voices, etc. This phenomenon, described at the end of the 19th century. Russian psychiatrist V.Kh. Kandinsky is called pseudo-hallucinations.

A hallucinating patient, simultaneously with false images, can adequately perceive reality. At the same time, his attention is distributed unevenly, often shifting towards deceptions of perception. Understanding of the painfulness of hallucinations is mostly absent, the patient behaves in the same way as if what seemed to him was actually happening.

Often, hallucinations, no matter how irrational their content may be, are more relevant for the patient than reality, and patients treat them as well as the corresponding real phenomena. Patients are intently staring at something, turning away, closing their eyes, looking around, brushing off, defending themselves, trying to touch or grab something with their hand, listen, plug their ears, sniff, throw something off their body, etc.

Under the influence of hallucinations, various actions are performed that reflect the content of perceptual deceptions: patients hide, look for something, catch, attack others, sometimes try to kill themselves, destroy objects, defend themselves, flee, complain, etc. With auditory hallucinations, one speaks aloud with "voices."

As a rule, patients believe that others perceive the same as they do in their hallucinations - they hear the same voices, experience the same visions, smell the same. Emotional reactions are clearly expressed, the nature of which reflects the content of perception deceptions: fear, rage, disgust, enthusiasm.

The patient is in great difficulty if imaginary and real images enter into a relationship of antagonism and have equal power to influence behavior. With such a “split” personality, the patient seems to exist in two “dimensions” at once, in a situation of conflict between the conscious and the unconscious.

Types and symptoms of hallucinations

A mentally ill person, especially one with schizophrenia or manic depressive disorder, may believe that he is a messenger from heaven and constantly hear the voice of God speaking to him. He can feel the gentle touch of an angelic hand. These sensory impressions, which come from within the psyche, are perceived as genuine, truly existing stimuli coming from the outside.

Recurrent hallucinations of the mentally ill can create a whole fantasy world designed to adjust the inner emotional conflict to reality. Less severe cases include hallucinations, usually auditory or visual, that occur in healthy people during periods of deep emotional distress.

Hallucinations can be tricked into any of the five basic senses, i.e. they are visual, auditory, olfactory, gustatory, tactile and hallucinations of the general feeling (the experience of unusual processes taking place inside the body, sensations from the presence of foreign objects in the body, etc.).

If the patient hears voices, these are auditory hallucinations; if he sees the dead - visual. The paranoid patient, constantly feeling that the room smells of poisonous gases penetrating through the wall, suffers from olfactory hallucinations. A person who complains that their pursuers shock them with electrical shocks experiences tactile hallucinations.

A patient who feels that poison is mixed in his food, gustatory hallucinations. Hallucinations are also possible that occur outside of a specific sensory field. So, the patient may feel that water is pouring out from some point on his head.

Tactile (tactile) hallucinations are associated with the sensation of touch, usually unpleasant. For example, cocaine addicts often complain of insects running under their skin.

In a state of delirium, usually due to alcohol poisoning, patients often see various small creatures. In this case, the patient describes a normal object reduced to microscopic proportions. When a patient complains that some parts of the body are not where they should be, but in some other place, they talk about psychomotor hallucinations.

Hypnagogic hallucinations occur in mentally healthy people between wakefulness and sleep. So, a driver falling asleep at the wheel, driving late at night, can suddenly press the brakes sharply, because it seems to him with complete clarity that he sees a person running out onto the road in front of the car.

Causes of hallucinations

Very often the occurrence of this disorder is due to severe trauma, or brain disease. Hallucinations occur in the presence of tumors, can be a consequence of severe trauma.

Among the diseases that cause hallucinations, experts call the following:

• aneurysm
• meningioma of the olfactory gland,
• syphilis,
• temporal arteritis
• migraine,
• certain cardiovascular problems
• chorea of \u200b\u200bHuntington.

Scientists assign a special role in the development of hallucinations to eye diseases. It has been established that visual hallucinations occur in glaucoma, cataracts, and some other diseases. Moreover, it has been established that hallucinations occur with otosclerosis.

Some people believe that illusions and hallucinations are the same false perception. But their difference is that false perception is observed when the object itself is absent.

Healthy people see hallucinations more often than one might imagine. For example, making a long trek through the desert, languishing with excruciating thirst, it may seem that you can see in front locality, an oasis.

In reality, such objects are nothing more than optical illusion. Still, it is worth noting that in most cases people with mental illness are prone to hallucinations. On a par with visual hallucinations, auditory hallucinations are also observed.

For example, the patient claims that he hears the noise of the wind, the approaching car, the knock of the door, and so on - although in reality, nothing like this happens in their environment. It happens that hallucinations are of a verbal nature, when it seems to people that someone is calling them, as well as snatches of a non-existent conversation.

If auditory hallucinations are of a commanding nature, then a mentally ill person often obeys unquestioningly, thereby sometimes causing significant harm to himself or others. It is known that hallucinations are not only visual and habitual auditory, but also gustatory and even olfactory. Often, all these phenomena are combined.

Regardless of the cause, hallucinations are of a different nature, and affect the patient in different ways. They can be neutral in color, or be completely devoid of emotionality. Patients treat them calmly, sometimes even indifferently. But there are exceptions when hallucinations are emotionally very pronounced. Thus, a case from clinical practice is described when a mother who lost her son did not come out of a depression. In her hallucinations, she often saw the deceased, and these "meetings" brought her great joy.

Discussing the causes of hallucinations of various types, scientists always emphasize that to date this process has been poorly studied, and violations of a selective nature that occur with illusions and hallucinations are not clear enough. As a separate topic, scientists highlight hallucinations inherent in healthy people.

For example, hallucinations of a massive nature. When they arise, the phenomenon of mass suggestion is observed, when people "turn on" each other, while the crowd becomes a single organism. It has long been established that man is easily suggestible. When alone, he is able to behave like a critically thinking person.

Treating hallucinations

Urgent Care

Emergency care is built around general principles relief of excitement and treatment of hallucinatory delusional states. At the same time, it is necessary to take into account the nature of the disease in which hallucinations develop. So, visual hallucinations during a febrile state or with delirium tremens require different therapeutic tactics aimed at treating the disease as a whole.

First aid should ensure the safety of the patient and those around him, prevent dangerous actions caused by fear, anxiety, agitation. Therefore, measures for the supervision of patients are of paramount importance, especially in an acute hallucinatory state. They do not differ significantly from alcoholic activities with delirium.

Medical help

Treatment of hallucinations is aimed at reducing excitement and affective disorders: chlorpromazine is injected 2-4 ml of a 2.5% solution or tisercinum - 2-4 ml of a 2.5% solution intramuscularly or the same drugs orally at 100-200 mg / day. With the continued use of chlorpromazine or tizercin, the doses of which can be increased to 300-400 mg / day, they are combined with drugs that selectively act on hallucinations: triftazine up to 20-40 mg / day or haloperidol up to 15-25 mg / day or trisedil up to 10-15 mg / day intramuscularly or orally at the same or slightly higher doses or ethaperazine up to 60-70 mg / day.

Hospitalization in psychiatric institutions is necessary in cases where the hallucinatory (hallucinatory-delusional) syndrome is not caused by a serious medical illness. In the latter case, treatment with compliance with all precautions should be carried out with the participation of a psychiatrist on the spot or with transfer to a psychosomatic department. Transportation of patients is carried out in accordance with the basic principles of transportation of patients with mental disorders.

Questions and answers on "Hallucinations"

Question: Hello. My great-grandmother is 87 years old. She has high blood pressure under 200. She has a fridge singing a song, a river flows, or someone steals money. In general, glitches. Does not sleep at night, but sleeps during the day. Please tell me what to do. And what medicine to give. Thank you. I hope you'll give me a hand.

Answer: Very often, hallucinatory disorders arise from a lack of real communication. If they are caused by diseases characteristic of the elderly, then it is impossible to cope with hallucinations at home. You need to immediately, at the first negative manifestations, contact a psychologist, psychiatrist, neurologist.

Question: Hello, my grandmother is 79 years old and I began to notice that she smears food on herself, eats porridge and smears it on her face at the same time, she can spread jam, sugar, salt, and whatever. In places it eats its skin, tears it off and eats. In the beginning there were hallucinations, but it seems like the last six months there were no new ones. In general, the behavior is calm, balanced, easily and quickly irritated, sometimes memory fails (but this is more likely to age). There was no history of chronic diseases and pathology, except for iron deficiency anemia. It is somehow unusual to see this and at the same time I am worried about her. I did not find such a description of the situation in the internet, does not know what it is frightening? And what is the reason. Thanks for the answer.

Answer: In this description, I do not see anything else as developing senile dementia (senile dementia) with psychotic symptoms (hallucinations, autoaggression is obviously associated with some pronounced delusional motives). Consultation of a psychiatrist-gerontologist is required, in his absence - just a psychiatrist. Proper treatment can reduce the severity of inappropriate behavior, slow down personality breakdown, but is unlikely to stop it completely. Most likely, in the future, it will be necessary to resolve the issue of constant care, supervision or placement in a special institution.

Question: Hello, my father had 3 heart attacks, after that a stroke, a little over a month ago, paralyzed the left side of the body, there was a speech disorder, now he is recovering a little, he is starting to walk more or less. He had heart attacks due to alcohol, he has abused it regularly for the past 10 years, before that partially. The pressure rises. After the second heart attack, there was a bypass operation and replacement of the aortic valve. The whole problem is that lately he has been sleeping very badly at night, and constantly sounds like footsteps around the apartment, someone opens the lock on the door, they say, there are conversations in the next room (which is why he searches the entire apartment in the middle of the night) ... Could it be hallucinations? Or maybe it's some kind of fantasy that he wants in reality? What could have caused this? How to deal with this?

Answer: The symptoms you describe are indeed hallucinations, which, in your father's case, may be the result of brain tissue damage. You should show your father to a psychiatrist to clarify the diagnosis and treatment. a psychiatrist's consultation is strictly necessary, so do not delay your visit to the doctor.

Question: Woman aged 86. Tactile, auditory and visual hallucinations (insects in bed; tied, tangled, glued legs; foreign objects in the legs; once “men came.” He sleeps badly at night, sometimes screams all night that she is being eaten and bitten, someone walks, Granny lies with a fracture of the femoral neck.There were pressure surges, at the end of February the doctor said that vascular changes in the brain, such as microstrokes, were taking place (she spoke very badly, hardly moved, did not see, refused to eat, was constantly sleepy, eyes almost did not open) What to do?

Answer: For psychiatric diagnostics, a personal consultation with a psychiatrist is required. Depending on the general state of health and the severity of hallucinations, the attending physician psychiatrist will prescribe treatment and select an individual dosage of the drugs used. Within the framework of the Internet consultation, give appointments psychotropic drugs we do not have the opportunity (these drugs are dispensed in pharmacies only with a special doctor's prescription).

Question: My husband is 28 years old, he loves to drink, but he never went into binges before, and did not get hungover! But a year ago I was hungover and didn't drink, and fainted, there was foam and convulsions, everything lasted no more than 5 minutes, then I woke up and did not remember anything. I didn't drink for 2 months, then the same thing happened again. After that it all started! If he drinks for 3-4 days and takes care of him, he does not sleep at night: it seems to him that someone is walking at home, they breathe in the back of his head, someone whispers, he jumps up and starts looking. Everyone has to leave home, because someone in the apartment will do something to us, but during the day everything is fine, but he does not sleep again, so on day 3. Then everything is fine. Recently I have been giving him phenozepam and all visions stop and he sleeps peacefully. I understand that it is absolutely impossible to drink. I would like to know the diagnosis and how to treat! Thank you.

Answer: To clarify the diagnosis and prescribe timely and adequate treatment, it is recommended to consult with a neurologist and conduct a comprehensive examination: EEG and Echo-EG of the brain, if necessary, MRI of the brain, only after receiving all the results of the examination, the doctor will make an accurate diagnosis and prescribe adequate treatment. Epilepsy and delirium must be ruled out.

Question: My mother is 80 years old. An absolutely adequate person, but recently I began to notice that she sleeps a lot during the day. Constant desire to sleep. I thought it was spring vitamin deficiency, gave her vitamins to drink, but there is still daytime sleepiness. And the other day, my mother told me that in the middle of the night, waking up, she sees strangers in her room, and she realizes that this cannot be, and immediately turns on the dump - the vision disappears. He treats this with humor, but I'm not at all funny. I really hope for your advice.

Answer: Hello! You need to see a psychiatrist. This happens in old age. Perhaps, with the normalization of sleep and taking medication, this will go away.

Question: My mom is 72 years old. A normal, socially active person who writes poetry, works with people, but is visually impaired. The following problems appeared. At the moment of waking up, incomprehensible phenomena occur: when you look at the walls and ceiling, colored pictures appear, which may contain flowers, geometric shapes, animal heads, etc. Sometimes it is as if children, girls, of an absolutely normal natural appearance are sitting on the bed, sometimes the pictures are very unpleasant. When looking at bright light, the paintings disappear. Lasts 5-10 minutes. Doctors do not say anything definite, but they do not find any connection with vision. The result was a fear of nightfall. This does not happen during the day during sleep. Advise what to do.

Answer: Hello! If ophthalmologists have ruled out eye pathology, then you need to contact a neurologist and psychiatrist for examination and selection of therapy.

Question: The woman is 82 years old. He does not sleep, sees non-existent people, talks to them, experiences fear, falls asleep in the morning. Is it curable, and if so, how can you help her?

Answer: To a certain extent curable for sure. See a psychiatrist, preferably a gerontologist.

Question: Good day! I will try to explain the picture of what is happening - my son is 10 years old very rarely, but such phenomena occur at night - he wakes up and jumps up and cries, does not know where to stick his head, because his sound is amplified - as he explains that the sound comes with great force , nd kind of like the dynamics of growth with him put to the ears! At the same time, he runs around the apartment in great tension - his arms and legs are "icy". 5-10 minutes and that's it - I can put him to bed. It was during a high temperature, and after an absolutely calm day, he received a lot of positive emotions from the long-awaited gifts - and again at night! In the morning he doesn't remember anything!

Answer: Hello! You need to do an electroencephalogram. Perhaps this is a manifestation of convulsive activity. Neurologist consultation is required.

Question: Please advise how you can help my mother, who is 88 years old. She began to "hear" various extraneous sounds: either the neighbors had a baby crying, then their washing machine was making noise at night, or conversations behind the wall. And this is all despite the fact that she has poor hearing, even uses a hearing aid. She asks not to let her adult granddaughter go to her alone, because bandits gather in the next apartment, one of whom wants to marry this granddaughter. Otherwise, she is quite adequate: she lives alone, serves herself on her own, goes to the store, cooks food, even enjoys crosswords. Mom refuses to go to the doctor, even to the local therapist. Maybe try to give her some mild medicine under the guise of vitamins?

Answer: Yes, of course, a light modern antipsychotic. But it should be prescribed by a psychiatrist after an internal examination.