Auditory hallucination: symptoms, types, causes, diagnostic methods. Hallucinations Imperative auditory hallucinations

Hallucinosis is a condition clinical picture which is almost completely exhausted by profuse hallucinations and is not accompanied by clouding of consciousness. There are acute and chronic hallucinosis, depending on the type of hallucinations - verbal, visual and tactile.

Verbal hallucinosis - an influx of auditory hallucinations in the form of a monologue, dialogue, or multiple "voices"; accompanied by fear, anxiety, restlessness, often figurative delirium. As hallucinosis develops, motor restlessness may fade away, patients outwardly remain calm or only sometimes, interrupting work or conversation, listen to something. The examination reveals true hallucinations and pseudo-hallucinations, which prevail in cases of chronic verbal hallucinosis.

In the form of acute verbal hallucinosis (without stupefaction), acute symptomatic psychoses. Such a psychosis develops suddenly with the appearance of verbal hallucinations of a commenting nature (usually in the form of a dialogue), accompanied by confusion, anxiety and fear. In the future, hallucinations can acquire an imperative content. In this state, patients under the influence of hallucinatory experiences commit dangerous activities in relation to others and themselves. Verbal hallucinosis worse at night. A stormy influx of verbal hallucinations can lead to the development of the so-called hallucinatory confusion.

With vascular psychoses, chronic verbal hallucinosis may appear, often developing after acute hallucinatory psychosis. Chronic vascular hallucinosis is defined as polyvocal true verbal hallucinosis. It flows in waves, often at the height of development becomes stage (scenes of public condemnation of the patient, etc.), usually intensifies in the evening and at night, has a predominantly threatening content. The intensity of hallucinosis is subject to temporary fluctuations with the temporary appearance of criticism of hallucinatory experiences (when they are weakened).

Verbal hallucinosis occurs with intoxication (alcoholic, hashish, barbiturate, etc.) psychoses, organic diseases of the brain (traumatic, vascular, syphilitic lesions), epilepsy, symptomatic psychoses, schizophrenia.

TASK.

Patient S., 60 years old, pensioner. About 5 years ago, I once quarreled with a neighbor, got upset, cried, did not sleep well at night. The next morning, behind the wall, she heard the voices of a neighbor and her relatives who threatened to kill her and her children. There was fear, she could not stay at home alone, she was afraid to go out into the common kitchen. Since then, for 5 years, she almost constantly hears the same voices that threaten the patient, order her to jump out of the window, call her insulting names. Sometimes he hears the voice of his son, who calms the patient, advises her to be treated. The voices come from behind the wall, from the window, and are perceived by the patient as real, ordinary human speech. In this speech, the same phrases are often repeated, sounding in the same timbre, with the same voice modulations. Sometimes the words are pronounced rhythmically, like the ticking of a clock, in time with the felt sick pulsation of the vessels. When voices intensify in silence, especially at night, the patient becomes anxious, runs up to the windows, claims that her children are now being killed, and she can do nothing to help them. In a noisy room and during a conversation with the patient, the voices completely disappear. She willingly agrees that these voices are of a painful origin, but immediately asks why the neighbor wants to kill her.

What is this syndrome?

SAMPLE CORRECT ANSWER

Persistent auditory (verbal) true hallucinations come to the fore in the picture of the disease in the patient. The uniformity of these hallucinations over the years is characteristic, the unpleasant, threatening content of hallucinatory speech. Primarily here is a violation of perception, the sensory sphere. The delusional ideas of persecution act, as it were, “secondarily” and stem from the content of the hallucination. A similar picture of the disease is characteristic of a long-term, chronic verbal hallucinosis.

Hallucinations - the imaginary perception of phenomena that do not exist in reality. Hallucinatory images displace real ones and are perceived by the patient as objectively existing.

Hallucinosis, or hallucinatory syndrome - a state of influx of hallucinations without clouding of consciousness. An important characteristic of hallucinosis is precisely the clarity of consciousness. In the event of hallucinations against the background of clouding of consciousness, they cannot be called a hallucinatory syndrome. This is possible with delirium, various twilight states.

Hallucinosis is often accompanied by the development crazy ideas. However, it should be understood that hallucinatory-delusional syndromes are independent symptoms, the attachment of delirium cannot be explained by the presence of hallucinations and attempts to justify them to patients. Many cases of hallucinosis occur without the attachment of delirium.

Hallucinatory syndrome, like any psychopathological condition, can be acute or chronic. Acute hallucinoses have a brighter, richer picture, with many visual images, a high involvement of the patient in what is happening. Chronic hallucinoses are more monotonous, the patient practically does not pay attention to them.

Types of hallucinosis

Depending on which sense organs are predominantly involved in the hallucinatory syndrome, there are different kinds hallucinations. It is customary to describe visual, verbal and other varieties of them. Evaluation of the type of hallucinations is important for the correct diagnosis and choice of further treatment tactics.

Visual hallucinoses are relatively rare, in most cases they are not accompanied by delirium or other psychopathological symptoms:

• Hallucinosis Bonnet occurs in people with complete or almost complete loss of vision. Criticism to emerging images is saved. Hallucinatory images are represented by bright, moving images of animals and people of normal or reduced size. Often relatives become the object of hallucinations.
• Hallucinosis Lermitte (peduncular visual hallucinosis) is typical for patients with damage to the legs of the brain. Develops in the dark or unlit rooms. Hallucinatory images are vague, indistinct, in the form of groups of people or animals, scenes with their participation, often mobile hallucinations. The appearance of images causes surprise in patients, criticality persists.
• Van Bogart hallucinosis. Characteristic of subacute viral encephalitis. The images are bright, numerous, in the form of flowers, birds, butterflies. Sometimes it is considered as the first manifestation of delirium.

Verbal hallucinosis is called auditory hallucinations. There are many varieties of them - single voices, dialogues or imaginary conversations of a large number of people. They can be commenting, condemning, threatening, ordering or neutral. This type of hallucinosis more often than others develops into a hallucinatory-delusional syndrome. Delusions are identical in content to hallucinations.

The onset of verbal hallucinations is preceded by a feeling of anxiety, fear, anxiety. Hallucinations begin with separate words, phrases, developing into detailed dialogues, orders. The moments of maximum manifestations of hallucinosis are accompanied by pronounced motor excitement, fear. Under the influence of voices at such moments, crimes can be committed, runaways from home or medical institution, attacks on relatives and medical staff.

Subsidence of manifestations and improvement general condition does not necessarily indicate recovery. Often this is only a temporary lull, after which there is an equally significant deterioration in the condition.

Chronization of verbal hallucinosis is accompanied by a decrease in the variety of voices, a change in their intonations from a sharply commanding tone to a persuasive one, and the monotony of hallucinations. At the same time, the patient's condition improves, the influence of hallucinations on behavior decreases, and criticality towards them increases.

Hallucinatory syndrome of general feeling. These syndromes include visceral and tactile hallucinations. In both cases, the patient complains about the presence of moving or non-moving living beings or inanimate objects that cause discomfort. In the case of tactile hallucinations, imaginary objects are located on the surface of the body, while in visceral hallucinations they are inside, often in a particular organ. Most often, the objects of hallucinosis are various worms, insects and their clusters. Cases of complaints about the presence of larger living creatures, such as frogs, are also described. The hallucinations of the general sense are characterized by great persistence. Patients often visit therapists for years with a variety of complaints, receive courses of treatment for several diseases before they get to a psychiatrist. In the case of complaints about a frog in the stomach, all the patient's symptoms disappeared after she was induced to vomit at a psychiatrist's appointment and a live frog was planted in the vomit.

Complaints similar to hallucinations of a general feeling are characteristic of senestopathies. The main difference is the lack of a specific substrate discomfort with senestopathies. Patients complain of pain, pulling, cutting sensations, heaviness in various internal organs, but do not indicate its connection with specific objects - insects, stones, animals, as with hallucinations of a general feeling.

Taste and olfactory hallucinatory syndromes are practically not found; in the overwhelming majority of cases, they are part of the symptoms of a mental illness.

Causes of hallucinosis

It is possible as an isolated development of a hallucinatory syndrome (for example, Bonnet visual hallucinosis in old people with poor eyesight), and its inclusion in the structure of various mental and organic diseases. The most common causes of hallucinosis are:

1. Epilepsy. Hallucinations most often appear in the structure of the aura before a convulsive attack. Characterized by large-scale, scenic visual hallucinations, involving a large number people, detailed scenes of mass events, catastrophes. Distinctive feature is the predominance of blue and scarlet tones in the picture. Olfactory or verbal hallucinoses appear less often.
2. Organic diseases of the brain. The type of hallucinosis depends on the location of the lesion (tumor, cyst, injured area), so hallucinations of almost any type are possible.
3. Schizophrenia. Various, numerous hallucinations are characteristic. In most cases, the disease begins with a verbal hallucinosis, which can later be joined by a visual hallucinosis. Arises advanced system crazy ideas. Must have negative symptoms.
4. Symptomatic psychoses are caused by long-term severe somatic and infectious diseases. The most characteristic of them is verbal hallucinosis with delirium and psychomotor agitation.
5. Encephalitis. Various variants of hallucinatory syndromes are possible. Visual hallucinations can vary from elementary (light, flashes) to detailed stage ones, scenes from family life or professional. Verbal hallucinosis is rare, elementary variants of auditory hallucinations are possible - music, noise.

Treatment

It consists in the treatment of the underlying disease. For quick relief of hallucinatory syndrome, tranquilizers and neuroleptics are prescribed.

1. Elementary(non-verbal - acoasma: noise, hissing, rumbling, buzzing, creaking, steps, breathing, knocking, phone calls, kissing, car horns, dishes clinking, floorboards creaking, teeth grinding; phonemes: cries, cries, fragments of words, separate syllables, laughter, sobs, groans, exclamations)

2. Complex

· Hallucinations of musical content(playing musical instruments, singing, choirs, excerpts, unfamiliar music can be perceived. (For example, when alcoholic psychoses, there is music. Gaul. usually these are obscene ditties, drunken songs, with epileptic psychosis - the sound of an organ, sacred music, the ringing of church bells).

· Verbal(verbal hallucinations). And then separate words, phrases, conversations are perceived. The content of hallucinatory statements can be. absurd, meaningless, but most often they express ideas that are far from indifferent to patients. As with healthy person the unconscious manifests itself in dreams, so the patient manifests itself in hallucinations.
As it builds up, individual responses turn into conversations, sometimes it's one voice, sometimes it's several voices. In commentary or other hallucinations, voices can talk about current or past actions, as well as evaluate future actions.
Threats of reprisal, vile torture are perceived, sometimes they are purely sadistic.

· Imperative hallucinations- the most dangerous, carry bans on any actions or order to do something. (May order a suicide attempt.) Some say the voices are more intelligent than they are.

· Meet stereotypical hallucinations (repetitive phrases).

· Contrasting hallucinations. One voice orders something, and the other absolutely the opposite.

· There are voices with anticipation function. They talk about upcoming desires, they want to eat, their head hurts. MB different in volume, clarity, naturalness. There is a premonition of voices, there is a fear of voices that should appear. They can be perceived as radio, sometimes seem unreal. Usually they are realized in a real environment, sometimes the position is even determined, sometimes from everywhere, sometimes beyond real audibility, mb also near the ears (whispering) sometimes the voices fly off, go from the patient, the voice flies out of the head.

They have diagnostic value.

visual hallucinations:

1. Elementary

photopsies, simple optical illusions that do not add up to the image. (Flashes of light, glitter, fog, smoke, dots, spots, stripes).

2. Complex (characterized by complex subject content)

stand out different types by their content.

Zoological hallucinations - zoopsy, this is a vision of animals known from past experience, rats, mice.

· Demanomanic hallucinations- this is the knowledge of devils, mermaids, angels, gods, Persians from mythology.

· Anthropomorphic hallucinations- these are visions of people, familiar and unfamiliar, living and dead.

· Fragmentary These are visions of individual fragments of the human body.

· Autoscopic hallucinations- self-management.

· Polyopic- multiple visions of images, they can be located in one line, and can be located around the patient.

· diplopic hallucinations are visions of duplicated images.

· Panoramic hallucinations are static visions, graphic landscapes, pictures of atomic explosions.

· Scene-like hallucinations- this is a vision of hallucinatory scenes sequentially connected and arising one from one. Usually such hallucinations capture patients, they plunge into them.

· Visceroscopic hallucinations (endoscopic)- Seeing objects inside your body.

· Autovisceroscopic is a vision of one's own internal organs sometimes afflicted with some kind of disease.

· negative hallucinations- This is a short-term blockade of the ability to see real objects.

· relief hallucination- the contours are clear, the object is perceived as voluminous.

× Adelomorphic- the subject is perceived blurry, foggy.

× Cinematic hallucinations - these are images devoid of volume, often projected onto a wall, ceiling, some surface, and patients say that they are shown a movie. (in case of intoxication, and alcoholic psychosis, polyopic, demonomaniac, zoological) Images can be mobile or change chaotically and move in every possible way. More often they are projected in the environs. Furnishings or obscured by other objects. Change like frames

× extracampal - they are projected out of the field of vision and then a person can see her from the side, behind her back or from above. With schizophrenia.

× hemianoptic - the image is localized in one side of the vision. They occur with organic brain damage. (half visible, half not).

× Monoocular- if the image is localized in one eye.

Olfactory a hallucination is an imaginary perception of smells. Can cause absolutely any odor.

Flavoring hallucinations are false taste sensations that occur outside of food intake, and then a strange taste that is not characteristic of food appears.

Tactile hallucinations- these are sensations of touch, touching, crawling, pressure that is realized on the surface of the body, under the skin, they are of an objective nature. (they feel their hands as if pricked with a needle, sprinkled with sand, scratched with nails, hugged, bitten, patted, pulled by the hair).

Haptic hallucinations- this is a feeling of a sharp grasp, blow, push coming from outside.

Erotic hallucinations- Sensation of obscene manipulation of the genitals

stereognostic- This is a description of the presence in the hand of any objects.

Thermal(temperature) - false sensations of burning, cauterization or cooling of a part of the body. They also have a substantive character, in ex. from synesthopathy.

hydric- these are sensations on the surface of the body or under the skin of drops of liquid, or jets, smudges, blood.

Visceral(interoceptive) is a sensation inside the body of some foreign objects, creatures. (worms, additional organs, sewn-in devices. Excellent objectivity. Often combined with delirium, sometimes patients feel the transformation of organs.

Motor(kinesthetic) - this is a feeling of simple or complex actions, the head turns or shakes, the tongue sticks out, hands rise. In acute alcoholic psychosis, they seem to be running, performing prof. Actions). Sometimes these false movements are violent.

Vestibular hallucinations– a feeling of rising or falling, or there may be a feeling of shaking env. items. Symptom of doubling of the body.

Hallucinations of reincarnation in animals, galleontropia - in a cat) there may also be a feeling of transformation into inanimate objects. (machine with bucket).

functional hallucinations develop within the stimulus, most often these are auditory hallucinations.

reflex hallucinations are real incentives. (I hear a knock and it resounds in my chest. Mb behind in time, in the morning I spilled kerosene for dinner, I felt that it was all soaked in).

Diagnostic value:

The hallucination has diagnostic value. content of hallucinations.

One of the fundamental provisions adopted in psychiatry is that psychopathological symptoms and syndromes are nonspecific. At the same time, some of them occur mainly in certain forms of mental pathology and are preferable and even approach specific (pathognomonic) mental disorders.

If with loss of space - delirium.

In the structure of the epileptic aura - multiple visual hallucinations.

Microopic, macro, - characteristics for organic brain damage.

Elementary hallucinations (photopsies, acoasma, episodic calls), suggested hallucinations can occur in practically healthy people. Abundant true visual hallucinations are a sign of clouding of consciousness. True verbal, olfactory, gustatory, visceral, tactile deceptions of perception arise as a result of infections, traumatic brain injuries, somatic diseases, alcohol, drug and substance abuse, the use of hallucinogens (LSD, ephedron, pervitin, etc.).

Most pseudohallucinations are schizophrenic in nature. Some delusions occur almost exclusively in schizophrenia and are close to specific. These include antagonistic, commentary, visceral, olfactory.

Identification of hallucinations is a difficult task in many cases. Hallucinations, like many other violations of sensory cognition, are subjective psychopathological symptoms. In cases where patients do not disclose their painful experiences, deny them, do not answer questions, dissimulate, and their behavior only to a small extent reflects hallucinatory disorders (which happens often), perceptual deceptions are either not recognized, or are of a dubious, presumptive nature. Behavioral changes corresponding to the content of hallucinatory images, especially information received from the patient, significantly increase the reliability of diagnosis. Features of the behavior of hallucinators are considered to be objective signs of hallucinations, which is only partly true. Behavioral changes in hallucinations are diverse.

Patients with verbal hallucinations listen to something, whisper with someone, talk, tap, try to plug their ears, go to other rooms (without any effect).

With visual hallucinations, patients are looking at something, hiding from someone, by cries in a state of excitement, it is possible to partially judge the content of optical pseudo-perceptions.

With olfactory hallucinations, patients pinch their noses, try to ventilate the room endlessly.

Different perceptual delusions often lead to similar behavioral disorders. Thus, refusals to eat can be the result of gustatory olfactory or verbal imperative hallucinations. In some cases, the availability of patients in combination with typical behavioral disorders allows diagnosing false perceptions with confidence, in others - fragmentary statements, hints, nuances of facial expressions, gestures, behavioral details make it possible only to suspect the presence of hallucinations.

A person can be in a state in which his perception of the real world is disturbed. Interaction external environment, as well as all the information it receives, turn into hallucinations, which are often called a delusion of consciousness. They consist of many ideas, memories and feelings of the patient.

The peculiarity of hallucinations is that they are not controlled and do not appear at the request of the patient. This is their main difference from invented fantasies. To understand this phenomenon in more detail, it is necessary to carefully study all the nuances of the disease, as well as determine the signs of true and false hallucinations.

What are hallucinations

They are called images of various objects, people, as well as situations that are perceived by a person as absolutely real, but in reality they are absent. These images appear spontaneously. Some are bright, sensitive and extremely convincing. They are considered to be true hallucinations. But there is another kind of them. Such attacks are perceived by internal hearing or vision, while forming in the depths of consciousness and felt as a result of the influence of external forces. They cause visions, vague images, various voices and sounds. They are called pseudo-hallucinations. Any kind mental disorders need complex treatment and long-term medical supervision.

The essence of the symptom of hallucinations

The final formulation, which reflects the essence of true hallucinations in our day, was revealed by Jean Esquirol. He defined the essence of this psychiatric deviation as a deep conviction of a person that at the current moment he is experiencing a sensory perception of a particular situation, while all possible objects from a hallucination are not within his reach. This definition is relevant in modern society.

The essence of the symptom lies in the fact that a person's sphere of perception of reality is disturbed. During an attack, he feels and realizes the presence of various objects that are absent in the real world. The patient is fully convinced that he is right and does not succumb to any refuting beliefs. This happens due to the fact that a person is no longer able to distinguish between reality and hallucination.

Signs of hallucinations

A patient experiencing true hallucinations, despite the pathology, can quite adequately perceive the environment and real reality. At the same time, his attention is divided randomly, focusing mainly on false images. A person does not feel the pain of attacks, perceiving them as if they were a natural part of his life. For most people suffering from this disease, hallucinations become more real than real events and people. They often disconnect from what is happening in reality and plunge into their own, artificial world. During such attacks, the following changes in behavior occur with a person:

• When deceiving consciousness with a hallucination, a person actively gesticulates. He begins to carefully peer into something, worry, turn away, cover his eyes with his hands, look around, brush off or defend himself. The patient may try to grab a non-existent object, throw off invisible clothing.
• Under the influence of true hallucinations, various actions can be performed. They will reflect the deception of perception: a person will hide, look for something, catch, attack people and himself. He will also be prone to destroying objects around him.
• The patient may attempt to commit suicide.
• Auditory hallucinations will be pronounced. A person will freely talk with non-existent people, as he will be completely sure of their real existence.
• True hallucinations are characterized by the active expression of emotions: rage, tears, regret, anger, delight or disgust.

A person may experience difficulty if his reality and hallucinations act on perception with the same force. In this case, he develops a split personality, which constantly balances between the extremes of behavior. Most often, sick people begin to hear the voice of God, feel his touch and believe that they are messengers of heaven or prophets.

What are hallucinations

They can be the result of deception of any of the five senses of a person. Hallucinations are: visual, auditory, gustatory, olfactory or tactile. There are also hallucinatory images of general feelings that are caused by feelings about the processes taking place in the body, in the feeling of being inside foreign body or subject. All types of true hallucinations are characterized by the following signs behaviors:

• auditory hallucinations. A person begins to hear the voice of people and various sounds. In his mind, these sounds can be quiet or loud. The voices may belong to familiar people and be constantly reproduced in hallucinations or be episodic. By their nature, they can carry a narrative, accusatory or imperative bias. A monologue or dialogue may sound in the patient's head in different languages. True auditory hallucinations are easier to identify in a patient than their other types.
• Visual hallucinatory images. During them, a person can see absolutely simple situations, objects, people or events. It is also quite likely that non-existent animals or other creatures will appear in his mind. At the same time, the patient can participate in imaginary scenes, actively gesticulate, and perform various physical actions.
• Taste hallucinations. They contribute to the sensation of any tastes that do not exist in nature. For example, a sick person may start chewing on a pencil while experiencing sweetness in the mouth. This sign of true hallucinations is the rarest.
• Olfactory hallucinations. From them, the patient can smell the imaginary aroma of perfume or the smell of rotten meat. At the same time, it will seem to him absolutely real. A person may even have a gag reflex due to such a deception of consciousness.
• Tactile hallucinations. A patient suffering from an illness feels touches that do not exist: insects on the skin, ropes tied, a noose on the neck, animal bites or blows. He can also feel heat, frost, or raindrops on his body. Such hallucinations can focus both on the surface of the skin and under it.

Characteristics of the types of hallucinations

In addition to classification by signs of behavior, hallucinatory images are divided into the following types difficulties:

• Protozoa. They can be characterized as incomplete images of perceived situations. For example, it can be: glare, sparks, luminous spots, rays or circles. All these types of images are visual. Among the simplest auditory hallucinations, unusual rustles, sounds, creaks, groans, cries of people or animals can be distinguished.
• subject. Most often they affect one analyzer. The patient can see visual hallucinations: a person, an animal, a part of the body, or some object. Of the auditory, they include words of speech or songs, dialogues between several people.
• Complex. This type of hallucination is considered the most dangerous. The patient begins not only to see non-existent people, but also to communicate with them. Also, alien creatures and mythical creatures may appear to him. Since a person has no control over such phenomena, he can harm himself by trying to fight or fight with the participants in his images.

true hallucinations

They are always projected from the outside world and are inextricably linked with human reality. Actions of the true visual hallucinations may be in familiar surroundings. For example, fictional wild beast can hide in a real room or behind a wall. Such visions do not cause a single gram of doubt in a person that they really exist. True verbal hallucinations are very vivid and realistic. The patient is more likely to think that he is real life, his relatives and friends than unrealistic images in the mind.

True and false hallucinations can overtake each person. Especially if he takes psychotropic drugs, constantly drinks antidepressants, or has suffered brain injuries. It is very important to determine their appearance in time and provide appropriate medical assistance to a loved one.

What are pseudo hallucinations

This pathology of the human psyche is characterized by the following features:

• A voice may sound in the head of the patient, which will push him to certain actions. All visions will depend on him. The voice from the head will direct, make you see something that does not really exist.
• The patient can completely disconnect from the real situation around and observe only a hallucinatory image.
• Each perceptual deception will make a person think that everything around is rigged, that voices or visions are the result of his poisoning or collusion. They begin to accuse the people around them of abandoning them and handing them over to the punishment of doctors who experiment on them.

Differences between true hallucinations and pseudo hallucinations

Their main difference is considered to be an expressive orientation to the outside world, as well as a connection with really existing items and people. A true hallucination is when a person sees an imaginary spot on a real chair, hears a sound outside the door, smells food or smells perfume. Pseudo-hallucination can only be called his internal sensations, which are in no way connected with surrounding things. The patient can feel in his body foreign objects to hear people's voices in my head. He may also experience pain caused by a delusion of perception.

Pseudo-hallucinations differ from true hallucinations in the level of danger to others. Such a pathology does not depend on thoughts, memories or situations lived by a person. They have an obsessive form, an accusatory and imperative character. A patient who suffers from pseudo-hallucinations can quickly go insane, harm others and commit suicide.

Causes of hallucinations

The reason for the clouding of consciousness, with the presence of true visual hallucinations, can be mental, somatic diseases, chronic stress, as well as taking medicines that have a negative impact on nervous system. Among mental illness hallucinations can be triggered by:

• acute form schizophrenia.
• Epilepsy attacks.
• Psychosis.

Among somatic diseases, hallucinations can be promoted by the following pathologies:

• Brain tumor, concussion or trauma.
• Various infections that affect the brain.
• Diseases accompanied by febrile attacks.
• Stroke.
• Atherosclerosis.
• Severe poisoning.

Also, a deception of consciousness can overtake after taking:

• Alcohol in large doses.
• Drugs.
• Tranquilizing drugs.
• Antidepressants.
• Psychostimulants.
• Certain types of plants that poison the body (belladonna, dope, poisonous mushrooms, etc.).

Diagnosis of hallucinations

It is very important to be able to distinguish real hallucinations from illusions. If it seems to a person that the sofa in front of him has changed its shape and turned into a beast, or the hanger has become like a human shadow, he sees an illusion. But when the patient claims that he sees an animal, object or person, on empty place, he had a hallucination.

An illusion is a distorted perception of a real object. If a person imagines something, after the remark of a close friend, he will always agree with this, making sure that this is just an optical illusion. When a person saw a real true hallucination- he will never agree that it is not real. After long persuasion, he can pretend that he has taken someone else's point of view, but in fact, the deception of consciousness will always be a reality for him.

Illusions can occur in an absolutely healthy person. For example, it may seem to him that a mysterious stranger is standing around the corner of a dark alley. This phenomenon may be the result of fear of the dark or increased caution. Approaching the source of fear, a person can see for himself that the illusion appeared due to an unsuccessful reflection of a nearby object or a car passing by. Such situations are quite normal for a healthy person, since everyone has their own fears and concerns about the outside world.

A person suffering from hallucinations, on the contrary, is a sick person who urgently needs the help of doctors. If relatives or friends do not send him for treatment in time, the consequences can be very deplorable both for the patient himself and for people close to him.

Changes in personality behavior are easy to notice when true and false hallucinations appear. Their difference in this case can play a serious role in the safety of others. False hallucinations are much more dangerous than true ones. Such a person will behave very wary, constantly muttering something, talking in a whisper to imaginary people, trying not to draw too much attention to himself.

If you find signs of hallucinations in one of your friends or acquaintances, you should try to discuss them with the patient. If he really sees a hallucination, and not an illusion, you should give him a light sedative, and then put him to bed. After that, you need to urgently call ambulance and report all symptoms.