Psychopathologies of the imagination: types, characteristics and symptoms.

A summary of the main psychopathologies of the imagination and how to distinguish them from each other.

There are a number of mental disorders in which, more or less frequently, a number of symptoms that constitute some of the psychopathologies of the imagination may arise comorbidly. For example, this is the case with schizophrenia and other psychotic disorders, mood disorders and some sensory impairments.

Psychopathologies of the imagination are a series of "perceptual delusions in which a person perceives a series of images in his or her mind that are not actually physically present, so that these perceptions are not real, but are the product of his or her imagination; although the person experiences the perception of these images as if they were real.

In the following lines we will see in greater detail what are the main psychopathologies of the imagination and what are their characteristics? and what are their characteristics.

What are psychopathologies of the imagination?

The psychopathologies of the imagination, also denominated as "perceptual delusions", are a set of psychopathologies in which a person perceives a series of images that are elaborate products of their mind, although they experience them as if they were real.. Therefore, it is a perceptual interpretation, which has turned out to be misleading, of an image experienced cognitively in terms of senso-perception.

The explanation of such a particular phenomenon as that of psychopathologies of the imagination could be because perception and imagination present the same norms within their process through the functioning of the human mind. In these cases, moreover, the sensory organs in charge of perception and imagination do not have any alteration that would justify this anomaly, so that this can be a key feature to differentiate psychopathologies of imagination from perceptual distortions.

However, it should be noted that sometimes psychopathologies of the imagination could be caused by some alteration or dysfunction in the sensory organs for various reasons (e.g., by the voluntary or accidental ingestion of some toxic substance, by some brain dysfunction, among others).

Types of psychopathologies of the imagination

In this section we will subdivide the psychopathologies of the imagination into two main categories: the first one would be that of pseudoperceptions or anomalous images; and the second one, that of hallucinations.

1. Anomalous images or pseudoperceptions

In this subcategory of the psychopathologies of the imagination, a group of anomalous mental images will be included. abnormal mental images that can be mistaken for real perceptions, since their processing in the brainThe processing of these images in the brain is quite similar to that of an authentic perception.

Such images possess one of the two particularities mentioned below:

• The first is when they are produced in the absence of some stimuli that can activate or trigger them.
• The other is when they are activated or maintained without the stimulus that produced the image no longer being present.

1.1. Allucionoid images

This type of images are produced in the mind of the subject. in the absence of any concrete and real stimulus that could activate them, so that they are autonomous and subjective.They are autonomous and subjective, although they have similar characteristics to those of a real image of the exterior that is perceived by the subject, making it difficult for him/her to differentiate them.

These images are normally produced in cases in which the person suffers some type of affection in the central nervous system, being generally very simple images.These images are usually very simple and lacking some kind of emotional meaning (e.g., lights, flashes, etc.) or they could also occur in an auditory modality (e.g., simple noises, isolated sounds, etc.). In these cases the person is aware that they are a product of their imagination.

1.2. Hypnopompic and hypnagogic images.

Both hypnopompic and hypnagogic images are one of the extraordinarily frequent psychopathologies of the imagination among the general non-clinical population, since it is estimated that approximately 70% of the population has experienced them, so they are not usually part of a mental disorder that requires any kind of treatment.

These anomalies were called "physiological hallucinations" in the first texts on the subject, because they occur around sleep, that is, between sleep and wakefulness or vice versa, being moments when people are in a state of semi-consciousness.

A hypnopompic image is composed of those images that the subject perceives in a brief period between a state of sleep and wakefulness, being a type of pseudo-image.It is a type of pseudoperception, since the images that the subject perceives are not really in front of him. It is common for people who experience hypnopompic imagery to think that it was a dream they experienced while sleeping.

On the other hand, a hypnagogic image is those images perceived when a person is asleep, in a brief period of time, passing from wakefulness to sleep.In a brief temporary period of transit, that passes from the wakefulness towards the dream.

1.3. After-images or consecutive images

This type of psychopathologies of the imagination is embodied in those images that are usually produced as a consequence of a sensory stimulation. as a consequence of an excessive sensory stimulation just before they are experienced by the subject..

Its great difference with eidetism is that the representation of these consecutive images or after-images could not be evoked after some time, while in eidetism they could. On the other hand, it is also common that these images have opposite properties with respect to those of the original image.

1.4. Eidetic and mnesic images

In this case we are talking about images about memories of our past that are presented in our mind in a transformed form.They may have been produced according to personal desires, being of a subjective nature and, in addition, the subject experiences them with a very low sharpness and vividness.

The eidetic images deal with a series of very particular amnesic images and can be considered as a type of sensory memory, consisting of identical, or almost identical, mental representations of some sensory impression that have remained as if they were fixed in the subject's mind. Likewise, the subject can evoke them voluntarily or they could also come to burst into his mind involuntarily.

1.5. Parasitic images

Their main difference with the mnesic images is that the parasitic images are involuntary and autonomous; while the consecutive images or after-images are subjective, being conscious that they have been a product of the person's mind.while from the consecutive images or after-images they can be differentiated because the parasitic ones are subjective, the person himself being aware that they have been a product of his mind.

However, they are similar to the others in that they have also been produced as a consequence of some stimulus. as a consequence of some stimulus that the subject has perceived but that is no longer present in the image, this characteristic being in turn a distinction with respect to the illusions.

2. Hallucinations

Now we go with the other great subgroup that we have classified within the psychopathologies of the imagination, the hallucinations, the most characteristic disorders within this group of psychopathologies are the following.

However, in spite of having an important diagnostic value, hallucinations do not always occur within a mental disorder, and may sometimes appear in mentally healthy people, but who are under peculiar stimulus conditions.

When a person experiences some type of hallucination, he/she comes to grant reality and body to some images that his/her memory is remembering without being perceived at that moment through the senses. at that moment through the senses, so that the hallucinations, in truth, are the fruit of his mind.

A hallucination is a type of cognitive or mental representation that has similar characteristics to those of a perceived or imagined image, occurring if there is no stimulus that has triggered it or that can provoke its perception and, despite it, they have the same impact at a cognitive level as if they were perceived in a real way. On the other hand, a hallucination cannot be controlled voluntarily by the person experiencing it, so it is considered to be intrusive in nature.It is therefore considered to be intrusive in nature.

Characteristics of hallucinations

To better understand what one of the most relevant psychopathologies of the imagination, such as hallucinations, consists of, we will briefly explain some of its most important characteristics.

The first one is that hallucinations are about a group of images with a high degree of intensity, so that the person considers them to beThe first is that hallucinations deal with a group of images with a high degree of intensity, so that the person considers that they have acquired a perceptive character, believing that he is really perceiving them on the outside, although in reality they are being created only in his imagination.

A second very relevant characteristic of hallucinations is that they are a sensory phenomenon and not a perceptual one, as the subject who experiences them might believe.

The third characteristic that should be emphasized about hallucinations is that they have objective qualities, i.e., they have a corporeal they have objective qualities, that is to say, they have a corporeality, and they also have a speciality, that is to say, they appear in space.They appear in the space that is in front of the subject. According to Jaspers, hallucinations, in this sense, would be new perceptions, which could not have arisen from real perceptions and which have appeared simultaneously with the real perceptions in front of the subject.

On the other hand, these characteristics have not been exempt from criticism by those who maintain that when a patient hallucinates he is able to distinguish without difficulty between his hallucinatory experiences and his imagination. Another criticism in this regard states that it is a way of conceptualizing hallucinations that is incomplete, inaccurate, and may be contradictory.

There is a very relevant consideration regarding hallucinations by Reed, among others. This researcher considers that the fundamental characteristic of hallucinations is that the individual who hallucinates maintains a conviction of the reality of the experience, so that the subject thinks that the experience is real.Therefore, the subject thinks that these hallucinations are real perceptions.

The classification of hallucinations

There are three fundamental modalities to classify the hallucinations, being these the following ones.

According to their complexityAccording to their complexity, is the first of the modalities of classification of hallucinations, being able to divide them between elementary or complex hallucinations.

Another way of classifying hallucinations is according to their according to their contentsand they can be of the following modes:

• Religious and/or cultural contents.
• Desires, fears, memories, experiences, etc.
• In relation to the content of some delirium or other psychopathology.
• In relation to special stressful or shocking life situations.

The third classification of hallucinations would be according to their sensory modality.They can then be visual, auditory, tactile, gustatory, olfactory, kinesthetic, etc.

On the other hand, there are a series of variants at the phenomenological level of hallucinatory experiences that should be mentioned, being the following: reflex, functional, negative, autoscopic and extracampus hallucinations.