The 15 types of hallucinations (and their possible causes)

These psychological phenomena are more common than we think, even if we do not notice them.

One of the phenomena most often associated with "insanity" are hallucinationsthat is, perceptions that do not correspond to reality and in which there is no stimulus present to trigger them (unlike illusions).

Hallucinations can appear as a symptom of some mental disorder, for example schizophrenia, or by the consumption of psychoactive substances such as mushrooms or LSD. The most popular hallucinations are visual and auditory.However, there are others that we explain in this article.

What are hallucinations

Basically, the hallucinations are perceptual experiences nonexistent for the rest of the worldThey only seem real to the person who experiences them. This phenomenon is much more common than most people think, can occur in any perceptual modality and often has characteristics similar to normal perception.

The exact nature of the different types of hallucinations is not entirely clear. However, it is known that people often experience hallucinations because some chemicals found in drugs influence the synapses (the spaces through which neurons (the spaces through which neurons communicate with each other) and cause the activation of some brain regions, for example, the parietal lobe in the case of touch hallucinations.

Other times what triggers the hallucinations are dysfunctional neurons that activate certain parts of the brain and have an effect on normal function. and have an effect on normal function. The latter phenomenon occurs, for example, because of an excess of dopamine in the case of schizophrenia.

However, experts say that lack of sleep can also provoke the occurrence of this phenomenon.It has been proven that after 24 hours without sleep a person is more susceptible to experience hallucinations. In the same way, to be long time in situations of sensorial deprivation can generate visions of elements that really are not there.

Causes

As you can see, hallucinations can occur for different reasons, not only for serious mental disorders such as schizophrenia. Some of the most common causative factors are:

• Medication and drug use.The use of some psychoactive substances such as marijuana, LSD and even alcohol are causative factors of this type of experience.
• Mental illnesses and disordersSchizophrenia is the psychopathology most commonly associated with this phenomenon; however, other disorders and diseases such as Alzheimer's and dementia, bipolar disorder, Wernicke-Korsakoff syndrome, temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE), brain tumors and even Parkinson's disease also cause hallucinations.
• Brain injuriesBrain lesions can also cause hallucinations, mainly those occurring in the frontal lobe (negative hallucinations, double phenomenon or olfactory, gustatory and visual hallucinations) or the hippocampus (seeing smaller objects and body image changes).

Types of hallucinations

The types of hallucinations can be classified in two waysAccording to the sensory modality and according to the mode of appearance.

According to the sensory modality

Depending on the sensory modality, hallucinations can be:

1. visual hallucinations

One of the best known. They occur when the person sees things that are not really there; for example, seeing an individual who does not exist. In cases such as schizophrenia, the sick person may even have a relationship with the imaginary entity. may even have a relationship with the imaginary entity.. Visual hallucinations can also be flashes of light or autoscopy, i.e. seeing oneself from the outside.

2. Auditory

They are also the most known. There is the belief that these hallucinations are voices emitted by a third person and that they have a meaning, for example, to hurt someone, but they can also be single words or sounds. they can also be single words or sounds. They are more frequently experienced by people with schizophrenia.

3. Gustatory

These hallucinations are less frequent than the previous ones. They usually appear in some disorders, for example, depression. The person perceives tastes of elements that are not really there..

4. Olfactory

They are also rare, and include those hallucinations of odorous type. They are usually caused by the consumption of drugs and, generally, are unpleasant odors. Sometimes they also appear in the moments in which it is expressed together with certain types of migraine, like the gustatory ones. together with certain types of migraine, as well as gustatory and auditory hallucinations..

5. Somatic

These hallucinations include the body sensations of the individual who suffers them, who feels them as real. Some people have reported feeling that they had metal organs, claimed to feel that they had no organs or that they did not perceive parts of the body.

6. Tactile

They are also known as haptic hallucinations and include those that have to do with the sense of touch. It is possible to differentiate between thermal (sensations of cold or heat) or hydric (for example, they perceive that they have water in their lungs).

7. Paresthesias

They belong to the previous group but are frequent in some disorders such as Wernicke-Korsakov. The person experiences a tingling sensation, as if ants were crawling on his skin.as if ants were crawling on the skin. They are also frequent with the consumption of other drugs such as cocaine.

8. Kinesthetic

Kinesthetic or kinesthetic hallucinations are those related to the movement of one's own body. related to the movement of the own body. They are frequent in patients with Parkinson's disease and those individuals who consume psychoactive substances.

According to the mode of appearance

Depending on the mode of appearance the hallucinations can be:

9. Functional hallucinations

They occur when a stimulus triggers another stimulus in the same sensory modality.. For example, when someone hears real traffic noise and perceives the sound of the news as a hallucination.

10. Reflexes

Similar above because the person has a hallucination in the presence of another stimulus. However, this stimulus does not belong to the same sensory modality..

11. Negatives

The person perceives that something that actually exists is not present.. That is to say, something does not appear or he/she does not see something that is not really there at that time or place, but something that is there disappears.

12. Negative autoscopies

It is the opposite of autoscopy. If in autoscopy the person sees him/herself from the outside as if he/she were a mirror, in negative autoscopy the person, when he/she is going to look in the mirror, he/she does not see him/herself in the mirror..

13. Extracampinas

They are those hallucinations that are out of our visual field. For example, when perceiving someone who is in front of us as if he were behind us, or when hearing a voice that is in another city.

14. Pseudohallucinations

The pseudohallucinations are those in which the person is conscious that the hallucinations is aware that the hallucinations that he/she experiences are not true.. For example, when an individual perceives the voice of a deceased relative but knows it cannot be true because he has been dead for years.

15. Hypnagogic

This is a type of hallucination that also occurs in people without any type of neurological alteration in the transition between wakefulness and sleep. They can be auditory, visual or tactile.