Health and Psychology

Hallucinations seem to mean a symptom of psychosis to many physicians. However many hallucinations have nothing to do with mental illness.

The most common hallucinations are auditory hallucinations associated with sleep disturbance. As rapid eye movement (REM) periods in sleep are disrupted the person loses a normal dreaming pattern. This can result in periods where the person is dreaming even though their eyes are open. This is often a side-effect of a medication such as an antibiotic. The auditory hallucinations will be simple like hearing your name called, or a doorbell or a knocking sound. As sleep disturbance progresses frank dreams as visual image hallucinations may also occur. Often the person will not be able to move during these episodes.

Loss of sensory perception can also result in hallucinations.

• Loss of vision can result in visual hallucinations of shadowy images or small figures that can be quite ornate.
• Loss of hearing can result in tinnitus (a ringing or whooshing sound) or musical hallucinations.
• Loss of sense of taste or smell can result in olfactory or gustatory (taste) hallucinations.
• Loss of sense of touch from nerve damage can result in tactile hallucinations such as the feeling of pins or needles in nerve damaged hands or feet. Many people experience part of this when they have had an extremity in a fixed position for a long time, but people with diabetes will often have this years before the diagnosis.

Substance abuse may cause visual or auditory hallucinations. Some substances are known to cause specific hallucinations such as seeing traces of movement or after images while using LSD, or “bugs” from cocaine or alcohol.

Most non-psychotic hallucinations have an underlying medical cause. Those types of hallucinations benefit from a clear description and an evaluation by a physician familiar with medical hallucinations.

If you have unusual symptoms, feel free to contact our office for an evaluation.