Hallucinatory-delusional syndromes are the imaginary perception of objects around the world. Imaginary images replace reality. Their patient perceives as something that actually exists, takes part in imaginary events.
General information
Hallucinosis is a condition where imaginary images float, but consciousness remains unclouded. This means that a person does not observe disintegration, he clearly perceives external stimuli. Clear consciousness is a key characteristic of this phenomenon. If imaginary images capture a person in a dull consciousness, this can no longer be called hallucinatory syndrome.
Often with this condition, delusions arise. Their presence is not explained solely by the fact that a person justifies hallucinations of sound, visual and other types. Often they appear on their own and are not accompanied by delirium.
Hallucinatory syndrome can occur in a chronic or acute form. The second variety has bright, saturated visual images. The patient in this case is involved in imaginary events very actively. The chronic form is characterized by the fact that the vision is somewhat sulfur, the patient is not inclined to attach great importance to them.
Varieties
Taking into account which particular organs of perception are associated with visions, several of their varieties are distinguished. Typically, tactile hallucinations, visual, verbal, sound, are described. Properly identifying them is extremely important in order to make an accurate diagnosis and apply the most effective treatment.
Visual
Visual hallucinatory syndrome develops quite rarely. It is almost not accompanied by delusions, other manifestations of pathology. Bonnet hallucinatory syndrome appears in people who have completely or almost completely lost their vision. The patient is critical of visions. He observes rather vivid images that can take non-standard sizes - objects can be too large or small. As a rule, he sees relatives who are not nearby in reality.
If a person is in darkened rooms for a long time, there is a high risk that the disease with hallucinations will turn out to be Lermitt's syndrome. In this case, the visions become vague, a person sees a group of people, animals. The patient is critical of the fact that before his eyes, he is surprised at this.
Viral encephalitis provokes the development of hallucinosis of Van Bogart. As a rule, there are a lot of visions, they are bright. Sometimes this becomes the first sign of delirium.
Verbal
Verbal hallucinations are also called auditory hallmarks. There can be many kinds of them, including a separate voice, dialogue between someone, crowd noise, rustling, knocking. Sometimes voices condemn, threaten, give orders or behave neutrally, and strange sounds are alarming. As a rule, it is precisely such hallucinations that lead to the development of delusional syndrome. Delirium is directly related to what a person hears in his head.
The verbal type is very often accompanied by anxiety, fear. It begins with a single word, phrase, and only then becomes a detailed dialogue. When the syndrome manifests itself most vividly, the person is scared and confused. At this moment he is able to commit a crime, escape from home, hospital, attack anyone. If the manifestations of the disease disappeared, the patient calmed down, this does not mean that he recovered. As a rule, the lull in such cases is only temporary, then the patient becomes worse.
Sometimes voices change their tone, become convincing. But over time, the patient begins to be more critical of audible sounds, they less affect his behavior.
Are common
This syndrome includes tactile hallucinations in conjunction with visceral. In this case, the patient sees moving objects of the surrounding reality, which cause him discomfort. Sometimes imaginary objects can be on his body, and sometimes inside, in internal organs. As a rule, the patient begins to see worms, insects. Someone is tormented by visions of frogs, imaginary fairy-tale creatures, for example, dragons.
Such visions are quite persistent. Often the patient is treated by many doctors, complaining of all kinds of symptoms, undergoes several courses of therapy, and then gets to the psychiatrist. In medical practice, cases have been recorded when the patient complained about a frog sitting in the stomach. Symptoms disappeared only when the psychiatrist provoked vomiting in the patient and planted a frog in the vomit.
Something similar develops in those with senestopathy. However, there is no separate complex of discomfort. The patient complains of pain, heaviness in the body, but does not connect them with a specific object - an insect, stones, any creatures, as happens in people suffering from hallucinosis.
Gustatory and olfactory hallucinations are very rare. As a rule, they are not symptoms of any mental disorders.
Development reasons
Hallucinations in the elderly are most often represented by a separate syndrome. But sometimes they are part of a mental or organic disease. The most common reasons a patient observes vision is epilepsy, brain damage, schizophrenia, psychosis, encephalitis.
Sometimes hallucinations develop in a child at a temperature. Kids begin to cry and scream with fear. Parents should measure the temperature, call a doctor. The doctor prescribes, according to indications, drugs, among which there may be an antipyretic agent. With hallucinations, light sedatives and sleeping pills are prescribed, such as Tenoten, Persen, and Valerian tincture.
If a person suffers from epilepsy, visions are likely to come to him before the attack. As a rule, these are scenic scenes in which many people are involved. It can be whole catastrophe scenes. Their main feature is the presence of a large number of blue and scarlet shades.
If organic brain damage is noted, much will be determined by the location of the damage and its type. Depending on whether the tumor, cyst, trauma are diagnosed, visions may be different.
For patients with schizophrenia, it is typical to observe many hallucinations. Usually this flow begins with verbal manifestations - voices in the head. Subsequently, visual images, crazy ideas can join them. Symptoms in this case are negative.
Psychosis is a long-term serious illness. It is classified for etiology and reasons. Psychoses are endogenous, somatogenic, intoxication, organic, and withdrawal.
Encephalitis also provokes all kinds of visions, starting from light flashes, ending with whole scenarios, figurative pictures, everyday scenes. Verbal hallucinations in this case occur quite rarely. Sometimes the patient hears extraneous music, noise.
Treatment
The manifestations of this kind of pills from hallucinations are removed. To quickly relieve the patient of the syndrome, psychiatrists prescribe tranquilizers, antipsychotics, antidepressants. It is necessary first of all to treat the underlying disease, which led to the appearance of visions.
Development mechanism
In the brain of each person, the ability to “finish” the visible is provided, using fragmentary information. So, if he sees a spot in the dark that moves, he will finish the picture and realize that it is a cat. But a side effect of this ability is also manifested in the tendency to see what is not. According to official studies, almost every person throughout his life at least once saw something illusory.
Experiments were conducted in which both patients with psychosis and completely healthy people took part. They were shown a series of black-and-white images with unidentified objects and found out on which of them you can see a person.
After that, color drawings were presented, on the basis of which black and white images were built. The results showed that people who are prone to psychosis used more additional data (color images) and found a person faster in black and white drawings. The fact is that hallucinatory syndrome occurs in individuals with a tendency to transfer to reality the impressions that they received earlier. This is a potentially dangerous shift in brain processing of data.
Interesting Facts
Post-traumatic stress disorder can trigger hallucinations. It can appear after any strong experiences, negative experiences that were not worked out in a timely manner. The disorder is often manifested in sudden "flashbacks", memories that are associated with trauma. They are so bright that it seems to a person as if this is happening at the moment.
Overwork and solitude can also cause hallucinations. The brain begins to confuse what is happening inside and out. You do not need to have a mental disorder for this - it is enough that a person is very tired. It is fertile ground for visions. If there is a chronic lack of sleep, and people are absent nearby, which makes focusing of reality more difficult, the brain begins to be deceived.
According to surveys of patients with schizophrenia, the attitude to hallucinations differs depending on the cultural background. So, American patients associated them with negative experiences, and Indian patients rated their visions positively, they came into contact with them.
Some historical phenomena, according to recent studies, may have occurred due to the use of hallucinogenic products, for example, the sale of Salem witches. In the area where the arrests took place, rye bread was distributed, the components of which created an effect similar to LSD.