Hallucinations(from Latin Hallucination - delusion, vision) - imaginary images of objects and situations, perceived as real, but absent in reality, arising spontaneously, without sensory stimulation. Caused by internal mental factors (as opposed to illusion, which is a distorted perception of external stimuli).
Back in the 7th century. Indian philosopher Kumarilla Bhatta expressed contemporaneous conjectures about the deceptions of human perception. The illusory nature of the image, he argued, is determined by the distortion of the relationship between the external object and the organ.
The causes may be defects in the sensory organs, as well as disorders in which memory images are projected into the outside world and become hallucinations. Some hallucinations can have a vivid sensory coloring, persuasiveness and are projected externally and be indistinguishable from real perceptions. Such hallucinations are called true.
Others are perceived inner hearing or vision, are localized in the internal field of consciousness and are felt as a result of the influence of some external force that causes visions, voices, etc. This is a phenomenon described at the end of the 19th century. Russian psychiatrist V.H. Kandinsky, called pseudohallucinations.
A hallucinating patient can simultaneously perceive reality adequately along with false images. At the same time, his attention is distributed unevenly, often shifting towards deceptions of perception. Understanding the pain of hallucinations for the most part is absent, the patient behaves exactly the same as if what seems to him was actually happening.
Often, hallucinations, no matter how irrational their content, are more relevant for the patient than reality, and patients treat them the same way as corresponding real phenomena. Patients look intently at something, turn away, close their eyes, look around, wave away, defend themselves, try to touch or grab something with their hand, listen, cover their ears, sniff, throw something off their body, etc.
Under the influence of hallucinations, various actions are committed that reflect the content of perception deceptions: patients hide, look for something, catch something, attack others, sometimes try to kill themselves, destroy objects, defend themselves, flee, make complaints, etc. For auditory hallucinations, people talk out loud to “voices.”
As a rule, patients believe that others perceive the same things as they do in their hallucinations - they hear the same voices, experience the same visions, smell the same smells. Emotional reactions are clearly expressed, the nature of which reflects the content of perception deceptions: fear, rage, disgust, enthusiasm.
The patient finds himself in great difficulty if imaginary and real images enter into a relationship of antagonism and have equal power of influence on behavior. With such a “split” personality, the patient seems to exist in two “dimensions” at once, in a situation of conflict between the conscious and unconscious.
Types and symptoms of hallucinations
A mentally ill person, especially one suffering from schizophrenia or manic depression, may believe that he is a messenger from heaven and constantly hear the voice of God speaking to him. He can feel the gentle touch of an angelic hand. These sensory impressions, which come from within the psyche, are perceived as genuine, truly existing stimuli coming from without.
The repeated hallucinations of a mentally ill person can create an entire fantasy world designed to accommodate internal emotional conflict to reality. To less severe cases These are hallucinations, usually auditory or visual, that occur in healthy people during periods of deep emotional experiences.
Hallucinations can be a deception of any of the five basic senses, i.e. they are visual, auditory, olfactory, gustatory, tactile and hallucinations general feeling(experience of unusual processes occurring inside the body, sensations from the presence of foreign objects in the body, etc.).
If the patient hears voices, this is auditory hallucinations; if he sees the dead - visual. A paranoid patient who constantly feels that the room smells of poisonous gases penetrating through the wall suffers from olfactory hallucinations. A person who complains that pursuers are shocking him with electricity is experiencing tactile hallucinations.
A patient who feels that poison has been mixed into his food has taste hallucinations. Hallucinations that occur outside of any specific sensory field are also possible. Thus, the patient may feel as if water is pouring out from some point on his head.
Tactile (tactile) hallucinations are associated with the sensation of touch, usually unpleasant. For example, cocaine addicts often complain of the feeling of insects running under their skin.
In a state of delirium, usually due to alcohol poisoning, patients often see various small creatures. In this case, the patient describes a normal object reduced to microscopic proportions. When a patient complains that some parts of the body are not where they should be, but in some other place, they talk about psychomotor hallucinations.
Hypnagogic hallucinations occur in mentally healthy people at the moment between wakefulness and sleep. Thus, a driver who falls asleep at the wheel, driving late at night, may suddenly slam on the brakes because it seems to him with complete clarity that he sees a person running out onto the road in front of the car.
Causes of hallucinations
Very often the occurrence of this disorder is due to severe injuries, or brain diseases. Hallucinations occur in the presence of tumors and can be a consequence of severe trauma.
Among the diseases that cause hallucinations, experts name the following:
- aneurysm,
- meningioma of the olfactory gland,
- syphilis,
- temporal arteritis,
- migraine,
- certain cardiovascular problems,
- Huntington's chorea.
Scientists assign a special role in the development of hallucinations eye diseases. It has been established that visual hallucinations occur with glaucoma, cataracts, and some other diseases. Moreover, it has been established that hallucinations occur with otosclerosis.
Some people believe that illusions and hallucinations are the same false perceptions. But their difference is that false perception is observed when the object itself is absent.
Healthy people hallucinate much more often than one might imagine. For example, when making a long trek through the desert, languishing from excruciating thirst, it may seem that you can see locality, oasis.
In reality, such objects are nothing more than an optical illusion. But still, it is worth noting that in most cases, people with mental illness are susceptible to hallucinations. Along with visual ones, auditory hallucinations are also observed.
For example, a patient claims that he hears the sound of the wind, a car approaching, a door knocking, etc., although in reality nothing of the kind is happening in their surroundings. It happens that hallucinations are verbal in nature, when people think that someone is calling them, and they also hear snippets of a non-existent conversation.
If auditory hallucinations are of an orderly nature, then a mentally ill person often obeys unquestioningly, thereby sometimes causing significant harm to himself or others. It is known that hallucinations are not only visual and the usual auditory, but also gustatory and even olfactory. Often all these phenomena have a compatible nature.
Regardless of the cause, hallucinations are of a different nature and have different effects on the patient. They can have a neutral coloring, or be completely devoid of emotionality. Patients treat them calmly, sometimes even indifferently. But there are exceptions when hallucinations are expressed very clearly emotionally. Thus, a case is described from clinical practice when a mother who had lost her son did not leave depressive state. In her hallucinations, she often saw the deceased, and these “meetings” brought her great joy.
Discussing the causes of hallucinations various types, scientists always emphasize that to date this process has been poorly studied, and the selective disorders that occur during illusions and hallucinations are not clear enough. Scientists highlight hallucinations characteristic of healthy people as a separate topic.
For example, mass hallucinations. When they occur, the phenomenon of mass suggestion is observed, when people “wind up” each other, and the crowd becomes a single organism. It has long been established that people are easily suggestible. When alone, he is able to behave like a critical thinker.
Treatment of hallucinations
Urgent Care
Emergency assistance is based on general principles relief of agitation and treatment of hallucinatory-delusional states. At the same time, it is necessary to take into account the nature of the disease in which hallucinations develop. Thus, visual hallucinations during a feverish state or during delirium tremens require different therapeutic tactics aimed at treating the disease as a whole.
First aid should ensure the safety of the patient and others, prevent dangerous actions caused by fear, anxiety, excitement. Therefore, patient surveillance measures are of paramount importance, especially in acute hallucinatory states. They do not differ significantly from alcoholic events during delirium.
Medical assistance
Treatment for hallucinations is aimed at reducing arousal and affective disorders: administer aminazine 2-4 ml of a 2.5% solution or tizercin - 2-4 ml of a 2.5% solution intramuscularly or the same drugs orally at 100-200 mg/day. With continued use of aminazine or tizercin, the doses of which can be increased to 300-400 mg/day, they are combined with drugs that selectively act on hallucinations: triftazine up to 20-40 mg/day or haloperidol up to 15-25 mg/day or trisedyl up to 10-15 mg/day intramuscularly or orally in the same or slightly higher doses or etaprazine up to 60-70 mg/day.
Hospitalization in psychiatric institutions necessary in cases where the hallucinatory (hallucinatory-delusional) syndrome is not caused by a serious somatic illness. In the latter case, treatment in compliance with all precautions should be carried out with the participation of a psychiatrist on site or with transfer to a psychosomatic department. Transportation of patients is carried out in accordance with the basic principles of transportation of patients with mental disorders.
Questions and answers on the topic "Hallucinations"
Question:Hello. My great-grandmother is 87 years old. She has high pressure under 200. Her refrigerator is singing songs, or the river is flowing, or someone is stealing her money. In general, glitches. He doesn't sleep at night, but sleeps during the day. Please tell me what to do. And what medicine to give. Thank you. I am hope for your help.
Answer: Very often, hallucinatory disorders arise due to a lack of real communication. If their cause is diseases characteristic of older people, then it is impossible to cope with hallucinations at home. You need to immediately, at the first negative manifestations, contact a psychologist, psychiatrist, or neurologist.
Question:Hello, my grandmother is 79 years old and I began to notice that she smears food on herself, eats porridge and smears it on her face at the same time, she can spread jam, sugar, salt, or anything. In some places it eats its own skin, tears it off and eats it. At the beginning there were hallucinations, but there haven’t been any new ones for the last six months. In general, the behavior is calm, balanced, easily and quickly irritated, sometimes the memory fails (but this is more likely due to age). There was no history of chronic diseases or pathologies, except iron deficiency anemia. It’s somehow unusual to see this and at the same time I worry about her. I haven’t found any similar descriptions of the situation on the Internet, I’m scared of not knowing what it is? And what is it connected with? Thanks for the answer.
Answer: In this description, I don’t see anything other than developing senile dementia (senile dementia) with psychotic symptoms (hallucinations, auto-aggression obviously associated with some pronounced delusional motives). A consultation with a psychiatrist-gerontologist is required, or in his absence, just a psychiatrist. Proper treatment can reduce severity inappropriate behavior, slow down the decay of personality, but is unlikely to stop it completely. Most likely, in the future it will be necessary to resolve the issue of constant care, observation or placement in a special institution.
Question:Hello, my father had 3 heart attacks, after which he had a stroke a little over a month ago, he became paralyzed left side body, there was a speech impairment, now he is recovering little by little, he is more or less starting to walk. He had heart attacks due to alcohol; he had been abusing it regularly for the last 10 years, partially before that. The pressure is jumping. After the second heart attack, there was bypass surgery and aortic valve replacement. The whole problem is that Lately he sleeps very poorly at night, and he constantly seems to hear some sounds - steps around the apartment, someone opening the lock on the door, supposedly there is talk in the next room (which is why he searches the entire apartment in the middle of the night). Could this be hallucinations? Or maybe it’s some kind of fantasy that he wants in reality? What could have caused this? How to deal with this?
Answer: The symptoms you describe are indeed hallucinations, which in your father's case may be the result of damage to brain tissue. You should show your father to a psychiatrist to clarify the diagnosis and prescribe treatment. Consultation with a psychiatrist is strictly necessary, so do not delay your visit to the doctor.
Question:Woman aged 86 years. Tactile, auditory and visual hallucinations (insects in the bed; tied, tangled, glued legs; foreign objects in the legs; once “men came.” Sleeps poorly at night, sometimes screams all night that she is being eaten and bitten, someone is walking, crawling. Granny is lying with a fracture of the femoral neck. There were pressure surges, at the end of February the doctor said that vascular changes were occurring in the brain, such as micro-strokes (she spoke very poorly, hardly moved, did not see, refused to eat, was constantly sleepy, my eyes almost didn’t open.) What should I do?
Answer: For psychiatric diagnosis, a personal consultation with a psychiatrist is required. Depending on the general condition health and severity of hallucinations, the attending psychiatrist will prescribe treatment and select an individual dosage of the drugs used. We are not able to prescribe psychotropic medications within the framework of an online consultation (these medications are dispensed in pharmacies only with a special doctor’s prescription).
Question:My husband is 28 years old, he loves to drink, but he has never gone on a drinking binge before, and has not had a hangover! But a year ago I was hungover and didn’t drink, and fainted, there was foam and convulsions, everything lasted no more than 5 minutes, then I woke up and doesn’t remember anything. I didn’t drink for 2 months, then the same thing happened again. After that it all started! If he drinks for 3-4 days and is nursed, he does not sleep at night: it seems to him that someone is walking around the house, they are breathing down his neck, someone is whispering, he jumps up and starts looking. We all have to leave the house, because someone in the apartment is about to do something to us, but during the day everything is fine, but he doesn’t sleep again, so for 3 days. Then everything is fine. Lately I've been giving him phenozepam and all the visions stop and he sleeps peacefully. I understand that drinking is strictly forbidden. I would like to know the diagnosis and how to treat! Thank you.
Answer: To clarify the diagnosis and prescribe timely and adequate treatment, it is recommended to consult a neurologist and carry out comprehensive examination: EEG and Echo-EG of the brain, if necessary, MRI of the brain, only after receiving all the results of the examination the doctor will set accurate diagnosis and will appoint adequate treatment. Epilepsy and delirium must be excluded.
Question:My mother is 80 years old. She’s a completely adequate older person, but lately I’ve started to notice that she sleeps a lot during the day. Constant desire sleep. I thought it was spring vitamin deficiency, I gave her vitamins, but it’s still there daytime sleepiness. And the other day my mother told me that she wakes up in the middle of the night and sees strangers in her room, and she understands that this cannot be, she immediately turns on the switch - the vision disappears. He treats this with humor, but it’s not funny to me at all. I really hope for your advice.
Answer: Hello! You need to see a psychiatrist. This happens in old age. Perhaps this will pass as sleep normalizes and medications are taken.
Question:My mother is 72 years old. Normal, social active person, writes poetry, works with people, but is visually impaired. The following problems appeared. At the moment of waking up, strange phenomena occur: when you look at the walls and ceiling, colored paintings appear, which may contain flowers, geometric figures, animal heads, etc. Sometimes it’s as if children, girls, absolutely normal are sitting on the bed natural look, sometimes the pictures are very unpleasant. When looking at a bright light, the paintings disappear. Lasts 5-10 minutes. Doctors don’t say anything definite, but they don’t find a connection with vision. The result was a fear of nightfall. This does not happen during sleep during the day. Please advise what to do.
Answer: Hello! If ophthalmologists have ruled out eye pathology, then you need to contact a neurologist and psychiatrist for examination and selection of therapy.
Question:The woman is 82 years old. He doesn’t sleep at night, sees non-existent people, talks to them, experiences fear, and falls asleep in the morning. Is this curable and if so, how can I help her?
Answer: To a certain extent it is curable for sure. Contact a psychiatrist, preferably a gerontologist.
Question:Good afternoon I’ll try to explain the picture of what is happening - my 10-year-old son very rarely, but such phenomena occur at night - he wakes up and jumps up and cries, does not know where to put his head, because his sound is increasing - how he explains that the sound comes with enormous force , it’s like they put speakers as tall as him to his ears! At the same time, he runs around the apartment in great tension - his arms and legs are “icy.” 5-10 minutes and that’s it - I can put him to sleep. It was during high temperature and then absolutely good day at the same time, he received a lot of positive emotions from the long-awaited gifts - and again at night! In the morning he doesn’t remember anything!
Answer: Hello! You need to do an electroencephalogram. Perhaps this is a manifestation of convulsive activity. Consultation with a neurologist is necessary.
Question:Please advise how I can help my mother, who is 88 years old. She began to “hear” various extraneous sounds: either the neighbors’ child was crying, then their washing machine was noisy at night, or conversations behind the wall. And all this despite the fact that she has poor hearing, she even uses hearing aid. She asks not to let her adult granddaughter go to see her alone, because... Bandits are gathering in the next apartment, one of whom wants to marry this granddaughter. Otherwise, she is quite adequate: she lives alone, takes care of herself, goes to the store, cooks food, and even enjoys crossword puzzles. Mom refuses to go to the doctor, even to the local therapist. Maybe try giving her some mild medicine under the guise of vitamins?
Answer: Yes, sure, light modern neuroleptic. But it must be prescribed by a psychiatrist after an in-person examination.
Hallucinations are images that arise as a result of errors in the perception process one or more sense organs.
Such an image exists only in the head and has no connection with reality (external stimulus), but at the same time it can have a sensual coloring and be very convincing.
Alcoholic epilepsy - what is it and how to treat it? Find out about this from ours.
Causes
Who is susceptible to hallucinations?
The appearance of hallucinations directly related to the state of the brain, in which images, voices, smells and images that do not correspond to reality arise.
Very often, hallucinations are a symptom of schizophrenia or the result of using hallucinogenic drugs.
The brain is still not fully understood by science and is a mystery to scientists. Therefore, all the processes occurring in it cannot be explained precisely and unambiguously, nor can the causes of emerging disorders be studied in detail.
But all the reasons can be divided into three categories:
- internal(hereditary diseases that affect the human brain and nervous system);
- external(acquired diseases and pathologies, such as severe concussions, poisoning and infectious lesions of the body, etc.);
- temporary(metabolic disorders, not pathological nature, such as lack of sleep or stress).
Visual hallucinations develop against the background of alcoholism, drug and psychotropic substance abuse, taking certain medications, and even food poisoning.
Visual and auditory hallucinations manifest themselves complexly against the background of mental illnesses, such as hallucinosis, psychosis and some types of seizures.
Olfactory hallucinations occur with brain lesions/injuries.
The cause of violations may be infection(encephalitis, malaria, typhus, etc.) or blow/bruise temporal region, as well as schizophrenia and other diseases.
Tactile hallucinations appear as a result of alcohol abuse. False sensations on and inside the body can also be provoked by encephalitis and schizophrenia.
Risk group
There are groups of people who, as a result of their lifestyle or current state of the body, are predisposed to hallucinations.
What to do: which doctor should I contact?
Hallucinations are an unhealthy state of the body that signals violations, requiring correction.
At the same time, disturbances in perception are not an independent illness, but a symptom various pathologies(physical or mental).
To treat the symptom it is necessary find out the reason, which provoked hallucinations. You cannot ignore medical help and self-medicate, even if hallucinations appear in a mild form.
First of all, a person with perception disorders should turn to therapist, psychiatrist and neurologist.
As accompanying examinations, the therapist can refer the patient to an oncologist, narcologist and others. narrow specialists who will analyze the patient’s condition and confirm/refute the presence of diseases that caused hallucinations.
Grandmother's hallucinations after a stroke
Stroke- This serious condition which requires long-term treatment and recovery.
But even with proper treatment, complications may be detected (poor blood circulation in the brain, irreversible processes and delirium). Against the background of these pathologies, perception disturbance occurs.
Sharp and heavy objects should not be left in the patient’s room. Also, you should not leave a person with hallucinations. unattended.
It is strictly prohibited to use drugs to relieve hallucinations without medical advice. All actions must be agreed with a specialist.
How to help yourself if visions arise?
How to get rid of hallucinations?
If you suspect you are hallucinating or are sure you have a perceptual disorder, try do not panic.
First of all talk to to a loved one , who can refute frightening visions/voices, etc. Enlisting support can help reduce anxiety.
If visions arose due to poisoning, taking psychotropic substances, drinking alcohol, it is necessary go to hospital immediately.
Even if the hallucinations are not related to illness/pain or illness, seek medical advice medical care and finding out the root cause is simply necessary.
On late stages It is very difficult to cure hallucinations or alleviate symptoms.
Heat may cause hallucinations. In this case, quickly deal with unpleasant symptom Antipyretics (Ibufen, Paracetamol) will help.
Stress, lack of sleep and extreme fatigue lead to hallucinations. If you understand that the body is on the verge of exhaustion, you need to rest (go to bed, turn off instant messengers and take a break from business).
It is important to admit to yourself in a timely and honest manner that the help of a specialist is necessary. Man with hallucinations can't help himself, since the line between the real and the unreal is blurred.
A substitution of perception occurs, and the patient becomes increasingly immersed in his world of visions.
Get out of this vicious circle almost impossible, since with progressive diseases a person begins to get confused by feelings and believe in hallucinations.
Treatment methods
Hallucinations caused by triggers ( psychotropic substances, poisoning, hypnosis, drugs) treat by getting rid of the harmful effects(directly triggers).
The only exceptions are those situations in which external factors led to changes in the body or provoked withdrawal symptoms.
Hallucinations associated with psychotic disorders are treated by correcting the underlying pathology, which provoked a perception disorder. For this purpose, antipsychotics are used.
If the underlying pathology cannot be treated ( senile dementia), then therapy is aimed at cupping acute phase hallucinations.
If the hallucinations were caused by taking drugs or alcohol, the patient mandatory must pass rehabilitation course.
Scheme
How to treat pathology? What medications will help?
Treatment for hallucinations is individual therapy. Drugs are selected based on clinical picture, such as hallucinations, underlying pathology and emotional state patient.
The list of mandatory measures includes:
- taking medications according to an individual regimen;
- temporary isolation of the patient acute period(directly hallucinations);
- individual psychotherapy for the patient’s rehabilitation and return to normal life.
Drug names
What pills should the patient take? Used to combat hallucinations antipsychotics(neuroleptics):
- Clozapine;
- Quetiapine;
- Risperidone;
- Olanzapine;
- Ziprasidone.
To relieve attacks of acute agitation and delirium, they are used intramuscular injections:
- Tizercin;
- Aminazine;
- Haloperidol;
- Trisedil.
If the patient is depressed, he is prescribed antidepressants. Used to combat anxiety tranquilizers, and in case of weakness they use stimulants.
It is very important not to panic when hallucinations appear and not to try to hide the fact of a perception disorder from others.
Often, reluctance to seek help is caused by fear of upcoming treatment, shame, or the belief that the case is isolated and does not pose a danger.
However, in the long term, such a strategy will only lead to deterioration of the patient's condition and complete loss from normal life, loss of control over reality and one’s own actions.
When hallucinations do not require treatment:
In everyday life, people often make fun of hallucinations, and this is usually explained by the fact that it is not easy for healthy people to understand what it is. this phenomenon. At the same time, a person who is being persecuted has absolutely no time for jokes, since such a state is most often frightening and makes a person doubt his mental health. The origin of various kinds of visions or sounds is determined by the most for various reasons, and you should definitely take into account that in order to get rid of hallucinations, folk remedies won't be enough. Treatment is required professional and systematic.
How to get rid of hallucinations? First of all, you need to visit the appropriate medical institution. The doctor will identify the cause of the disorders, and only after that will it be possible to determine the correct direction of treatment. Basically, hallucinations speak of mental disorders of various origins, sometimes the patient has poisoning, organic lesions brain, and in this case it is easier for a specialist to understand the origin of the hallucination. But sometimes the problem is hidden quite deeply, and special examinations and testing are required. If the hallucinations are caused acute poisoning, immediate medical attention is required.
Getting rid of hallucinations is not so easy. If such phenomena occur, you should carefully monitor them, note the conditions under which they arise, and how they manifest themselves. The main problem is that with some types of mental disorders, hallucinations do not have critical meaning, because the patient is not able to distinguish his visions from actually occurring events. As a rule, during hallucinations a person experiences intense emotions of anger, anxiety, and sometimes strong fear. Joy, and others positive emotions occur much less frequently. Thus, not realizing the depth of the problem and the strangeness of his condition, the patient does not seek help on his own.
If the patient realizes that he is having hallucinations, then he needs to take some actions, which in some cases help eliminate this terrible phenomenon. You should start by eliminating factors that cause stress from your life and putting your daily routine in order. It happens quite often that hallucinations various types haunt a person as a result of overstrain, excessive fatigue, excessive intellectual workload, or a traumatic situation. It also happens that in order to get rid of hallucinations, a person only needs to devote more time to sleep and rest.
Many psychiatrists argue that as soon as the factor causing the overload is eliminated, the symptoms of hallucination go away by themselves, unnoticed and calmly. But, of course, if this disorder is caused by serious reasons, then it will not go away without treatment, and may progress over time. When visiting a doctor, such patients are prescribed medications. Specialists treat the disease with neuroleptics. Under no circumstances should you treat treatment irresponsibly if you really want to get rid of hallucinations. There are hallucinations that make the patient dangerous to others. Launched in chronic form much more difficult to treat.
It is generally accepted that hallucinations are mental problems. Therefore, sometimes it is advisable to hospitalize a patient with hallucinations. To choose The right way To really get rid of hallucinations, you need to understand how these phenomena are classified and how they manifest themselves. First of all, we should start with the fact that hallucinations are divided into two types - true hallucinations and. True conditions include those conditions the reality of which the patient does not doubt. The patient may convince others that he sees an object right in front of him that does not exist in reality, and is sincerely surprised that his visions are inaccessible to other people. When a person realizes that he is sick, and suffers from it.
Currently, experts admit that people who have undergone medical examination, and were declared healthy, they were not found to have either mental or somatic diseases. And if we take into account that when hallucinations occur, doctors always treat the underlying disease, then how to get rid of hallucinations if a person is not sick with anything? Scientists have proven that hallucinations occur when there is an altered consciousness. That is, a person’s perception of the surrounding reality is impaired.
A change in consciousness is achieved not only with paranoid or schizophrenic psychosis, but with the use of a number of drugs and alcohol abuse. For example, completely healthy man, having smoked hashish, begins to see unreal pictures that his drugged brain draws. Many people find this prospect attractive, and they go to great lengths to experience such hallucinations. After a certain time, drug addiction arises, requiring separate and long-term treatment.
Alcohol hallucinations are considered one of the signs of alcoholic psychosis. The mirage that occurs from alcohol most often progresses with a long course of the disease, that is, with dependence on alcoholic beverages. The greatest likelihood of alcoholic hallucinosis occurs with many years of alcohol abuse.
Every tenth person who drinks alcohol in excessive quantities is prone to developing hallucinatory syndrome. Visions last from one day to several years. This directly depends on the condition of the human body, timely consultation with a doctor and other factors.
Alcohol overdose is accompanied by anxiety, fear, depression, after which hallucinations appear. It is already extremely difficult to cure such forms. Human, alcohol addiction which has been going on for more than ten years, is in extreme point risk, his body is weakened. These patients are the most difficult to treat.
Kinds
There are several types of hallucinatory syndromes. They are divided depending on the symptoms and characteristics of the disease.
Signs of hallucinosis
Treatment is selected depending on the symptoms. Typically, hallucinations in alcoholism occur unexpectedly. Most often, a few days before the first visions appear, a person feels anxiety, internal tension and a feeling of oppression. Due to constant drinking, he cannot control his consciousness. Around him he hears noises, voices that scold him, threaten him, and speak bad messages. Patients say that during hallucinations it seems to them that walls, objects, people, and otherworldly forces are talking to them.
Often noises are combined with optical illusion. As a result, patients see a certain picture of “what is happening.” It seems to a person that they want to beat him, kill him, harm his family and friends. At this moment, the level of anxiety is the same as in real danger. Patients try to do everything to protect themselves. At the same time, they can run away from home, hide in garages, in the forest, in the country; they want to quickly leave the place of danger and “save” themselves. The symptoms are similar to those when a person uses a hallucinogenic drug. Often such messages can lead him to attempt suicide.
The duration directly depends on the severity, i.e. in a reduced form, hallucinosis can last up to two days, with medium degree- up to three, and in severe cases - up to five.
Disease progression
During hallucinations after a binge, the most difficult times come for a person. Hard times. The victim simply cannot control the situation, many fragments of his life are erased from his memory, the person confuses all the information he has ever known. Hallucinations after heavy drinking may not begin to “pursue” the patient immediately, but only on the third or fourth day after intoxication. But it may also be that they appear on the seventh to tenth day. This process is individual for each patient.
A period of heavy drinking can result in a neurological disorder. After constant stress Against the backdrop of a passion for such drinks, alcoholic psychoses arise, which appear from uncontrolled drinking. The patient suffers from stress, his sleep is disturbed, he becomes unsteady nervous system, resulting in hallucinations. A person suffers from toxic brain damage.
Treatment methods for alcoholic hallucinosis
Getting rid of hallucinations is not as easy as it might seem at first glance.
The main rule: under no circumstances should you be treated at home. In any case, the help of specialists is needed.
overcome this terrible disease Only a narcologist can help. The patient will need to go to a drug treatment hospital to be under constant supervision of experienced people.
There are three main approaches to getting rid of such an illness: detoxification treatment, antipsychotic therapy, and psychotherapeutic treatment. All of them, taken together, can help the patient overcome the severity.
- Detoxification treatment is the cleansing of the body from toxic products. Solutions are used for this procedure. For example, Reopoliglyukin, Reosorbilakt, Hemodez. Used to support brain function nootropics: Piracetam, Mexidol.
- Antipsychotic therapy is carried out differently in each individual case. Neuroleptics, electric shock, and insulin therapy are used.
- After completing the basic procedures, the person is given assistance to return to normal life.
Only a doctor will prescribe a specific method for you. We remind you that this disease cannot be cured. traditional methods Houses. Only a serious approach to the disease will lead to a positive result.
Prognosis for recovery
It is impossible to determine exactly how long it will take full recovery. This period will be different for each patient. It is important to remember that this is a progressive disease, and therefore, the sooner you start eliminating the disease, the sooner you can recover. Also important factor for a favorable prognosis is complete failure from alcohol.
The body needs to be completely cleansed of all “destroyers”, and clarity of consciousness must be restored. Only with successful medical care does a person have a chance to live on, be healthy and happy.
- these are the consequences of violations mental activity a person, in which the individual hears, sees or feels something that is not in reality, that is, a disorder of perception occurs. The human brain, which has not yet been studied very well, hides many secrets. It is he who “gives birth” to sounds that seem to be a voice from above, shows non-existent images, etc.
Causes of hallucinations
These phenomena may appear in the following diseases and cases: schizophrenia and psychosis; brain tumor or syphilis; herpetic encephalitis; alcoholic psychosis; hypothermia; cerebral atherosclerosis; epilepsy; some infectious diseases, for example, malaria, pneumonia, typhoid; tetraethyl lead poisoning, etc.; due to the use of drugs and hallucinogenic mushrooms and plants containing neurotoxic poison.
People have known about hallucinations for a long time, but in ancient times their meaning was special. Shamans specifically used so-called “sacred” mushrooms or plants that were considered divine, thanks to which they fell into a trance and saw “predictive visions.”
Many geniuses of the past, suffering mental illness, alcoholism, “indulging” in opium or morphine, experienced hallucinations. In their inflamed brains, reality intertwined with perception and the spiritual world, which allowed the birth of masterpieces of literature, music, painting, and science. It is enough to recall such names as Vrubel, Chopin, Edgar Poe, Maupassant, John Forbes Nash, Gogol, Goya, Yesenin, Vincent van Gogh.
Errors of the senses, deception - that’s what hallucinations are. They are completely unpredictable and sometimes even help geniuses create, but such a psychopathic process ultimately leads to complete devastation of the individual, aggression, dangerous for others. This is why hallucinations must be treated. Our Psychoendocrinology Center employs specialists who can help cope with this mental problem.
Hallucinations come in different forms: 
1. Visual - a person sees images, pictures, bright or faded, static or entire scenes in which he himself participates.
2. Auditory - the patient hears non-existent sounds: voices calling to him, talking to him, whole phrases or individual words, encouraging or scolding.
3. Olfactory – sensation of different smells.
4. Gustatory – a sensation of taste in the mouth without the presence of an irritant. It can be both pleasant and disgusting.
5. Bodily – sensations on the body and in the body, quite unpleasant. The patient may feel that someone is crawling on him, grabbing his limbs, bubbles are bursting in the intestines, etc.
There are false hallucinations - they are not projected in external space, but exist only in the head. True hallucinations are very real, the patient sees them very accurately, as if from the outside, perceives them with the senses.
In addition, hallucinations are distinguished between simple and complex (a reflection of a hallucination of one or a combination of several senses). An example of the second can be given as follows: you see a monster, hear whispers, steps, and even feel cold from its touch. Such a hallucination develops depending on the personality of the patient, the characteristics of his psyche, complexes and self-hypnosis.
It is worth noting that the very content of the hallucination depends on the patient’s unconscious sphere and psyche, so it has a unique character, that is, it can be different and completely unexpected.
How to get rid of hallucinations
People who do not experience this mental problem often make fun of hallucinations, since they are not given the opportunity to understand what they are and what the patients experience. Sometimes it is very scary, frightening and makes you doubt your mental health. At the same time, there are quite a few reasons for the origin of visions and sounds, so you should not delay, but you should contact the professionals of our Center as soon as possible. As a rule, the patient may not realize that they are hallucinating, and may experience severe fear, anxiety, and anger. This condition is more often noticed by loved ones, and it is they who should insist on a visit to the doctor.
First of all, the specialist will identify the “culprit” of the hallucinations. It could be poisoning various disorders or more serious problems, requiring thorough examination. After this, treatment is prescribed - medication and psychotherapy.
You need to understand that you cannot hesitate in the presence of hallucinations, because in neglected form It is much more difficult to cure such a disorder.
Loading...