Everything you need to know about auditory hallucinations. Voices in the head: a neuroscientist talks about the nature of auditory hallucinations What are auditory hallucinations

Minor noises that do not carry a semantic meaning may be associated with diseases of the hearing organs, but this does not mean that they can be ignored; treatment is required in each case.

Symptoms and types

Auditory hallucinations often occur spontaneously. Depending on their type, one can judge the possible diagnosis and the degree of risk to the patient’s health. These can be monotonous or short sounds, such as ringing or hissing, music, or even clearly articulated speech.

If a hallucination carries a specific semantic meaning, most likely we are talking about mental problems.

Auditory hallucinations belong to the group of subjective sounds, since only the patient hears them. This complicates their identification and diagnosis. specific reasons.

The following types of sounds that arise in the patient’s consciousness are distinguished:

Tinnitus. This is a common noise that occurs in the ears: buzzing, whistling, ringing, hissing, clicking, etc. Its causes are mainly related to problems with the health of the hearing organs, but can also indicate disruptions in the blood flow system.
Acoasmas. This is an anomalous phenomenon, expressed in the occurrence of specific sounds: drops of water, music, scratching, creaking, etc.
Phonemes. The most dangerous manifestations, since they have a semantic load and influence on the patient’s actions: voices and meaningful phrases.

Classification also involves distinguishing true and false sounds. The first type fits into the environment, so often a person does not even realize the unreality of these phenomena. In the second case, the sounds come from the patient’s body, that is, the presence of their source is felt in the head, stomach, etc.

According to the principle of influence and characteristics of manifestation, phonemic anomalies are classified separately:

Imperative. Most dangerous guy phonemes, since the voice has a commanding character, orders a person to perform certain actions, sometimes even against his will. This a clear sign schizophrenia, in religious circles it is called possession.
Commenters. This is the so-called “imaginary friend”. A person can conduct a dialogue with a voice in his head, hear comments about himself, discuss the environment, etc.
Contrasting. These are antagonistic sounds. Two or more voices may argue with each other, or signals may appear that contradict each other.
Hypnagogic. Auditory hallucinations occur during the period when a person’s consciousness turns off when falling asleep or, conversely, during awakening. The subconscious mind works here, so even a healthy person can experience anomalies associated with the functioning of the brain, that is, “daydreams.”

Causes

To find out the type of anomaly and its principle further treatment, it is necessary to find out the causes of auditory hallucinations. The following factors can provoke such phenomena:

Overwork, nervous tension. Malfunctions in the functioning of the brain occur due to overstrain, consciousness turns off, for example, with prolonged lack of sleep.
Heat. Fever and increased temperature cause disruption of the functioning of various body systems. A person may experience not only auditory, but also visual hallucinations or mistake dreams for reality.
Ear diseases. Tinnitus occurs when the ear becomes inflamed, the sound conduction chain is disrupted, and its individual elements are irritated. Earwax, exudate in the middle ear and similar phenomena can cause noise at the conductive level, and effects on hair receptors and the auditory nerve - at the perceptual level.
Tumors. Pressure is applied to areas auditory system, brain and nerve roots.
Neurodegenerative pathologies. Brain disorders and nervous system due to the failure of individual elements, the death of neurons, etc. The most known problems This type is senile dementia and Alzheimer's disease.
Mental disorders. They cause phonemes and acoasms. These are depression, schizophrenia, psychopathy, various syndromes.
Hearing aid malfunctions. In rare cases, the reasons lie in failures of implants and removable hearing aids.
Taking psychotropic medications. Drugs and treatment with special groups of drugs can affect brain function in a similar way.
Alcohol delirium. Attacks of delirium tremens cause not only acoustic, but also other types of hallucinations.

To find out the reasons, a diagnosis is carried out taking into account the patient’s complaints, medical history, information from relatives and friends. The most difficult thing to identify is mental disorders. In addition to standard laboratory tests and hearing examinations, more detailed hardware examinations and tests may be needed.

Treatment methods

Treatment of auditory hallucinations that occur largely depends on their type and causes. The easiest way to cope with the consequences of intoxication and inflammatory diseases. But malfunctions in the brain and hidden mental pathologies can become an impossible task. Some patients remain in hospital for years intensive care, but no improvement is observed.

The danger of any auditory hallucinations is that the consequences can be unpredictable. Monotonous sounds cause irritability and depression, semantic signals drive people crazy, drive them to despair, and sometimes push them to crimes and suicide.

Treatment of hallucinations themselves is impossible, it is necessary to direct efforts to their causes.

Treatment is carried out in the following ways:

Drug therapy. Depends on the specific causes of the problem. These can be anti-inflammatory, antipyretic, neurostimulating, sedative drugs, as well as special medications for the treatment of central nervous system problems and mental disorders.
Assistive therapy. Physiotherapy methods, electrical stimulation treatment, targeted effects on specific areas of the brain.
Operation. Removal of the tumor, splitting or cutting off the auditory nerve, installation of a high-quality hearing aid or implant, prosthetics and plastic surgery of ear elements, brain surgery.

In some cases, it is enough to eliminate the intoxication of the body, restore its normal activity, and stop using substances that have a similar effect. This applies to drugs, alcohol, and some medications. It is necessary to establish a rest regime and generally monitor your health and psycho-emotional state. Then the risk of such problems occurring will be significantly reduced.

Treatment methods for auditory hallucinations. Possible causes and types of the disease

Auditory hallucinations are a type of productive pathology in psychiatry, in which the patient hears various sounds in the absence of their real source. Important characteristic heard precisely as hallucinations - the patient is convinced of their truth. He will never describe imaginary sounds with the word “seemed.”

Types of auditory hallucinations

What is directly audible can be different - the sound of the wind, the sound of a car, the singing of birds, and most characteristically - voices. The characteristics of the voices are also different:

Voices commenting on the patient's behavior. In most cases, those commenting on hallucinations have a sarcastic tone, which causes dissatisfaction and aggression. If the circumstances are unfortunate, this aggression can spill out on the patient’s relatives.
Voices talking to each other on topics unrelated to the patient. This is a relatively safe type of auditory hallucination, in most cases perceived by the patient as a kind of radio.
Voices repeating the patient's thoughts or confirming his ideas. This is a rather dangerous type of hallucination, it can provoke aggressive behavior. In the case of repetition of thoughts, it seems to the patient that all his thoughts, even impartial or intimate ones, are being disclosed publicly. He may have a desire to eliminate the “witnesses” of mind reading. And if thoughts are confirmed by voices, any, even the most incredible, ideas, when repeated for a long time, seem like reality to the patient. The fleeting thought that his wife might cheat on him, under the influence of hallucinations, turns into a fait accompli. And the fact may be followed by retribution, also invented under the influence of hallucinations.
Commanding (imperative) voices. The most dangerous type of auditory hallucinations, since the patient lacks criticality. He believes everything he hears in hallucinations, which means he carries out all their orders. And orders can be very different - from cleaning the apartment to going and killing grandma. The combination of delusions and imperative hallucinations is most often a symptom of a severe mental illness, such as schizophrenia.

Causes of auditory hallucinations

When deciding how to treat hallucinations, it is extremely important to find out their cause in each case. It is she who plays a decisive role in choosing treatment tactics. The causes of hallucinations can be divided into several main groups:

Hearing aid malfunction. This is a fairly common cause in older people. If he complains about voices old man who uses a hearing aid – first of all, you need to check the quality of its operation.
Side effects of drugs. Some psychotropic drugs, in overdose or as side effects, can cause hallucinations. Hallucinations are also possible with an illiterate combination of drugs. This happens especially often when self-medicating. When contacting a doctor regarding symptoms of hallucinations, be sure to present full list medications taken by the patient.
Alcohol intoxication and delirium. In this case, recognizing the cause is not difficult. It is necessary to distinguish between hallucinations when alcohol intoxication and delirium. During intoxication, they develop at the height of intoxication, especially when consuming surrogate alcohol, and are neutral in nature. In delirium, hallucinations of a threatening nature occur when alcohol is withdrawn after prolonged use. How to treat auditory hallucinations in this case is quite clear.
Auditory hallucinations as a symptom of mental illness. The most common and most difficult option to treat. It is in this case that all the variety of auditory hallucinations arises. They can be a manifestation of schizophrenia, manic-depressive psychosis, Alzheimer's disease and other diseases.

Treatment of auditory hallucinations

Treatment approaches may vary significantly depending on the cause of the hallucinations. Let's consider how to treat auditory hallucinations according to the reasons listed above.

Hallucinations due to a malfunction of the hearing aid. The most favorable variant of diagnostic results. It is treated by replacing or repairing the device. Depending on the type of hearing aid, they can independently imitate noise or reproduce voices due to the fact that the device tunes to a radio wave and transmits it to the patient.
Recognize hallucinations that are side effect the effects of drugs or their combinations can only be determined by a specialized specialist. This specialist is not always your local therapist. You may need to contact a psychiatrist, cardiologist, narcologist or other doctor related to the diseases and medications you are taking. Be sure to keep a record of all medications you take - names, doses and frequency of administration per day. This is especially important in the case of elderly patients who may confuse the medicine or take it again. It is convenient to make a special “prescription calendar” in which to mark the medications taken. When you visit your doctor, be sure to show him this “calendar” or just a list of medications.

The occurrence of hallucinations as a result of taking medications indicates a severe overdose or long-term use drugs that do not combine with each other. This condition cannot always be eliminated only by stopping medications or changing combinations. Intoxication may be required to speed up the elimination of substances that cause hallucinations. Treatment in this case occurs in inpatient conditions. Subsequently, the patient is discharged for further treatment at home and is recommended suitable mode and combinations of medications to continue treatment.

Auditory hallucinations during alcohol intoxication or delirium occur acutely and are combined with delusional ideas, visual hallucinations, and persecution mania. In this case, treatment must be immediate and very active. The patient must be hospitalized. Active detoxification therapy, infusions of nutrients and saline solutions for the speedy removal of toxic substances from the patient’s body. With severe aggressiveness, motor agitation, and obsessions with persecution, tranquilizers and antipsychotics may be prescribed. In the future, full psychosocial rehabilitation of the patient, his involvement in work, and preventive work with the family are necessary.

Auditory hallucinations in mental illness are part of a broad symptom complex called productive symptoms. In addition to auditory hallucinations, it includes other types (visual, tactile, pseudohallucinations), crazy ideas of various kinds, obsessive states. Hallucinations in combination with these symptoms - alarm signal, indicating the presence of severe mental pathology. In persons young they may primarily indicate schizophrenia. In the elderly may be a manifestation of Alzheimer's disease or senile dementia. The specific nosology can be clarified only with thorough examination. The choice of treatment tactics also depends on the final diagnosis. In most cases, treatment for such severe symptoms occurs in a hospital. To relieve hallucinatory phenomena, antipsychotics are used, in particular new generation atypical antipsychotics. With pronounced psychomotor agitation it is necessary to prescribe tranquilizers. In the case of pathology in the elderly, treatment to relieve acute hallucinosis is the same as in young people. Further therapy depends on the nosology - there are specific drugs for the treatment of Alzheimer's disease, nootropics for dementia, etc.

Target primary treatment– reduce the severity or completely eliminate hallucinations. At home, follow-up treatment takes place with scheduled medication. In most cases, such patients require lifelong treatment. It is very important to train relatives to recognize the symptoms of exacerbation and monitor the patient’s condition.

Causes and treatment of auditory hallucinations

If a person hears voices that other people around him cannot hear, then he has vocal hallucinations. In fact, the threshold of susceptibility at different people may vary. Therefore, a hallucination can only be called a phenomenon that does not have confirmation of existence outside a person’s consciousness. Another phenomenon of special perception, the mystery of which remains to be solved, is musical hallucinations.

Types of auditory illusions

Auditory hallucinations are distinguished by the characteristic sound that a person can hear. There are simple and complex auditory illusions.

Simple illusions include abrupt sounds, noises, or parts of words. Complex auditory hallucinations are perceived as musical melodies or speaking voices.

Musical hallucinations, melodies and songs, familiar or completely unknown, can serve as a source of inspiration for creative people. The most dangerous forms of auditory illusions are when voices in the patient’s head intrusively order him to do something. Such people pose a social danger, since under the influence of audible voices they are capable of suicide and murder. There are times when voices in the patient's head help him, urging him to do something reasonable, for example, seek help. In such cases, the mental illness is usually not recognized by the patient himself.

There are also pseudohallucinations, hallucinations during sleep and depression. Auditory pseudohallucinations are associated with the inner world of a person. Hearing voices are not perceived as coming from outside, they sound in the head, but the person hearing them considers this normal. Hallucinations during sleep are probably the most harmless of all other types.

Dreams are also a kind of complex illusion, which can be accompanied by the sensation of smells, sounds, vivid visual images, etc. A completely healthy person can dream.

Depression resulting from mental trauma, organic disease in old age or manic-depressive psychosis is also often the cause of auditory hallucinations.

A person who has lost someone from his family sometimes hears the voice of the deceased or even sees him in a dream. The same thing happens to a person who witnesses a tragedy in which there were casualties.

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Etiology, causes

The occurrence of auditory hallucinations can be due to many reasons. The simplest is intoxication of the body. Poisoning with certain substances (in particular, drugs, alcohol) causes manifestations of other disorders mental activity– confusion, delirium, affective disorders.

In people with mental illnesses, such as schizophrenia, auditory hallucinations are accompanied by structural and functional abnormalities in brain activity.

This is confirmed by tomography. Deviations of mental activity in schizophrenia may be genetically determined.

Auditory hallucinations may be caused by dementia or neurocognitive disorders. These include:

neurodegenerative diseases (Alzheimer's disease, Huntington's chorea, etc.);
vascular diseases brain;
dysmetabolic encephalopathies;
neuroinfections;
traumatic brain injuries;
brain tumors, etc.

The cause of auditory illusions may be hidden in the experience of violence. The traumatic effect on the psyche requires the intervention of a psychotherapist. Physical or sexual violence leading to psychosis has a devastating effect on the personality of the victim. Voices appear in the patient’s head, ordering him to harm himself or others. A threatening voice from hallucinations is often associated with the voice of a person who has committed violence.

Symptoms of hallucinations that are not a consequence of a mental disorder

However, the nature of some auditory hallucinations remains unclear. Perfectly healthy children from 7 to 12 years old and elderly people can hear strange sounds that have no visible source. At the same time, mental functions remain normal, and no further mental abnormalities are observed. A clearly audible voice or musical hallucinations in such cases are explained by a violation of the internalization of the inner voice.

Internalization, or the process of mastering the external world by transforming observed phenomena into an internal regulator of mental activity, is the reason for the formation of the inner voice. This process goes through four stages as the child gets older. The baby, mastering the speech heard from adults, repeats words out loud in order to communicate with others. Thus, dialogue appears - the first level of formation of the inner voice.

The second level is the ability to make comments, the third is the ability to conduct an internal monologue, the fourth is the ability to think without the need to express the thought in words in order to internalize its meaning. Disturbance in the perception of the inner voice can occur when perception is confused or expanded. In such cases, a person perceives his inner voice as belonging to someone else, or cannot recognize that the voice in his head is his own thoughts that have moved to the first level of external dialogue.

Treatment involves the use of antipsychotic drugs. Conversations with a psychologist are of great benefit. The first step towards healing in such cases is to realize that the sounding voice is a figment of the imagination. This awareness returns a person to self-confidence and control over his actions, emotions and life.

Diagnostics and treatment methods

Treatment of auditory hallucinations of various etiologies is carried out with the help of medications, non-traditional methods and psychological influence. In some cases, therapy methods cannot help heal the mental disorders or diseases that caused hallucinations, but are intended to alleviate the patient's condition. Antipsychotic drugs, affecting the production of dopamine, are the main treatment.

At affective disorders Antidepressants are used - medications that improve mood, remove negative emotions in the form of anxiety, irritability, insomnia. Since antiquity, St. John's wort tinctures have been used as an antidepressant. Preparations based on St. John's wort are still used today; they do not cause side effects after discontinuation. It should be remembered that the use of antidepressants improves the quality of life, but is not a cure for the disease.

Method psychological impact A well-established treatment for auditory hallucinations is cognitive psychotherapy. This method is different from the usual psychoanalysis. The task of the psychotherapist who uses cognitive psychotherapy, is not only to listen to the patient, but also to teach him to think correctly, avoiding cognitive errors. If a person's thoughts and the events that occur are very different, this leads to mental illness. Having eliminated the cause of internal dissonance, the psychotherapist achieves a change in the patient’s perception and behavior.

TO unconventional methods Treatment and research include transcranial magnetic stimulation. The cerebral cortex is stimulated by short magnetic pulses that do not cause pain. At joint use with drugs, such therapy in some cases has positive effect when getting rid of auditory hallucinations. A contraindication to its use is the presence of metal foreign bodies, especially in the head, tumors, treatment with certain antidepressants, epilepsy.

In ancient times, people considered auditory hallucinations to be demonic possession or a sign of being chosen from above. For modern psychotherapists who study brain activity using encephalograms and tomography, everything seems much simpler.

Audible hallucinations occur during stimulation of the area of the brain responsible for speech production. That is, a person’s internal dialogue is perceived by him as someone else’s voice. But how then to explain musical hallucinations or special emotional condition, accompanying these phenomena, which are experienced differently by each person? For psychologists and psychotherapists, there are still more questions than answers.

Sound hallucinations

A fairly common problem caused by hallucinations is tinnitus, the occurrence of sounds of unknown origin that do not exist in reality. It should be noted that such phenomena are not as harmless as is sometimes believed. Constant or periodic sound hallucinations can represent symptoms of disorders, and sometimes quite serious ones. In patients with auditory hallucinations, noise manifests itself in different ways. At soft form The disease phenomenon is especially pronounced in silence; in other situations, the sounds present in the environment block the hallucinations. Patients often complain that strange sounds arise at the moment when a person changes body position or makes certain movements.

Sometimes, upon additional examination, it turns out that such a condition is associated with a change in pressure in blood vessels, muscles, nerves. As a rule, patients usually say that sound hallucinations can be compared to a low-frequency whistle, or the person hears hissing, buzzing, creaking, and other sounds. Moreover, low-frequency noises are observed less frequently during auditory hallucinations. Such noise is often mistaken for the sounds produced by operating ventilation or other household electrical appliances. If you hear a noise but are not sure what it is external source, you should clarify this circumstance with those around you.

Another type of sound hallucinations are various sounds that can be classified as musical. Such phenomena are typical for people with partial hearing loss; in patients with normal hearing they are quite rare, and if they are observed, they quickly pass. Sound hallucinations called pulsating are also known. Their peculiarity is that the patient hears rhythmic sounds that sound in time with the heart. In most cases, they are caused by changes in blood flow in the vessels that are located near the ears. Such hallucinations are very annoying for the patient, and can lead to an extremely agitated state when immediate medical attention is required.

Causes of auditory hallucinations

When sound hallucinations occur, one of the common causes of the disease is damaged inner ear. IN in this case, the sounds that a person hears fall into it, then, using the auditory nerves, information about the existing sounds is transmitted to the brain. If there is any damage inner ear, then access of information to certain parts of the brain may be impaired. Thus, these areas begin to persistently “demand” the missing information from parts of the inner ear that continue to function normally. But under such conditions, their signals are distorted, creating auditory hallucinations.

If such a disorder occurs in elderly patients, then sound hallucinations may accompany the aging process, during which hearing becomes worse. Young people often suffer from inner ear damage caused by regular exposure to excessive noise. Also, many diseases can be among the causes that damage the inner ear and lead to sound hallucinations. For example, middle ear infections, otosclerosis, Meniere's disease, anemia, Paget's disease. It happens that sound hallucinations are caused by the accumulation of earwax which has a blocking effect on the ears.

To more rare reasons Tinnitus and non-existent sounds include traumatic brain injuries, a consequence of exposure to unexpected and excessively loud noise, such as an explosion or gunshot. In some cases, auditory hallucinations are caused by acoustic neuroma, a rare benign education affecting the auditory nerve. In clinical practice, there are cases where auditory hallucinations are side effects caused by an overdose of certain medications. People who abuse drugs or suffer from alcoholism are also at risk and often experience various types of auditory hallucinations.

Treatment of auditory hallucinations

Audible hallucinations are a very good reason to seek help from a specialist. Don't forget that this state represents a clear danger, as it may turn out that these are symptoms of diseases that require immediate treatment. To identify the cause of noise and strange sounds in the ears, a special hearing test is used, the functioning of the vestibular apparatus is assessed, and an x-ray of the ears and a blood test are also performed. Sometimes the doctor prescribes magnetic resonance imaging or computed tomography.

When treating sound hallucinations, the therapeutic effect is on the immediate disease that needs to be cured to get rid of tinnitus and eliminate sounds that do not exist in reality. Sometimes the treatment is simple and the patient only needs special drops. In some cases, your doctor will prescribe procedures to remove earwax. But, of course, such simple cases, unfortunately, are rare, and sound hallucinations cannot be easily cured. In addition, there are no drugs that can quickly eliminate the symptom.

As you know, sound hallucinations occur more often if a person is in a quiet environment. When using sound therapy, the silence in the room is replaced by neutral sounds that can be repeated. They distract the patient from the sounds that arise in his imagination and sound in his ears. Sometimes the distraction is the radio or the TV on. Some patients like the sound of rain, the rustling of sea waves crashing onto coastal stones. A special sound generator is also used, which recreates the light natural noise of leaves and rain. There are other techniques that distract the patient from auditory hallucinations while the underlying disease is being treated.

Auditory hallucinations

Probably every person has talked to himself at least once in his life, and experts do not see anything terrible in this. But when a person begins to think that in response to asking himself the question “Well, when will I start thinking about what I’m saying,” he hears a real voice, and not his own thoughts, they are already talking about the presence of auditory hallucinations. The reasons for them can be very different, but most immediately begin to suspect serious mental illness, and this is wrong.

Causes of auditory hallucinations

As mentioned above, most people associate auditory hallucinations with serious mental illnesses, such as schizophrenia or mania. And this may indeed be the case, but only a specialist can make a diagnosis, so if such phenomena are observed for a long time, it is simply necessary to contact him.

But auditory hallucinations can be caused by a number of other reasons, most often due to overwork, prolonged lack of sleep, or taking any psychotropic drugs. Also, this phenomenon can be caused by medications; in particular, anti-spasm medications often have this side effect. In addition, sound hallucinations can appear during severe nervous excitement - an attack of jealousy, rage, severe sadness, falling in love, etc. Depressive state may also be accompanied by hearing impairment. Some diseases (Alzheimer's disease) may also be accompanied by auditory hallucinations. Ear diseases or poor quality hearing aids can also cause a person to hear voices that do not exist in reality.

Sounds that cause hallucinations

It is curious that a person himself can cause hallucinations of this kind; we are not talking about drinking alcohol and other psychotropic substances, but about the use of sounds that cause hallucinations. There is the so-called Ganzfeld method (from German “empty field”), a technique based on the formation of a dreamlike state of consciousness against the background of deep relaxation of the body. The person is asked to lie down, close their eyes (it's best to wear a sleep mask to avoid distractions from light) and relax while listening to white noise - the sound that a radio makes on an empty frequency. Also an example white noise is the sound of a waterfall. After some time, the person relaxes and plunges into a state akin to the phase deep sleep. But since he is not actually sleeping and continues to be aware of what is happening, he begins to experience auditory or visual hallucinations; we can say that in this state a person dreams in reality.

Causes of auditory hallucinations and their treatment

Auditory hallucinations are considered one of the most common symptoms of various mental and somatic diseases. The patient clearly hears sounds, noises or voices that do not actually exist. Despite the seeming harmlessness of this phenomenon, auditory illusions can cause a lot of problems for the patient, causing many unpleasant situations and even aggressive behavior.

Note! Auditory hallucinations can be classified as subjective sounds. They are audible only to the patient, which makes diagnosing and treating this disease very difficult.

Types of auditory hallucinations

There are several types of extraneous sounds that spontaneously manifest themselves in the patient’s consciousness:

Tinnitus. Standard noise effects resembling buzzing, clicking, whistling, ringing, etc.
Acoasmas. More specific sounds: creaking, drops, music, etc.
Phonemes. The most dangerous hallucinations that can carry a certain meaning and directly influence human behavior. These can be individual words, phrases or voices, which clearly indicates mental problems.

In addition, any illusions (including acoustic ones) are usually divided into true and false:

True hallucinations occur when a person hears all kinds of non-existent sounds in the surrounding space and tries to organically fit them into his worldview. The patient is completely confident in the reality of these sounds and never questions them.

False hallucinations most often come from within for the patient. Moreover, sounds are not always heard in a person’s head. Intrusive and commanding voices can come from the stomach, chest, and any other place on the body. Such illusions are considered to be the most dangerous for the life of the patient and the people around him.

Reasons for appearance

In order to correctly diagnose the type of anomaly and determine approaches to its elimination, it is necessary to understand as clearly as possible the causes of auditory illusions. Various factors can provoke this phenomenon:

Severe fatigue, nervous or physical exhaustion. Overvoltage can cause disruptions in the normal functioning of the brain and changes in a person’s consciousness.
Feverish conditions, heat. They can cause disturbances in certain body systems. In some cases, this manifests itself in the form of auditory or visual illusions.
Tumors in the brain area. The tumor can put pressure on certain areas of the auditory system or brain.
Mental disorders: schizophrenia, psychopathy, all kinds of syndromes.
Ear diseases, inflammatory processes and even sulfur plugs may well disrupt the functioning of sound-conducting channels and cause extraneous noise.
Malfunctions of electronic hearing aids. The most harmless reason that can be eliminated by replacing or repairing the device.
Use of psychotropic substances. Drug addiction or treatment with certain drugs may affect brain activity person in a similar way.
Alcohol abuse. Attacks of delirium tremens often result in visual or auditory hallucinations.

Photo 2. It was the appearance of hallucinations that gave rise to the phrase “getting drunk as hell.” Source: Flickr (bluevinas).

When falling asleep

Oddly enough, it is precisely when falling asleep that auditory hallucinations disturb patients most often. It would seem that the body, tired during the day, is as relaxed as possible and is preparing to get a long-awaited rest, but that was not the case. A person begins to hear non-existent sounds or voices.

In medicine, such hallucinations have separate title- hypnagogic. Their main danger is that at the time of their appearance the patient, as a rule, is alone and in complete silence. The lack of distractions makes a person more vulnerable and unable to resist the voices giving him orders.

Symptoms and signs of hearing hallucinations

The volume of acoustic illusions depends on their type and the patient’s character traits. Sometimes the patient hears a barely audible whisper, in other cases - loud orders that are almost impossible to resist. In the latter case, the patient most likely develops one of the varieties of schizophrenia.

Sometimes the patient hears voices, but is not the subject of their discussion. It is as if he hears from the outside a conversation between two or more non-existent people on abstract topics. Such hallucinations are considered completely harmless, although they cause a lot of inconvenience to both the patient and those around him.

Disturbances are considered more dangerous when the patient hears voices repeating his own thoughts and beliefs. At the same time, it seems to the patient that these thoughts (often very intimate and impartial) are heard by everyone around him. This can become a reason for aggression.

Note! In some cases, auditory hallucinations can be confused with manifestations of an “inner voice” or actual tinnitus resulting from various diseases.

Diagnostics

Auditory hallucinations are not an independent disease, but only a symptom of another disease. Doctor diagnoses mandatory will begin with collecting an anamnesis. This can be quite difficult to do, since the patient may have an extremely negative and skeptical attitude towards his pathological condition. If the patient does not want to contact the doctor, you can try interviewing the closest relatives.

In order to exclude organic nature pathologies will be assigned lab tests urine, blood, spinal cord. Older patients using hearing amplification devices should additionally check the correct operation of the electronic device.

The presence of acoustic hallucinations can also be guessed from the specific behavior of a person. The patient may hesitate to answer, clearly listening to something. When talking with such a patient, the doctor needs to try to win him over as much as possible and establish a trusting relationship.

Treatment of auditory hallucinations with homeopathy

Along with traditional medicine, modern homeopathy can offer a number of drugs that can help eliminate such an unpleasant and sometimes dangerous disease for the life and health of the patient:

Elaps. Indicated for extraneous noise, clicking, unbearable itching in the ears. It will help eliminate attacks of deafness at night, accompanied by crackling and roaring in the ears.
Curare. Helps eliminate whistling or ringing noises, sounds reminiscent of animal cries.
Valerian (Valeriana). The drug is recommended for patients who have tinnitus, acoustic illusions, hyperesthesia ( increased sensitivity sense organs).
Eupatorium purpureum. Effective for various types of auditory hallucinations, sensations of constant ear congestion, crackling when swallowing.
Galvanism. Suitable for patients who hear the sounds of gunshots, explosions, the playing of a brass band, or the sound of bells.
Anacardium. The drug helps patients who experience voices imposing strange orders or whispering blasphemies.
Carboneum sulphuratum. Helps eliminate burning ears, singing voices or harp sounds.

Contact qualified specialists who can select the most suitable one for your clinical case drug and prescribe correct dosage and course of admission.

Causes of auditory hallucinations

When auditory hallucinations occur, a person begins to hear various sounds, including voices and conversations, which do not exist in reality. In this case, you should take this violation seriously and seek help from a qualified specialist. As shown medical practice, almost every person has had to talk to himself at least once. For example, having forgotten his phone at home, he may think: “Well, when will I learn to be more collected”! Now imagine that after the phrase has been said, a voice is heard inside the person’s head that says: “Yes, indeed, you are too forgetful.” If something like this happens to a person, then it’s time to suspect that mental health is not in order.

In a situation where an individual hears non-existent voices, they say that he has auditory hallucinations, the occurrence of which can be a number of reasons, so without an appropriate examination it is difficult to name the exact cause. First of all, experts suggest that in this case there is a mental disorder of varying severity, as well as a neurological disease. The biggest mistake is that some people take such disorders lightly and put off visiting a doctor until better times.

There is currently a debate among many scientists about the causes of auditory hallucinations. Some experts argue that the auditory hallucinations that sometimes sound in the head are one’s own voiced thoughts, that is, expressed in verbal form. In this regard, the individual begins to perceive this phenomenon, like the voice of an unfamiliar and extraneous subject, and sometimes even several. If the cause of an auditory hallucination is a nervous or mental illness, then the patient believes that the voices sounding in his head exist in reality.

What diseases cause auditory hallucinations?

The peculiarity of auditory hallucinations is that a sick person can quite seriously declare that an inner voice ordered him to commit suicide, or gave the order to take the lives of loved ones and acquaintances. The most dangerous thing in this case is that the patient does not consider such orders to be a hallucination, and has no doubt at all that he

obliged to comply with these inadequate instructions. Among the causes of such disorders, schizophrenia is often cited. This is a disease that causes very serious mental disorders. Young patients are most susceptible to schizophrenia. At the same time, auditory hallucinations occur in people suffering from Alzheimer's disease, various manias and depressive states.

Among the causes of auditory hallucinations, a factor such as alcohol abuse has been named. This condition may be due to the adoption of certain medications, especially in case of overdose. Sometimes similar side effects are observed when taking antispasmodics. In this case, when going to see a doctor, it is necessary to make a list of all medications taken in advance in order to show it to the attending physician. But we should not forget about such a banal reason as the poor quality of the hearing aid. Therefore, if a patient using a hearing aid begins to hear strange sounds, strange voices, noise, then first of all, you should find out whether the hearing aid is in order.

It is known that auditory hallucinations occur not only in mentally ill people who need serious and immediate help from a psychiatrist. Very often, completely healthy people who do not have mental disorders, but are in a state of severe depression, may experience auditory hallucinations. Basically, they are expressed in the fact that when falling asleep they hear voices, supposedly calling them by name. Doctors say that such a factor is not a manifestation mental illness. In this case, the reason may be the usual nervous tension, overwork, stressful situations at work or in the family.

How to identify the cause of auditory hallucinations

In order to determine what is the real reason of this disorder, the doctor must carry out a detailed examination, talk with the patient, and ask a number of questions necessary in this case. Only after this does the specialist make a conclusion whether there is a need to send the patient for treatment to a psychiatrist. Sometimes, in order to establish the cause, it is enough for a person to visit a therapist. At present, the mechanism of the occurrence of hallucinations has not been sufficiently studied, and some reasons that are selective in nature are not entirely clear.

There is an assumption that in some cases, auditory hallucinations that occur in a healthy person are caused by a special attitude, a peculiar distortion of perception, which is influenced by previous events. During numerous scientific research It has been established that the cause of auditory hallucinations is also the excessive excitability of certain areas located in the brain. To the most simple reasons This pathology includes intoxication with substances of medicinal origin, for example, levodopa, ephedrine, meridil. Drugs used are often to blame

patient. Therefore, by eliminating the appropriate irritants, the problem can disappear quite quickly, even without special treatment. But in most cases, the patient needs to make efforts to get rid of hallucinations.

In searching for the cause of auditory hallucinations, doctors emphasize the special significance of many diseases. For example, attention should be paid if a patient complaining of hallucinations has cardiovascular disease, a tumor of the temporal lobe, various abscesses, temporal arteritis, or migraine. Sometimes auditory hallucinations are associated with diseases of the sensory organs and brain damage.

How to treat auditory hallucinations

In psychiatry, auditory hallucinations are the imaginary perception of sounds, a disturbance in the perception of the hearing organs. Patients will never doubt the truth of the imaginary sounds they hear.

How to treat auditory hallucinations is a purely individual question.

In each case, there are reasons that caused hearing impairment, and the doctor’s task is to understand and determine the exact source of the problem. To date, the human brain has not been studied enough. This organ still holds many mysteries and unusual phenomena for scientists, which no one can explain yet. Auditory hallucinations are just one of them. In this case, the brain itself creates imaginary sounds that do not exist in reality.

It is generally accepted that a person experiencing auditory hallucinations, by definition, should be in a psychiatric clinic. However, history claims that similar phenomena occurred with such outstanding people, like the Greek philosophers Socrates and Plato, the psychoanalyst Sigmund Freud, the Protestant priest and public figure Martin Luther King and many others who led fruitful creative life. So should you be afraid of “voices in your head”?

Types and causes of hallucinations

Auditory hallucinations are the ability to perceive sounds without an external sound stimulus. Psychiatrists distinguish two types of hallucinations:

“True hallucinations” - when the patient hears sounds outside and behaves accordingly, looking around, turning his head, i.e., he orients himself towards an external source of false information. For example, this happens in chronic alcoholic hallucinosis due to toxic damage brain.
“False hallucinations” - when the patient hears voices inside his head. It’s as if “cockroaches in the head” are talking to each other. This is most often observed in schizophrenia, but also occurs in other mental disorders.

True hallucinations arise due to the influence of an external pathological factor on the human brain. This means that doctors must look for and treat real physical illness(tumor, poisoning, injury, etc.). False hallucinations are more unpredictable - since their causes have not been sufficiently studied, it can be difficult to eliminate them.

“Inner voice”: norm and pathology

In fact, for the first time we begin to hear the “voice in our head” back in early childhood. Development thought process in a child it occurs in several stages.

First stage. At this level, the child learns to conduct a normal dialogue with people who are actually present outside.
Second stage. The child conducts the conversation for someone, for example, for a toy, endowing it with certain character traits and desires.
Third stage. Conducting an internal monologue with yourself. Often this is spoken out loud in a low voice.
Fourth stage. The ability to think verbally without having to verbalize to oneself the entire course of inferences. Actually, this is where the “inner voice” appears.

Fans of The Lord of the Rings may recall Gollum, who constantly uses the second and third stages of internalization of the inner “voice” even when he has to communicate with real hobbits. Soviet psychiatrists from the times of developed socialism would have immediately diagnosed the unfortunate Gollum with “schizophrenia, paranoid hallucinatory form” and treated him with haloperidol.

In some cases, for example, during stressful conditions, psychotrauma, etc., the so-called re-externalization of the inner voice may occur, when the patient begins to perceive the voice as projected from the outside, alien or even hostile. Sometimes this condition goes away on its own, but sometimes a patient, especially one with a predisposition, can be “stuck” for a long time. Therefore, the help of a specialist is needed here.

Why are auditory hallucinations dangerous?

Is there direct harm from hallucinations, or do they only destabilize the psyche and disorient a person? Yes, they can be dangerous. Greatest danger represent “voices” in the form of direct orders of a destructive nature. It doesn't even matter whether these hallucinations are true or false.

In any case, the patient is sure that he is being controlled from the outside, and can begin to behave in accordance with the themes of the voices: attack other people, inflict damage on himself, destroy the environment. Of course, such actions of the patient require immediate hospitalization in specialized hospital, where 24-hour monitoring and emergency medical care will be provided.

Also, “voices” can simply interfere with a person’s life, constantly discussing, “commenting” on his actions, arguing among themselves. Here the doctor decides in each specific case whether to treat the patient in a mental hospital or on an outpatient basis. There is no direct imperative.

Mentally healthy people also hear “voices”

History knows many examples when people who came up with wonderful ideas claimed that they received this revelation “from above.” Most of the world's famous religions and philosophical movements arose to one degree or another in connection with this unusual mental phenomenon. In this case, we are talking about “revelations from above” and other forms of the emergence of ideas in a person that came “from outside.” IN modern world this phenomenon has not disappeared anywhere; it continues to excite minds and raises many questions among scientists.

Regarding mental health: in 1991, American professor Allen Tien and independently W. W. Eaton conducted extensive research and found that approximately 2.3–2.9% of the population regularly experience obvious auditory hallucinations and are completely mentally healthy.

With all due respect to the religious feelings of believers, you should understand that your “voices” are the fruit of the work of your brain. If auditory hallucinations are destructive, a visit to a psychiatrist (not a psychologist) is MANDATORY. If the “voices” behave “decently”, the ideas they express are non-standard, but do not harm anyone, including you, then most likely you are a creative person and, with proper education and hard work, you can count on the Nobel Prize.

Sergey Bogolepov

Photo istockphoto.com

Auditory hallucinations- deceptions of perception or “imaginary perceptions”, in which a sound (or sounds) is perceived and heard, while there is no real sound signal in the surrounding world. Auditory hallucinations are most often of a painful nature.

Types of auditory hallucinations

“Voices” are the most common type of auditory hallucination. They can manifest themselves as separate calls of the name, short phrases that occur rarely with long breaks. Entire dialogues and conversations are possible, reminiscent of a radio broadcast. Doctors note such dangerous types of voices as commanding or prohibiting voices (imperative auditory hallucinations); the presence of such a symptom can be life-threatening for the patient and his environment. Endogenous diseases are characterized by so-called “commentary voices” that “discuss, scold or defend the person hearing them.”
“Noises” - the sick person hears sounds in the form of crackling, whistling, ringing, clock ticking, etc.
“The sound of music” - manifested by constant or episodic perception of musical phrases. We observed in our patients both long-lasting well-known pieces of music and musical phrases that had never been heard before.
“Hypnagogic auditory hallucinations” are auditory deceptions of perception that occur during the period of falling asleep or waking up (“hypnapompic hallucinations”).

Causes of auditory hallucinations

The causes are disturbances in the functioning of the brain. Below we present the most common diseases and conditions in which auditory hallucinations can develop:

Organic mental disorders (consequences oxygen starvation nervous system, injuries, strokes and heart attacks, vascular diseases of the brain).
Epilepsy.
Alcoholism and drug addiction.
Consequences of poisoning and infections of the nervous system.
Endogenous diseases (schizophrenia, schizotypal disorder, schizoaffective disorder, psychosis).
Neurological diseases (neoplasms in brain tissue, autoimmune and atrophic diseases of the nervous system, etc.).
Overwork, lack of sleep, fasting, deficiency of substances necessary for the nervous system in the diet.

Behavior during auditory hallucinations depends on their severity, as well as on the presence of a critical attitude towards them. With pronounced auditory illusions of perception, the patient may close and plug his ears, hide, turn on loud music, etc.

What to do if you have auditory hallucinations

If you realize that you are experiencing auditory hallucinations, or see that your loved one hears something that you do not hear, then you need to consult a psychiatrist. At the appointment, the psychiatrist will clarify the condition, give recommendations, and tell the patient and his family how to behave.

Nowadays, organizing a consultation with a psychiatrist is quite simple. At your request, a psychiatrist can consult by telephone or answer written questions, come to your home or work for an examination, or make an appointment at the clinic.

Remember, if you experience auditory hallucinations for the first time, you should contact a psychiatrist URGENTLY so as not to miss the development of more severe violations in the psyche.

The ROSA Clinic helps people with auditory hallucinations. We have a modern diagnostic equipment, experienced psychiatrists, neurologists, psychophysiologists for a full examination. We treat both mild perception disorders and severe psychoses with abnormal behavior.

The clinic is open 24 hours a day. We do not put it on "registration". Anonymously.

A fairly common problem caused by hallucinations is tinnitus, the occurrence of sounds of unknown origin that do not exist in reality. It should be noted that such phenomena are not as harmless as is sometimes believed. Constant or periodic sound hallucinations can represent symptoms of disorders, and sometimes quite serious ones. In patients with auditory hallucinations, noise manifests itself in different ways. In the mild form of the disease, the phenomenon is especially pronounced in silence; in other situations, the sounds present in the environment cover up the hallucinations. Patients often complain that strange sounds arise at the moment when a person changes body position or makes certain movements.

Sometimes, upon additional examination, it turns out that this condition is associated with changes in pressure in the blood vessels, muscles, and nerves. As a rule, patients usually say that sound hallucinations can be compared to a low-frequency whistle, or the person hears hissing, buzzing, creaking, and other sounds. Moreover, low-frequency noises are observed less frequently during auditory hallucinations. Such noise is often mistaken for the sounds produced by operating ventilation or other household electrical appliances. If you hear noise, but are not sure that it comes from an external source, you should clarify this circumstance with those around you.

When auditory hallucinations occur, one of the common causes of the disease is a damaged inner ear. In this case, the sounds that a person hears fall into it, then, using the auditory nerves, information about the existing sounds is transmitted to the brain. If there is any damage to the inner ear, information access to certain parts of the brain may be impaired. Thus, these areas begin to persistently “demand” the missing information from parts of the inner ear that continue to function normally. But under such conditions, their signals are distorted, creating auditory hallucinations.

Rarer causes of tinnitus and non-existent sounds include traumatic brain injury, a consequence of exposure to unexpected and excessively loud noise, such as an explosion or gunshot. In some cases, auditory hallucinations are caused by an acoustic neuroma, a rare benign tumor that affects the auditory nerve. In clinical practice, there are cases where auditory hallucinations are side effects caused by an overdose of certain medications. People who abuse drugs or suffer from alcoholism are also at risk and often experience various types of auditory hallucinations.

Audible hallucinations are a very good reason to seek help from a specialist. Do not forget that this condition is a clear danger, since it may turn out that these are symptoms of diseases that require immediate treatment. To identify the cause of noise and strange sounds in the ears, a special hearing test is used, the functioning of the vestibular apparatus is assessed, and an x-ray of the ears and a blood test are also performed. Sometimes the doctor prescribes magnetic resonance imaging or computed tomography.

Auditory hallucinations are a type of productive pathology in psychiatry, in which the patient hears various sounds in the absence of their real source. An important characteristic of what is heard precisely as hallucinations is that the patient is convinced of their truth. He will never describe imaginary sounds with the word “seemed.”

Types of auditory hallucinations

Voices commenting on the patient's behavior. In most cases, those commenting on hallucinations have a sarcastic tone, which causes dissatisfaction and aggression. If the circumstances are unfortunate, this aggression can spill out on the patient’s relatives.
Voices talking to each other on topics unrelated to the patient. This is a relatively safe type of auditory hallucination, in most cases perceived by the patient as a kind of radio.
Voices repeating the patient's thoughts or confirming his ideas. This is a rather dangerous type of hallucination and can provoke aggressive behavior. In the case of repetition of thoughts, it seems to the patient that all his thoughts, even impartial or intimate ones, are being disclosed publicly. He may have a desire to eliminate the “witnesses” of mind reading. And if thoughts are confirmed by voices, any, even the most incredible, ideas, when repeated for a long time, seem like reality to the patient. The fleeting thought that his wife might cheat on him, under the influence of hallucinations, turns into a fait accompli. And the fact may be followed by retribution, also invented under the influence of hallucinations.
Commanding (imperative) voices. The most dangerous type of auditory hallucinations, since the patient lacks criticality. He believes everything he hears in hallucinations, which means he carries out all their orders. And orders can be very different - from cleaning the apartment to going and killing grandma. The combination of delusions and imperative hallucinations is most often a symptom of a severe mental illness, such as schizophrenia.

Causes of auditory hallucinations

Hearing aid malfunction. this is a fairly common reason. If an elderly person using a hearing aid complains about voices, first of all you need to check the quality of its work.
Side effects of drugs. Some psychotropic drugs, in overdose or as side effects, can cause hallucinations. Hallucinations are also possible with an illiterate combination of drugs. This happens especially often when self-medicating. When contacting a doctor about symptoms of hallucinations, be sure to present a complete list of medications the patient is taking.
Alcohol intoxication and delirium. In this case, recognizing the cause is not difficult. It is necessary to distinguish between hallucinations during alcohol intoxication and delirium. During intoxication, they develop at the height of intoxication, especially when consuming surrogate alcohol, and are neutral in nature. In delirium, hallucinations of a threatening nature occur when alcohol is withdrawn after prolonged use. How to treat auditory hallucinations in this case is quite clear.
Auditory hallucinations as a symptom of mental illness. The most common and most difficult option to treat. It is in this case that all the variety of auditory hallucinations arises. They can be a manifestation of schizophrenia, manic-depressive psychosis, Alzheimer's disease and other diseases.

Treatment of auditory hallucinations

Treatment approaches may vary significantly depending on the cause of the hallucinations. Let's consider how to treat auditory hallucinations according to the reasons listed above.

Hallucinations due to a malfunction of the hearing aid. The most favorable variant of diagnostic results. It is treated by replacing or repairing the device. Depending on the type of hearing aid, they can independently imitate noise or reproduce voices due to the fact that the device tunes to a radio wave and transmits it to the patient.
Only a specialized specialist can recognize hallucinations that are a side effect of drugs or their combinations. This specialist is not always your local therapist. You may need to contact a psychiatrist, cardiologist, narcologist or other doctor related to the diseases and medications you are taking. Be sure to keep a record of all medications you take - names, doses and frequency of administration per day. This is especially important in the case of elderly patients who may confuse the medicine or take it again. It is convenient to make a special “prescription calendar” in which to mark the medications taken. When you visit your doctor, be sure to show him this “calendar” or just a list of medications.
The occurrence of hallucinations as a result of taking medications indicates a severe overdose or long-term use of incompatible drugs. This condition cannot always be eliminated only by stopping medications or changing combinations. Intoxication may be required to speed up the elimination of substances that cause hallucinations. Treatment in this case occurs in a hospital setting. Subsequently, the patient is discharged for further treatment at home and a suitable regimen and combination of medications is recommended to continue treatment.
Auditory hallucinations during alcohol intoxication or delirium occur acutely and are combined with delusional ideas, visual hallucinations, and persecution mania. In this case, treatment must be immediate and very active. The patient must be hospitalized. Active detoxification therapy, infusions of nutritional and saline solutions are prescribed to quickly remove toxic substances from the patient’s body. With severe aggressiveness, motor agitation, and obsessions with persecution, tranquilizers and antipsychotics may be prescribed. In the future, full psychosocial rehabilitation of the patient, his involvement in work, and preventive work with the family are necessary.
Auditory hallucinations in mental illness are part of a broad symptom complex called productive symptoms. In addition to auditory hallucinations, it includes other types (visual, tactile, pseudohallucinations), delusional ideas of various kinds, and obsessive states. Hallucinations in combination with these symptoms are an alarming signal indicating the presence of severe mental pathology. In young people, they may primarily indicate schizophrenia. In the elderly, it may be a manifestation of Alzheimer's disease or senile dementia. The specific nosology can be clarified only with a thorough examination. The choice of treatment tactics also depends on the final diagnosis. In most cases, treatment for such severe symptoms occurs in a hospital. To relieve hallucinatory phenomena, antipsychotics are used, in particular new generation atypical antipsychotics. In case of severe psychomotor agitation, it is necessary to prescribe tranquilizers. In the case of pathology in the elderly, treatment to relieve acute hallucinosis is the same as in young people. Further therapy depends on the nosology - there are specific drugs for, nootropics for dementia, etc.

The goal of primary treatment is to reduce the severity or completely eliminate hallucinations. At home, follow-up treatment takes place with scheduled medication. In most cases, such patients require lifelong treatment. It is very important to train relatives to recognize the symptoms of exacerbation and monitor the patient’s condition.