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

Insignificant noises that do not carry a semantic load can 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 are often spontaneous. 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 articulated speech.

If the hallucination carries a specific 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 of specific causes.

There are the following types of sounds that arise in the patient's mind:

Tinnitus This is a common noise that occurs in the ears: buzzing, whistling, ringing, hissing, clicking, etc. Most of its causes are related to problems with the health of the hearing organs, but it can also indicate a malfunction in the blood flow system.
Acoasma. 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.

Also, the classification implies the selection of true and false sounds. The first type fits into the environment, so often a person does not even know about 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 separately classified:

Imperative. The most dangerous type of phonemes, since the voice has a commanding character, orders a person to perform certain actions, sometimes even against his will. This is a clear sign of schizophrenia, in religious circles it is called an obsession.
Commentators. This is the so-called "imaginary friend". A person can engage in dialogue with a voice in their head, hear comments about themselves, discuss their surroundings, etc.
Contrasting. These are antagonistic sounds. Two or more voices can argue with each other, or signals appear that contradict each other.
Hypnagogic. Auditory hallucinations occur during the period when a person's consciousness is switched off when falling asleep or, conversely, during awakening. The subconscious mind works here, so even a healthy person may experience abnormalities associated with the work of the brain, that is, "waking dreams."

Causes of occurrence

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

Overwork, nervous strain. There are malfunctions in the work of the brain due to overvoltage, consciousness turns off, for example, with prolonged lack of sleep.
Heat. Fever and fever cause disruption of the functioning of various body systems. A person may experience not only auditory, but also visual hallucinations or take dreams for reality.
Ear diseases. Tinnitus occurs with inflammation of the ear, disruption of the sound conduction chain and irritation of its individual elements. Sulfur plug, exudate in the middle ear and similar phenomena can cause noise at the conductive level, and the effect on the hair receptors and the auditory nerve - at the perceptual level.
Tumors. Pressure is exerted on parts of the auditory system, the brain and nerve roots.
Neurodegenerative pathologies. Disorders of the brain and nervous system due to the failure of individual elements, the death of neurons, etc. The most famous problems of this kind are senile dementia and Alzheimer's disease.
Mental disorders. Call phonemes and acoasms. These are depression, schizophrenia, psychopathy, various syndromes.
Hearing aid malfunctions. In rare cases, the reasons lie in the failure of implants and removable hearing aids.
Taking medicinal psychotropic drugs. Narcotic drugs and treatment with special groups of drugs can affect brain function in a similar way.
Alcoholic delirium. Attacks of delirium tremens cause not only acoustic, but also other types of hallucinations.

To find out the reasons, diagnostics are carried out taking into account the patient's complaints, medical history, information from relatives and friends. Mental disorders are the most difficult to identify. In addition to standard laboratory tests and examinations of the hearing organs, more detailed hardware examinations and tests may be needed.

Treatment methods

Treatment of the resulting auditory hallucinations 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 latent mental pathologies can become an overwhelming task. Some patients have been in intensive care for years in a hospital, but there has been no improvement in their condition.

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 commit crimes and suicide.

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

Treatment is performed in the following ways:

Drug therapy. Depends on the specific cause of the problem. These can be anti-inflammatory, antipyretic, neurostimulating, sedative medications, as well as special medications for the treatment of central nervous system problems and mental disorders.
Adjunctive therapy. Physiotherapy methods, electrostimulation treatment, targeted effects on individual parts of the brain.
Operation. Removal of a tumor, splitting the auditory nerve or cutting it off, installing a high-quality hearing aid or implant, ear prosthetics and plastic surgery, brain surgery.

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

Methods for the treatment of auditory hallucinations. Possible causes and types of the disease

Auditory hallucinations are a kind 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 is precisely as hallucinations - the patient is convinced of their truth. He will never describe imaginary sounds with the word "it seemed."

Types of auditory hallucinations

Directly audible can be different - the noise of the wind, the sound of a car, birdsong, and most characteristic - voices. The characteristics of the voices are also different:

Voices commenting on the patient's behavior. In most cases, commentary hallucinations are characterized by a sarcastic tone, which causes discontent and aggression. With an unfortunate coincidence of circumstances, this aggression can splash out on the patient's relatives.
Voices talking to each other on topics not related to the patient. This is a relatively safe type of auditory hallucinations, in most cases perceived by the patient as a kind of radio.
Voices that echo the patient's thoughts or confirm their ideas. This is a rather dangerous type of hallucinations, 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, are being publicly disclosed. He may be tempted to eliminate the mind reading "witnesses". And in the case of confirmation of thoughts by voices, any, even the most incredible, ideas, with a long repetition, seem to the patient a reality. The flashed thought that his wife can 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 that he hears in hallucinations, and therefore follows all their orders. And the orders can be very different - from cleaning the apartment to going and kill the grandmother. Combined delusions and imperative hallucinations are 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 in each case to find out their cause. It is she who plays a decisive role in the choice of treatment tactics. The causes of hallucinations can be divided into several main groups:

Hearing aid malfunction. In older people, this is a fairly common cause. If an elderly person using a hearing aid complains about voices, the first step is to check the quality of his work.
Side effects of drugs. Some psychotropic drugs can cause hallucinations in case of overdose or as side effects. Hallucinations are also possible with an illiterate combination of drugs. This happens especially often with self-medication. When contacting a doctor about the symptoms of hallucinations, be sure to present a complete list of drugs taken by the patient.
Alcohol intoxication and delirium. In this case, recognizing the cause is not difficult. Hallucinations with alcohol intoxication and delirium should be distinguished. When intoxicated, they develop at the height of intoxication, especially when using surrogate alcohol, and are neutral in nature. With 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 the whole variety of auditory hallucinations arises. They can be a manifestation of schizophrenia, manic-depressive psychosis, Alzheimer's disease and other diseases.

Treatment for auditory hallucinations

Treatment approaches can vary greatly depending on the cause of the hallucinations. 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 the diagnostic results. It is treated by replacing or repairing the device. Depending on the type of hearing aid, they can independently simulate noises or reproduce voices due to the fact that the device tunes to any radio wave and broadcasts it to the patient.
Only a specialized specialist can recognize hallucinations that are a side effect of the action of drugs or their combinations. Your local therapist is not always such a specialist. It may be necessary to consult a psychiatrist, cardiologist, narcologist or other doctor on the profile of diseases and drugs taken. Be sure to keep a record of all medications taken - names, doses and frequency of administration per day. This is especially important in the case of elderly patients who may mix up the medicine or drink it again. It is convenient to make a special "appointment calendar" in which to mark the drugs taken. When you visit a doctor, be sure to show him this "calendar" or just a list of drugs.

The occurrence of hallucinations due to taking medications indicates a pronounced overdose or prolonged use of drugs that are not combined with each other. This condition can not always be eliminated only by canceling drugs or changing combinations. Intoxication may be required to speed up the elimination of the substances that caused the hallucinations. In this case, treatment takes place in a stationary environment. In the future, the patient is discharged for aftercare at home and a suitable regimen and combinations of drugs are recommended to continue treatment.

Auditory hallucinations with alcohol intoxication or delirium arise acutely, combined with delusional ideas, visual hallucinations, persecution mania. In this case, the treatment must be immediate and very active. The patient must be hospitalized. Active detoxification therapy is prescribed, infusion of nutrient and saline solutions for the early withdrawal of toxic substances from the patient's body. With pronounced aggressiveness, motor excitement, obsessive ideas of persecution, it is possible to prescribe tranquilizers and antipsychotics. In the future, a full-fledged psychosocial rehabilitation of the patient is necessary, his introduction to work, preventive work with the family.

Auditory hallucinations in mental illness are part of an extensive symptom complex called productive symptoms. In addition to auditory hallucinations, it includes other types of them (visual, tactile, pseudo-hallucinations), delusional ideas of various kinds, obsessive states. Hallucinations in combination with these symptoms are an alarming signal indicating the presence of severe pathology on the part of the psyche. In young people, they may primarily indicate schizophrenia. The elderly may present with 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 with such severe symptoms occurs in a hospital. For the relief of hallucinatory phenomena, antipsychotics are used, in particular atypical antipsychotics of the new generation. With pronounced psychomotor agitation, the appointment of tranquilizers is necessary. In the case of pathology in the elderly, the treatment for the relief of acute hallucinosis is the same as in the young. In the future, therapy depends on nosology - there are specific drugs for the treatment of Alzheimer's disease, nootropics for dementia, etc.

The goal of primary treatment is to reduce or eliminate hallucinations. At home, follow-up treatment takes place with a planned intake of drugs. In most cases, these patients require lifelong treatment. It is very important to educate relatives in recognizing the symptoms of an exacerbation and monitoring the patient's condition.

Causes and treatment of auditory hallucinations

If a person hears voices that other people near him do not hear, then he has vocal hallucinations. In fact, the threshold of susceptibility may differ from person to person. Therefore, a hallucination can only be called a phenomenon that does not have confirmation of existence outside the consciousness of a person. Another phenomenon of special perception, the riddle of which has yet to be solved, is musical hallucinations.

Varieties 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 staccato sounds, noises, or parts of words. Complex audible 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 form of auditory illusion is when voices in the patient's head obsessively 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 the 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 pseudo-hallucinations, hallucinations in sleep and depression. Auditory pseudo-hallucinations are associated with the inner world of a person. Heard voices are not perceived as coming from the outside, they sound in the head, but the person hearing them considers this to be normal. Sleep hallucinations are probably the most harmless of all types.

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

Depression resulting from trauma, organic illness in old age, or manic-depressive psychosis is also a common cause of auditory hallucinations.

A person who has lost a loved one sometimes hears the voice of the deceased or even sees it in a dream. The same thing happens to a person who witnessed a tragedy in which there were human casualties.

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Etiology, causes of occurrence

Auditory hallucinations can occur for many reasons. The simplest is the intoxication of the body. Poisoning with certain substances (in particular, drugs, alcohol) causes manifestations of other mental disorders - confusion, delirium, affective disorders.

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

This is confirmed by tomography. Abnormalities of mental activity in schizophrenia can be genetically determined.

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

neurodegenerative diseases (Alzheimer's disease, Huntington's chorea, etc.);
vascular diseases of the brain;
dysmetabolic encephalopathy;
neuroinfection;
traumatic brain injury;
brain tumors, etc.

The reason for auditory delusions may lie in the experience of violence. The traumatic effect on the psyche requires the intervention of a psychotherapist. Physical or sexual abuse leading to psychosis has a devastating effect on the victim's personality. In the patient's head, voices arise that order to harm himself or those around him. The threatening voice from hallucinations is often associated with the voice of the abuser.

Symptoms of non-mental hallucinations

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

Internalization or the process of mastering the external world by turning the observed phenomena into an internal regulator of mental activity is the reason for the formation of an internal voice. This process goes through four stages as the child gets older. The kid, mastering the speech heard from adults, repeats words out loud to communicate with others. Thus, a dialogue appears - the first level of the 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 a thought in words in order to assimilate its meaning. Disturbance in the perception of the inner voice can occur with mixing or expansion of perception. In such cases, a person perceives his inner voice as belonging to someone else, or he 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 medications. Conversations with a psychologist are of great benefit. The first step towards healing in such cases is the realization that the sounding voice is a figment of the imagination. This awareness restores the person's confidence in their abilities and control over their actions, emotions and life.

Diagnostics and therapy methods

Treatment of auditory hallucinations of various etiologies is carried out with the help of drugs, unconventional methods and psychological influence. In some cases, therapies fail to heal mental disorders or illnesses that have caused hallucinations, but are intended to alleviate the patient's condition. Antipsychotic drugs that interfere with dopamine production are the mainstay of treatment.

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

Cognitive psychotherapy is a method of psychological influence that has proven itself in the treatment of auditory hallucinations. This method is different from the usual psychoanalysis. The task of the psychotherapist using 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 events are very different, this leads to mental illness. Having eliminated the cause of internal dissonance, the psychotherapist seeks to change the perception and behavior of the patient.

Non-traditional methods of treatment and research include transcranial magnetic stimulation. The cerebral cortex is stimulated by short, painless magnetic pulses. When used together with drugs, such therapy in some cases has a positive effect in getting rid of auditory hallucinations. A contraindication to its use is the presence of metal foreign bodies in the patient, especially in the head, tumors, treatment with some antidepressants, epilepsy.

In ancient times, people considered auditory hallucinations to be possessed by demons or a sign of election from above. For modern psychotherapists who study brain activity using encephalogram and tomography, everything seems much easier.

Sound hallucinations occur during excitation of the brain region responsible for speech production. That is, the internal dialogue of a person is perceived by him as someone else's voice. But how, then, can one explain musical hallucinations or a special emotional state that accompanies these phenomena, which each person experiences differently? For psychologists and psychotherapists, there are more questions than answers.

Audible hallucinations

A fairly common problem caused by hallucinations is tinnitus, the occurrence of sounds of unknown origin, which are not in reality. It should be noted that such phenomena are not as harmless as it is sometimes believed. Persistent or intermittent audible hallucinations can be symptoms of disturbance, and sometimes quite serious. In patients with sound hallucinations, noise manifests itself in different ways. With a mild form of the disease, the phenomenon is especially pronounced in silence, in other situations, the sounds present in the environment overlap the hallucinations. Often, patients complain that incomprehensible sounds occur at the moment when a person changes body position, makes certain movements.

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

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

Causes of Sound Hallucinations

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

If such a disorder occurs in elderly patients, then auditory hallucinations can accompany the aging process, during which hearing becomes worse. It is not uncommon for young people to suffer damage to the inner ear due to regular exposure to increased noise. Also, among the causes that damage the inner ear, and leading to audible hallucinations, there can be many diseases. For example, middle ear infections, otosclerosis, Meniere's disease, anemia, Paget's disease. It happens that auditory hallucinations are caused by the accumulation of earwax, which has a blocking effect on the ears.

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

Treatment for sound hallucinations

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

In the treatment of sound hallucinations, the therapeutic effect is on the immediate disease, which must be cured in order 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, the doctor will prescribe procedures to remove the earwax. But, of course, such simple cases, unfortunately, are few, and so simply sound hallucinations cannot be 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 an environment of silence. With sound therapy, the silence in the room is replaced by neutral sounds that can be repeated. They distract the patient from the sounds arising in his imagination, sounding in his ears. Sometimes the radio is a distraction, the TV is on. Some patients like the sound of rain, the rustle of sea waves running on 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 sound hallucinations during the treatment of the underlying disease.

Auditory hallucinations

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

Causes of auditory hallucinations

As mentioned above, most people associate hearing hallucinations with serious mental illness, such as schizophrenia or mania. And this may indeed be so, but only a specialist can make a diagnosis, therefore, with prolonged observation of such phenomena, it is simply necessary to turn to him.

But auditory hallucinations can be caused by a number of other reasons, most often it is overwork, prolonged lack of sleep, or taking any psychotropic drugs. Also, medications can cause this phenomenon, in particular, anti-spasm drugs often give such a side effect. In addition, sound hallucinations can appear with strong nervous excitement - an attack of jealousy, rage, strong sadness, love, etc. Depression can also be accompanied by hearing impairments. Certain medical conditions (Alzheimer's) can also be accompanied by audible hallucinations. Ear diseases or poor quality hearing aids can also cause a person to hear voices that do not exist in reality.

Hallucinatory sounds

It is curious that a person himself can cause hallucinations of this kind, we are not talking now about taking alcohol and other psychotropic substances, but about using sounds that cause hallucinations. There is the so-called Ganzfeld method (from German "empty field"), a technique based on the formation of a dream state of consciousness against the background of deep relaxation of the body. The person is encouraged to lie down, close their eyes (it is better to wear a sleep mask so that the light does not distract) and relax while listening to white noise - the sound that a radio makes on an empty frequency. Another example of white noise is the sound of a waterfall. After a while, the person relaxes and plunges into a state akin to the deep sleep phase. But since he actually does not sleep and continues to be aware of what is happening, then he begins to have audible or visual hallucinations, we can say that in this state a person sees dreams in reality.

Causes of Hearing Hallucinations and Their Treatment

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

Note! Auditory hallucinations can be categorized as subjective sounds. They are audible only to the patient, which makes it very difficult to diagnose and treat this disease.

Types of auditory hallucinations

There are several types of extraneous sounds that spontaneously appear in the patient's mind:

Tinnitus Standard noise effects such as buzzing, clicking, whistling, ringing, etc.
Acoasma. More specific sounds: creaks, drops, music, etc.
Phonemes. The most dangerous hallucinations that can carry a certain semantic load and directly affect human behavior. These can be single words, phrases or voices that clearly indicate a mental problem.

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

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

False hallucinations most often for the patient come from the inside. Moreover, sounds are not always heard in a person's head. Obsessive and imperative voices can come from the abdomen, chest, and any other place on the body. Such illusions are considered the most dangerous for the life of the patient and those around him.

Reasons for the 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 reasons for the occurrence 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, high temperature. They can cause disturbances in certain body systems. In some cases, this manifests itself as auditory or visual illusions.
Tumors in the region of the brain. The neoplasm can press on certain areas of the auditory system or the brain.
Mental disorders: schizophrenia, psychopathy, all kinds of syndromes.
Ear diseases, inflammation and even sulfur plugs may well disrupt the operation of sound-conducting channels and cause extraneous noise.
Malfunctioning electronic hearing aids. The most harmless reason that can be eliminated by replacing or repairing the device.
The use of psychotropic substances. Drug dependence or treatment with certain drugs can affect a person's brain activity in a similar way.
Alcohol abuse. Attacks of delirium tremens often result in visual or acoustic hallucinations.

Photo 2. It was the appearance of hallucinations that gave rise to the phrase "get drunk to hell." Source: Flickr (bluevinas).

When falling asleep

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

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

Symptoms and signs of hearing hallucinations

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

Sometimes the patient hears voices, but is not the subject of their discussion. He, as it were, hears from the sidelines 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 both to the patient himself and to those around him.

Violations are considered more dangerous when the patient hears voices that repeat 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 be a reason for the manifestation of aggression.

Note! In some cases, auditory hallucinations can be confused with manifestations of the "inner voice" or actual tinnitus, which are the result of various diseases.

Diagnostics

Auditory hallucinations are not an independent disease, but only a symptom of another disease. The doctor will necessarily begin the diagnosis with the collection of anamnesis. This can be quite difficult to do, since the patient can be extremely negative and skeptical about his pathological condition. If the patient does not want to make contact with the doctor, you can try to interview the next of kin.

To exclude the organic nature of the pathology, laboratory tests of urine, blood, and spinal cord will be prescribed. Elderly patients using hearing amplification devices should additionally check the correct operation of the electronic device.

It is possible to guess about the presence of acoustic hallucinations by the specific behavior of a person. The patient may hesitate with answers, clearly listen to something. When talking with such a patient, the doctor should try to win over him as much as possible and establish a relationship of trust.

Treatment of auditory hallucinations with homeopathy

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

Elaps. It is indicated for extraneous noise, clicks, unbearable itching in the ears. It will help eliminate attacks of deafness at night, accompanied by cracking and roaring in the ears.
Curare. Helps eliminate whistling or ringing noises, sounds reminiscent of animal cries.
Valeriana (Valeriana). The drug is recommended for patients with tinnitus, acoustic illusions, hyperesthesia (increased sensitivity of the sense organs).
Eupatorium purpureum (Eupatorium purpureum). Effective for various kinds 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, the sound of bells.
Anacardium. The drug helps patients who see voices imposing strange orders or whispering blasphemy.
Carboneum sulphuratum (Carboneum sulphuratum). It will help eliminate burning sensation in the ears, singing voices or harp sounds.

Contact qualified specialists who are able to choose the most suitable drug for your clinical case, and prescribe the correct dosage and course of administration.

Causes of auditory hallucinations

When auditory hallucinations occur, a person begins to hear various sounds, including voices, conversations, which do not exist in reality. In this case, you should take this violation seriously and seek help from a qualified specialist. As medical practice shows, almost every person had to talk to himself at least once. For example, having forgotten the phone at home, he may think: "Well, when will I learn to be more collected!" Now imagine that after the said phrase, a voice is heard inside the person's head, which 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 when an individual hears non-existent voices, they say that he has auditory hallucinations, for the occurrence of which there may be a number of reasons, therefore, it is difficult to name the exact cause without an appropriate examination. First of all, experts suggest that in this case there is a mental disorder of varying severity, as well as diseases of a neurological nature. The biggest mistake is that some people take such disorders lightly and postpone the visit to the doctor until better times.

There is a dispute between many scientists about the causes of auditory hallucinations. Some experts argue that the auditory hallucinations that sometimes sound in the head are their own voiced thoughts, that is, denounced in verbal form. In this regard, the individual begins to perceive this phenomenon as the voice of an unfamiliar and foreign subject, and sometimes even several. If the cause of the 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 seriously declare that an inner voice ordered him to commit suicide, or gave an order to take the life of loved ones, acquaintances. The most dangerous thing in this case is that the patient does not consider such orders a hallucination, and does not at all doubt that he

is obliged to comply with these inadequate instructions. Schizophrenia is often cited among the causes of such disorders. It is a very serious mental illness. 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 is named. A similar condition may be due to the taking of certain medications, especially in case of an overdose. Sometimes these side effects are observed when taking antispasmodics. In this case, going to the doctor's appointment, it is necessary to draw up a list of all medications taken in advance in order to show it to the attending physician. But do 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, incomprehensible voices, noise, then first of all, you should find out if the hearing aid is in order.

It is known that auditory hallucinations occur not only in mentally ill people who need serious and urgent help from a psychiatrist. Very often, perfectly healthy people who do not have mental disorders, but who 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 out to them by name. Doctors say that this factor is not a manifestation of 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 cause of this violation, the doctor must conduct a detailed examination, talk with the patient, and ask a number of questions necessary in this case. Only after this does the specialist conclude 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. Currently, the mechanism of the onset of hallucinations has not been sufficiently studied, and some of the 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 due to a special attitude, a kind of distortion of perception, which is influenced by previous events. In the course of numerous scientific studies, it has been established that the cause of auditory hallucinations is also the excessive excitability of certain areas in the brain. The simplest reasons for this pathology include intoxication with substances of medicinal origin, for example, levodopa, ephedrine, meridil. Often, drugs used are to blame.

the patient. Therefore, if the corresponding irritants are eliminated, the problem can disappear quite quickly, even without special treatment. But in most cases, the patient needs to make an effort to get rid of the hallucinations.

In search of the cause of auditory hallucinations, doctors emphasize the special importance of many diseases. For example, you should pay attention if a patient with complaints of hallucinations has a cardiovascular disease, a tumor of the temporal lobe, various abscesses, temporal arteritis, migraine. Sometimes auditory hallucinations are associated with diseases of the sense organs, brain damage.

How to treat auditory hallucinations

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

How to treat auditory hallucinations is a highly individual question.

In each case, there are reasons for the impairment of hearing, and the doctor's task is to understand and determine the exact source of the problem. To date, the human brain has not been adequately studied. For scientists, this organ is still fraught with many mysteries and unusual phenomena, 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 such phenomena happened to such outstanding people as the Greek philosophers Socrates and Plato, the psychoanalyst Sigmund Freud, the Protestant priest and public figure Martin Luther King and many others who led a fruitful creative life. So is it worth being afraid of the "voices in your head"?

Types and causes of hallucinations

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

"True hallucinations" - when the patient hears sounds from the outside and behaves accordingly, looking around, turning his head, that is, he orients himself to an external source of false information. For example, this happens in chronic alcoholic hallucinosis due to toxic damage to the brain.
"False hallucinations" - when the patient hears voices inside his head. As if the "cockroaches in the head" are talking. This is most often seen in schizophrenia, but it also happens 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 a real physical illness (tumor, poisoning, trauma, etc.). False hallucinations are more unpredictable - since their causes are not well understood, 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 the head” in early childhood. The development of the child's thought process 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 a 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 speaking out loud in a low voice.
Stage four. The ability to think verbally without having to say the entire line of reasoning to oneself. 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 internalizing the inner "voice" even when he has to communicate with real-life hobbits. Soviet psychiatrists of the times of developed socialism would immediately diagnose the unfortunate Gollum with "schizophrenia, a paranoid hallucinatory form" and treat 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. The greatest danger is represented by "voices" in the form of direct orders of a destructive nature. It doesn't even matter if 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 theme of the voices: attack other people, harm himself, destroy the environment. Of course, such actions of the patient require immediate hospitalization in a specialized hospital, where round-the-clock observation 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 case - to treat the patient in a mental hospital or on an outpatient basis. There is no direct imperative.

Mentally healthy people hear "voices" too

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

With regard to mental health: in 1991, the 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 explicit auditory hallucinations and are completely mentally healthy.

With all due respect to the religious feelings of believers, it should be understood that your "voices" are the fruit of the work of your brain. If the auditory hallucinations are destructive in nature, a visit to a psychiatrist (not a psychologist) is MANDATORY. If the "voices" behave "decently", the ideas expressed by them are non-standard, but at the same time they 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 perception", in which sound (or sounds) is perceived and heard, while there is no real sound signal in the surrounding world. Auditory hallucinations are most often painful in nature.

Types of auditory hallucinations

"Voices" are the most common type of auditory hallucination. They can be manifested by separate hailings of a name, short phrases that rarely occur with long interruptions. Whole dialogues are possible, conversations 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, ticking of a clock, etc.
"The sound of music" - is manifested by the constant or episodic perception of musical phrases. We have observed in our patients both long-lasting famous pieces of music and musical phrases that have never been heard before.
"Hypnagogic auditory hallucinations" are auditory deceptions of perception that occur during falling asleep or awakening ("hypnapompic hallucinations").

Causes of auditory hallucinations

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

Organic mental disorders (consequences of oxygen starvation of the nervous system, trauma, 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 the brain tissue, autoimmune and atrophic diseases of the nervous system, etc.).
Overwork, lack of sleep, starvation, deficiency of substances necessary for the nervous system in the diet.

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

What to do with auditory hallucinations

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

Currently, it is quite simple to organize a consultation with a psychiatrist. At your request, the psychiatrist can consult by phone or answer written questions, come home or work for an examination, you can apply for an appointment at the clinic.

Remember, when hearing hallucinations arise for the first time, you should consult a psychiatrist URGENTLY so as not to miss the development of more severe mental disorders.

ROSA Clinic deals with helping people with auditory hallucinations. We have modern diagnostic equipment, experienced psychiatrists, neurologists, psychophysiologists for a full examination. We accept for treatment both mild perceptual disorders and severe psychosis with improper behavior.

The clinic works around the clock. We do not register. Anonymously.

Types of auditory hallucinations

Directly audible can be different - the noise of the wind, the sound of a car, birdsong, and most characteristic - voices. The characteristics of the voices are also different:

Voices commenting on the patient's behavior. In most cases, commentary hallucinations are characterized by a sarcastic tone, which causes discontent and aggression. With an unfortunate coincidence of circumstances, this aggression can splash out on the patient's relatives.
Voices talking to each other on topics not related to the patient. This is a relatively safe type of auditory hallucinations, in most cases perceived by the patient as a kind of radio.
Voices that echo the patient's thoughts or confirm their ideas. This is a rather dangerous type of hallucinations, 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, are being publicly disclosed. He may be tempted to eliminate the mind reading "witnesses". And in the case of confirmation of thoughts by voices, any, even the most incredible, ideas, with a long repetition, seem to the patient a reality. The flashed thought that his wife can 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 that he hears in hallucinations, and therefore follows all their orders. And the orders can be very different - from cleaning the apartment to going and kill the grandmother. Combined delusions and imperative hallucinations are 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, the first step is to check the quality of his work.
Side effects of drugs. Some psychotropic drugs can cause hallucinations in case of overdose or as side effects. Hallucinations are also possible with an illiterate combination of drugs. This happens especially often with self-medication. When contacting a doctor about the symptoms of hallucinations, be sure to present a complete list of drugs taken by the patient.
Alcohol intoxication and delirium. In this case, recognizing the cause is not difficult. Hallucinations with alcohol intoxication and delirium should be distinguished. When intoxicated, they develop at the height of intoxication, especially when using surrogate alcohol, and are neutral in nature. With 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 the whole variety of auditory hallucinations arises. They can be a manifestation of schizophrenia, manic-depressive psychosis, Alzheimer's disease and other diseases.

Treatment for auditory hallucinations

Treatment approaches can vary greatly depending on the cause of the hallucinations. 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 the diagnostic results. It is treated by replacing or repairing the device. Depending on the type of hearing aid, they can independently simulate noises or reproduce voices due to the fact that the device tunes to any radio wave and broadcasts it to the patient.
Only a specialized specialist can recognize hallucinations that are a side effect of the action of drugs or their combinations. Your local therapist is not always such a specialist. It may be necessary to consult a psychiatrist, cardiologist, narcologist or other doctor on the profile of diseases and drugs taken. Be sure to keep a record of all medications taken - names, doses and frequency of administration per day. This is especially important in the case of elderly patients who may mix up the medicine or drink it again. It is convenient to make a special "appointment calendar" in which to mark the drugs taken. When you visit a doctor, be sure to show him this "calendar" or just a list of drugs.
The occurrence of hallucinations due to taking medications indicates a pronounced overdose or prolonged use of drugs that are not combined with each other. This condition can not always be eliminated only by canceling drugs or changing combinations. Intoxication may be required to speed up the elimination of the substances that caused the hallucinations. In this case, treatment takes place in a stationary environment. In the future, the patient is discharged for aftercare at home and a suitable regimen and combinations of drugs are recommended to continue treatment.
Auditory hallucinations with alcohol intoxication or delirium arise acutely, combined with delusional ideas, visual hallucinations, persecution mania. In this case, the treatment must be immediate and very active. The patient must be hospitalized. Active detoxification therapy is prescribed, infusion of nutrient and saline solutions for the early withdrawal of toxic substances from the patient's body. With pronounced aggressiveness, motor excitement, obsessive ideas of persecution, it is possible to prescribe tranquilizers and antipsychotics. In the future, a full-fledged psychosocial rehabilitation of the patient is necessary, his introduction to work, preventive work with the family.
Auditory hallucinations in mental illness are part of an extensive symptom complex called productive symptoms. In addition to auditory hallucinations, it includes other types of them (visual, tactile, pseudo-hallucinations), delusional ideas of various kinds, obsessive states. Hallucinations in combination with these symptoms are an alarming signal indicating the presence of severe pathology on the part of the psyche. In young people, they may primarily indicate schizophrenia. The elderly may present with 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 with such severe symptoms occurs in a hospital. For the relief of hallucinatory phenomena, antipsychotics are used, in particular atypical antipsychotics of the new generation. With pronounced psychomotor agitation, the appointment of tranquilizers is necessary. In the case of pathology in the elderly, the treatment for the relief of acute hallucinosis is the same as in the young. In the future, therapy depends on the nosology - there are specific drugs for, nootropics for dementia, etc.