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Hallucinations: Different Types and Characteristics

Updated: Jul 21

Written by Ahmet Tuna Balci


Most of the time, any event can take place in the human memory with certain triggers, and this situation is collected in the place that we later describe as the subconscious, where such events can be revived later in the mind. In fact, many things such as a few small moments, the details perceived by one of our senses, rather than a big event in itself, can appear in different moments in a way that we can call "assuming" [2]. The interesting thing that we see with our eyes when we meet is actually not related to our eye reflexes or any problem we experience physically, on the contrary, it consists of illusions created by our brain in an uncontrolled way in the events we encounter mentally.


In other words, it is the creation of completely unreal elements within the framework of the commands given by the brain. Although it is known that there are many different reasons for this behavior, people who experience the images in these situations do not know the underlying cause of it, and this makes hallucinations a dangerous disease. There are hallucinations that can come from such minor distress or much larger problems, and they are of many different types.


Besides that, it is seen as one of the most common psychological problems in society, including many different health problems with a high dose of physical pain [1]. There are many different types of hallucinations. Apart from these hallucinations, in which we use our 5 senses, there are many other diseases with psychological or physical effects related to this issue, but we will examine these 5 important factors more fundamentally. Let's examine these types now:


Visual Hallucinations: This is actually triggering the mind due to a non-existent visual stimulus and creating a scene accordingly. It has complex and simple forms, but in general, it is the similarity of a visual object and an unreal image created in the mind accordingly [1,3].


Auditory Hallucinations: There are simple and more complex versions. The emergence is generally when a sound that has been heard somewhere before and remains in one's mind, when faced with something that will trigger it later, an unrelated sound echoes in the head by itself, or it combines with other types of sounds and feels as if the person is feeling this sound again [1,3].

Olfactory Hallucinations: It is an illusion based on smell, slightly different from the others. However, imagination is a little more prominent in this. You create that object in the creature's mind according to the smell, and it also comes to life on the stage of a consciousness in which this object is also included [1,3].


Tactile Hallucinations: It is known as contacting an object with any part of its body in the environment and storing it in memory on repetition. The feeling of settling that it creates in shelters, after the touched area is transferred to the brain by its formations and receptors, causes hallucinations in a possible situation [1,3].


Gustatory Hallucinations: Any substance that comes into contact with the tongue is transferred to the brain again through the nerves, thanks to the sense of taste, and then the brains create non-existing scenes in a fight with triggers a similar smell in a possible situation [1,3].

Of course, it is linked to many psychological diseases, but we have only observed types of hallucinations that are mainly directly related to the 5 senses of the human body. Avoiding these is not necessary unless it reaches dangerous levels, because every person can experience minor illusions throughout their life. But on the contrary, if dangerous situations occur, emergency treatment methods are required. First of all, it depends on the will of the person. Of course, medical support is also required [2].



References:
  1. Hallucinations: Definition, causes, treatment & types. Cleveland Clinic. (n.d.). Retrieved March 7, 2023, from https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/symptoms/23350-hallucinations

  2. Healthline Media. (n.d.). Medical Information and Health Advice You Can Trust. Healthline. Retrieved March 7, 2023, from https://www.healthline.com/health/hallucinations

  3. WebMD. (n.d.). Hallucinations: Causes, types, diagnosis, treatment. WebMD. Retrieved March 7, 2023, from https://www.webmd.com/schizophrenia/what-are-hallucinations


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