A pseudohallucination (from grc, ψευδής (pseudḗs) "false, lying" + "hallucination") is an involuntary sensory experience vivid enough to be regarded as a
hallucination
A hallucination is a perception in the absence of an external stimulus that has the qualities of a real perception. Hallucinations are vivid, substantial, and are perceived to be located in external objective space. Hallucination is a combinati ...
, but which is recognised by the person experiencing it as being subjective and unreal. By contrast, a "true" hallucination is perceived as entirely real by the person experiencing it.
The term "pseudohallucination" appears to have been coined by
Friedrich Wilhelm Hagen
Friedrich Wilhelm Hagen (16 June 1814, Dottenheim – 13 June 1888, Erlangen) was a German psychiatrist. His father, also named Friedrich Wilhelm Hagen (1767–1837), was a noted clergyman.
He studied medicine at the universities Munich and E ...
.
Hagen published his 1868 book "Zur Theorie der Halluzination," to define them as "illusions or sensory errors".
The term was further explored by the Russian psychiatrist
Victor Kandinsky
Victor Khrisanfovich Kandinsky (russian: Виктор Хрисанфович Кандинский) (6 April 1849, Byankino, Nerchinsky District, Siberia – 3 July 1889, Saint Petersburg) was a Russian psychiatrist, and was 2nd cousin to famed arti ...
(1849–1889).
In his work "On Pseudohallucinations" (russian: "О псевдогаллюцинациях"
psevdogalliutsinatsiakh, he described his psychotic experience defining pseudohallucinations as "subjective perceptions similar to hallucinations, with respect to its character and vividness, but that differ from those because these do not have objective reality".
The term is not widely used in the psychiatric and medical fields, as it is considered ambiguous; the term ''nonpsychotic hallucination'' is preferred. Pseudohallucinations are more likely to happen with a
hallucinogenic drug. But "the current understanding of pseudohallucinations is mostly based on the work of
Karl Jaspers
Karl Theodor Jaspers (, ; 23 February 1883 – 26 February 1969) was a German-Swiss psychiatrist and philosopher who had a strong influence on modern theology, psychiatry, and philosophy. After being trained in and practicing psychiatry, Jaspe ...
".
A further distinction is made between pseudohallucinations and ''parahallucinations'', the latter being a result of damage to the
peripheral nervous system
The peripheral nervous system (PNS) is one of two components that make up the nervous system of bilateral animals, with the other part being the central nervous system (CNS). The PNS consists of nerves and ganglia, which lie outside the brai ...
.
They are considered a possible
symptom
Signs and symptoms are the observed or detectable signs, and experienced symptoms of an illness, injury, or condition. A sign for example may be a higher or lower temperature than normal, raised or lowered blood pressure or an abnormality showi ...
of
conversion disorder
Conversion disorder (CD), or functional neurologic symptom disorder, is a diagnostic category used in some psychiatric classification systems. It is sometimes applied to patients who present with neurological symptoms, such as numbness, blindnes ...
in
DSM-IV
The ''Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders'' (DSM; latest edition: DSM-5-TR, published in March 2022) is a publication by the American Psychiatric Association (APA) for the classification of mental disorders using a common langu ...
(2000). In
DSM-5
The ''Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition'' (DSM-5), is the 2013 update to the '' Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders'', the taxonomic and diagnostic tool published by the American Psychiatri ...
(2013), this definition has been removed.
Also, pseudohallucinations can occur in people with visual/hearing loss, referred to as
Charles Bonnet syndrome.
See also
*
Anomalous experiences
Anomalous experiences, such as so-called benign hallucinations, may occur in a person in a state of good mental and physical health, even in the apparent absence of a transient trigger factor such as fatigue, intoxication or sensory deprivation.
...
*
Auditory hallucination
An auditory hallucination, or paracusia, is a form of hallucination that involves perceiving sounds without auditory stimulus. While experiencing an auditory hallucination, the affected person would hear a sound or sounds which did not come from ...
*
Illusion
An illusion is a distortion of the senses, which can reveal how the mind normally organizes and interprets sensory stimulation. Although illusions distort the human perception of reality, they are generally shared by most people.
Illusions may oc ...
*
Lucid dream
A lucid dream is a type of dream in which the dreamer becomes aware that they are dreaming while dreaming. During a lucid dream, the dreamer may gain some amount of control over the dream characters, narrative, or environment; however, this is ...
*
Phosphene
References
Bibliography
В. Х. Кандинский. О псевдогаллюцинациях (1890)(
Victor Kandinsky
Victor Khrisanfovich Kandinsky (russian: Виктор Хрисанфович Кандинский) (6 April 1849, Byankino, Nerchinsky District, Siberia – 3 July 1889, Saint Petersburg) was a Russian psychiatrist, and was 2nd cousin to famed arti ...
''On Pseudohallucinations'') {{in lang, ru
Hallucinations