Causes of Hallucinations

Before getting into the different hallucinations causes, let us try and understand what any society's take would be on them. Human beings tolerate pain and hurt, but very little in between. They do not tolerate change in attitudes nor do they tolerate difference in set opinions (not easily at least). Anything that is a slight diversion from the norm is not welcomed with open arms. Change needs time to be accepted and so does the 'different' in anything. People are happy when they can tag something as a definitive and know exactly what that thing is about. They do not generally do well with surprises or something out of the norm.

Why am I talking about all this? Well, think about it, if society likes it best when there are people who follow societal norms, stay within the boundaries of society and follow what is expected of them as an individual living in a society, then if a person who has hallucinations is introduced, imagine the society's reactions to him. A person having hallucinations will not really find any sort of solace in society. And that is because most people do not know the causes of hallucinations. Yes, hallucinating is not normal and is in fact indicative of an underlying issue but what exactly are hallucinations and what are the hallucinations causes? What drives a person into hallucinations? That is what we will be talking about in this article.

What are Hallucinations?

We react, behave and act according to the stimuli that our environment provides for us. When someone says 'Hi', we greet them back, when we see someone, our mind registers it. Similarly, we feel, touch, smell according to the stimuli that is provided. Now imagine that there is no stimuli present and we begin to react. That is a hallucination.

Hallucinations happen when we perceive something without a stimuli being present. The brain has its own mechanism running and it perceives several things based on its memory. That would explain the dreams we have, where things which may not be possible in the real world, might happen. But this happens when we are unconscious, so that when we wake up, we are back in the 'real' world. Hallucinations happen when the brain cannot distinguish between reality and unconsciousness, so that it begins to perceive things even when there are no stimuli present. This manifests itself in the form of smell, taste, vision, sounds or tactile feelings.

Hallucinations Causes

There are several types of hallucinations that can occur, these include - auditory hallucinations, visual hallucinations, olfactory hallucinations, somatic hallucinations, tactile hallucinations, or gustatory hallucinations. Here are some of the causes of these hallucinations.

Causes of Auditory Hallucinations

Auditory hallucinations include hearing voices, noises, music and sounds that are not present in reality. A typical example of a person suffering from auditory hallucinations is that he will hear his name being called out, but when he looks about, no one will be there. Other than that, he will hear voices that speak about him, or give a running commentary. Some of these hallucinations causes are:

Schizophrenia
Schizophrenia is a mental disorder that is suffered by many and is a gradual decaying process of the human mind. People suffering from this have common symptoms of hallucinations, delusions and the like. A very common symptom of this disorder is to hear voices that are not really present. They could be of a man or woman and of someone from the past or present. It could be a single voice or many together, usually as conversations and comments that are negative in nature. For example, it could simply be a comment like 'You're sleeping' (in the third person) or 2-3 voices talking about the schizophrenic 'She's a horrible person' 'She stinks and is ugly' and several other negative connotations to that effect.

Depression
Depression is the feeling of extreme sadness and despair. These are different from the normal feelings of sadness that people experience, in the way that they do not pass. A depressed person does not want to carry out any of the normal activities of one's daily life and that results in his slipping into more and more of a cocoon, thus intensifying the feelings further. Depression is so intense that it interferes with the normal functioning of the human mind and renders itself to cause hallucinations.

Isolation
When a person is isolated and has no social connections, there is no outlet, there are no channels to make usage of the normal needs. The isolation and loneliness, often accompanied by fear can have a devastating effect on the person's mind and cause him to suffer from hallucinations.

Depression, schizophrenia, isolation and other mental disorders are some of the main causes of hallucinations in the elderly.

Causes of Visual Hallucinations

Visual hallucinations occur when a person begins to see things that are not there. It is a gradual process and might start with a patient seeing things in different shapes like shadows and patterns, flashes of light or objects. Though the most common perception is that of a human or animal, when they are not really there. The following are some of the hallucinations causes.

Delirium
This is a psychotic illness that leads to extreme disturbance of one's conscious mind and an acute diminishing of the person's ability to sustain attention. The mind 'plays tricks' on the person's consciousness and causes constant hallucinations.

Dementia
People suffering from dementia often see objects moving when they are still. They also visualize situations and conditions where people are present and are carrying forth complex activities. Therefore hallucinations are common and are usually taken as a definitive sign of dementia.

Other hallucination causes of the visual kind include - seizures, migraines, Anton's syndrome, Charles Bonnet Syndrome and tumors.

Other Hallucination Causes

Drugs and Alcohol
There are certain substance abuse drugs that blur the lines between consciousness and subconsciousness thereby causing hallucinations. So also consuming a high content of alcohol will also lead to the same effect. These drugs include marijuana, Ecstasy and LSD. The occurrence of hallucinations after taking these is common. One of the withdrawal symptoms of these drugs might also include hallucinations.

Exhaustion and Fatigue
When a person is extremely exhausted and fatigued, there remains a very slight connection between wakefulness and sleep. The brain is tired and cannot work at the best of its abilities, therefore it blurs the lines between what is real and what is imagined. The result being hallucinations. Exhaustion and fatigue are more common a cause of hallucinations than you would like to believe.

It is important to know the hallucinations causes, because it needs to be given immediate medical and psychological attention. Hallucinations can disrupt a person's life and prevent any normal activities from taking place. Therefore there have to be certain steps to tackle the same brought into the picture.