WHAT IS HALLUCINATION AND HOW TO TREAT IT?

WHAT IS HALLUCINATION AND HOW TO TREAT IT?

IF YOU SEE, HEAR, SMELL, TASTE OR FEEL THINGS THAT ARE NOT REAL, THEN YOU’RE EXPERIENCING HALLUCINATIONS.

Hallucination is a symptom of an underlying mental condition or disorder. It can be rather frightening, but the cause can be identified by mental health physicians to prescribe the proper treatment. Hallucination is not a disease in itself but may be a manifestation of schizophrenia or Parkinson’s disease. Excessive use of drugs can also cause hallucination. To understand hallucination better, you need to know what happens when a person hallucinates, what triggers it, and how to deal with it.

WHAT HAPPENS WHEN YOU HALLUCINATE?  

Whenever you hallucinate, you experience the following:

You see things. In a visual hallucination, you see something that doesn’t exist such as a snake crawling right at you, or any other visualization that looks so real.

You hear voices. In an auditory hallucination, you hear voices “talking” inside or outside your mind. The voices may seem to be talking to you or each other. Usually, you would believe that the voices are telling you or asking you to do something.

You smell things. In an olfactory hallucination, you smell a scent or odor from around you or from your own body. In reality, there isn’t any.

You taste things. In a gustatory hallucination, you feel that the food and drinks you take have a peculiar taste even if they are perfectly healthy.

You feel things. In a tactile hallucination, you feel as if someone is tickling or touching you even when no one else is around. Sometimes, it may also be a feeling of insects crawling from underneath your skin. Or, it could be any other non-existent sensation.

HOW DO YOU TREAT HALLUCINATIONS?

You need to see your doctor if you are experiencing hallucinations. Your doctor will get as much information about your medical history, the medications you are taking, and the symptoms you’ve been feeling, including your hallucination experience. A physical exam will follow, and so will other diagnostic tests which may include an EEG or an MRI.  Once the test results have been completed, your doctor will corroborate these with all the other information and medical history at hand. Remember that your doctor will be treating not the hallucinations themselves, but the underlying conditions causing the hallucinations.