Hallucinosis: Causes And Characteristics Of This Alteration
The brain is an extremely complex organ that is responsible for, among many other things, processing all sensory information, that is, controlling everything we perceive around us. But there are certain situations in which our brain plays with these perceptions, giving rise to the not very well known hallucinosis
People who suffer or have at some point suffered from these hallucinosis report experiencing a series of visual and/or auditory illusions.
Within this hallucinatory condition, hallucinosis is typical of non-psychiatric diseases, and refers to the state in which a person can experience hallucinations but be completely aware that what they perceive is not real.
The difference with the rest of hallucinations is that, in these cases, the person is able to perfectly discern that they are not real ; being completely capable of perceiving that something is not working correctly and, consequently, asking for help.
During an episode of hallucinosis, the patient is attentive and well oriented, and can even enter and exit this state with complete lucidity, being able to narrate in detail what he is perceiving in the hallucinosis at that precise moment.
Differences between hallucination, pseudohallucination and hallucinosis
In addition to being both auditory and visual, these three paintings have in common the fact that they appear in an external space and possess the properties of corporeality and objectivity typical of normal perceptions.
However, unlike hallucinations and pseudohallucinations, the person experiencing them is aware that it is a hallucination and therefore does not take long to ask for help
As for hallucinations and pseudohallucinations, these usually appear in psychiatric diseases such as schizophrenia or the manic phase of bipolar disorder.
However, hallucinosis is more typical of various diseases such as intoxication, consumption or deprivation of drugs and substances of abuse or the well-known alcoholic hallucinosis. All of them are explained below.
Causes
As detailed above, hallucinosis is not typical of psychiatric disorders, but rather occurs as a consequence of situations of alcohol, psychoactive substance or drug abuse; although it may also occur, exceptionally, in some brain disorder
1. Alcoholic hallucinosis
This type of hallucinosis consists of the perception of an object or phenomenon that is not present at that moment due to excessive alcohol consumption.
When this happens, the person realizes the deception that their mind is instilling in them and can associate it as something caused by their condition.
The most typical cause of this symptom It is related to the sudden elimination of excessive alcohol habits so it is common for these hallucinosis to be experienced during the withdrawal syndrome.
Patients who manifest this type of hallucinosis caused by alcohol must be treated urgently to try to control the symptoms, since if they do not receive adequate treatment immediately it can worsen; thus becoming delirium tremens.
This syndrome is characterized by being a serious condition that includes dehydration, fever, visual and auditory hallucinations and which can even lead to death due to acute poisoning.
Among all the harmful effects that the use and abuse of drugs and psychotropic drugs has on both the body and the brain, hallucinosis is one of the most common.
The most common hallucinogenic drugs are:
Ecstasy, psilocybin and mescaline are made from certain species of hallucinogenic mushrooms and cacti, while LSD is obtained by synthesizing ergoline and tryptamines in a laboratory context; This being much more powerful than any of the previous ones.
3. Brain disorders
There are certain brain diseases whose manifestations include episodes of hallucinosis. These disorders can be neurological, genetic, or caused by brain injuries or tumors. These symptoms vary greatly depending on the patient and the severity of the disease.
Charles Bonnet syndrome or organic hallucinosis
One of the cases in which hallucinosis has an organic cause is Charles Bonnet Syndrome, which is why it is also known as organic hallucinosis. This name comes from the fact that there is something measurable, weighable or quantifiable that causes this disease.
Charles Bonnet Syndrome is a disease associated with people who suffer from visual loss In these specific cases, patients also present complex visual hallucinations.
This disorder affects people who are mentally healthy but suffer from significant vision loss. These patients recurrently experience visual, vivid and complex hallucinations, the peculiarity of which is that the characters or objects perceived are smaller than usual
Since they are hallucinosis and not hallucinations, those who suffer from them know perfectly well that they are not real, and since they are purely visual, they do not affect any other senses.
Those who suffer from Charles Bonnet Syndrome may perceive a wide variety of hallucinations. From the most common, such as complex colored patterns and people even animals, plants and animated objects.
Charles Bonnet Syndrome is associated with lesions of any segment of the visual pathway, and is generally caused by age-related macular degeneration (AMD) and large visual field defects. These hallucinations generally stop when the patient makes some eye movement.
