Hallucinations are sensations that appear to be real but are created within the mind. Examples include seeing things that are not there, hearing voices or other sounds, experiencing body sensations like crawling feelings on the skin, or smelling odors that are not there. Hallucinations can be a feature of psychotic disorders such as schizophrenia and are also very common in drug-induced states and in drug withdrawal. This occurs with a number of different drugs. People who are seriously ill, such as those with liver failure or kidney failure, can experience hallucinations. High fevers can also produce hallucinations in some people. Hallucinations can accompany other psychotic symptoms such as delusions and disconnection from reality. They can be temporary or persist over the long term, depending upon the exact type of hallucinations and their cause.
REFERENCE:
Kasper, D.L., et al., eds. Harrison's Principles of Internal Medicine, 19th Ed. United States: McGraw-Hill Education, 2015.
Causes of Hallucinations
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Alcoholism
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Alzheimer's Disease
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Bipolar Disorder
Bipolar disorder (or manic depression) is a mental illness characterized by depression, mania, and severe mood swings. Treatment...
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Brain and Spinal Cord Tumors in Adults (Symptoms, Signs, Causes, Treatment Options, Life Expectancy)
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Brain Tumor (Symptoms, Signs, Types, Causes, Survival Rates)
A brain tumor can be either non-cancerous (benign) or cancerous (malignant), primary, or secondary. Common symptoms of a primary...
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Cocaine and Crack Abuse
Cocaine is an addictive stimulant that is smoked, snorted, and injected. Crack is cocaine that comes in a rock crystal that is...
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Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease
Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD) is a rare, degenerative, invariably fatal brain disorder. CJD generally appears in the later...
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Dementia
Dementia is defined as a significant loss of intellectual abilities such as memory capacity, severe enough to interfere with...
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Depression
Depression is an illness that involves the body, mood, and thoughts and affects the way a person eats and sleeps, the way one...
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Drug Abuse
Drug addiction is a chronic disease that causes drug-seeking behavior and drug use despite negative consequences to the user and...
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Fever
Although a fever technically is any body temperature above the normal of 98.6 F (37 C), in practice, a person is usually not...
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Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV)
The human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) causes HIV infection and the acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). Symptoms and signs...
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Huntington's Disease
Huntington's disease is the result of degeneration of neurons in areas of the brain. Huntington's disease is an inherited...
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Kidney Failure (Symptoms, Signs, Stages, Causes, Treatment, and Life Expectancy)
Kidney failure can occur from an acute event or a chronic condition or disease. Prerenal kidney failure is caused by blood loss,...
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Lewy Body Dementia (Dementia with Lewy Bodies)
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Marijuana (Cannabis)
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Naegleria fowleri
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Narcolepsy (Definition, Symptoms, Treatment, Medication)
Causes of narcolepsy, a chronic disease of the central nervous system, have not been fully determined. Some theories include...
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Parkinson's Disease
Parkinson's disease is a slowly progressive neurological disease characterized by a fixed inexpressive face, a tremor at rest,...
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Postpartum Depression
Postpartum depression is a form of depression that occurs within a year after delivery. It is thought that rapid hormone changes...
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Psychotic Disorders
Psychotic disorders are a group of serious illnesses that affect the mind. Different types of psychotic disorders include...
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Schizoaffective Disorder
Schizoaffective disorder is a mental illness that features schizophrenia and a mood disorder, either major depression or bipolar...
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Schizophrenia
Schizophrenia is a disabling brain disorder that may cause hallucinations and delusions and affect a person's ability to...
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Schizotypal Personality Disorder
Schizotypal personality disorder is characterized by odd behaviors, feelings, perceptions, and ways of relating to others that...
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Steroid Abuse
Anabolic steroids are synthetic substances that are related to testosterone and promote skeletal muscle growth and the...
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Stroke (Signs, Symptoms, Warning Signs)
A stroke is an interruption of the blood supply to part of the brain caused by either a blood clot (ischemic) or bleeding...
Other Causes of Hallucinations
- Brain Trauma
- Charles Bonnet Syndrome
- Delirium
- Delusional Disorder
- Drug-Induced Psychosis
- Liver Failure
- LSD Use
- Peduncular Hallucinosis
- Sleep Disturbances
- Temporal Lobe Epilepsy
- Toxins
Examples of Medications for Hallucinations
- aripiprazole (Abilify, Abilify Maintena, Aristrada)
- chlorpromazine - oral, Thorazine
- chlorpromazine-injection, Thorazine
- clozapine (Clozaril, Fazacio ODT, Versacloz)
- fluphenazine (Permitil, Prolixin)
- fluphenazine concentrate - oral, Prolixin
- fluphenazine liquid - oral, Prolixin
- haloperidol (Haldol)
- olanzapine, Zyprexa, Zydis, Zyprexa Relprevv
- quetiapine (Seroquel, Seroquel XR)
- risperidone, Risperdal; Risperdal Consta, Risperdal M-TAB
- thiothixene - oral, Navane
- ziprasidone (Geodon)