To be wide awake yet to perceive sights, smells, sounds that do not exist- that is to hallucinate. This term is derived from Latin, and it means “ to wander in mind”.
Most people are familiar with the term of “hallucinations”. However, it is often mixed up with other somewhat similar phenomena: delusions and illusions. It is very important not to mix the three up, as they are, actually, different! While a hallucination is a perception of unreal things, an illusion is a real reaction to a real stimulus, with a misattributed cause. Take an optical illusion on the internet as an example, and how they make you think an image is moving when it is, in fact, completely still. A delusion is a real reaction to a real stimulus, however with an unreal or bizarre perception that leaves room for misconceptions and overthinking (Hence the utilization of the term “delulu” when turning small happenings into overly significant events or signs!).
There can be many causes of hallucinations. Some of these are sleep deprivation, drug use, mental illness etc. They also come in many shapes and forms, but the most common ones are either auditory or visual. Auditory means “hearing voices” and other freaky stuff as such, while the other implies seeing people, objects, animals that aren’t really there. This can occur through many weirder forms, too, like seeing certain objects as much bigger (macropsia), much smaller (micropsia) or misshapen and with an odd appearance (dysmegalopsia). People claim they see completely random and uncomfortable things, like insects crawling on their hands or on the faces of people they are talking to, seeing inanimate objects move, and many other bizarre stuff. What’s more, psychiatrists say that the hallucinations people have are somehow linked to their feelings, to the events taking place in their life that are affecting them, and that it all leads to the subconscious. That is why they are quite often met in literature and movies (especially dramatic or tragic stories), and an iconic example is, of course, none other than Shakespeare’s famous tragedy “Macbeth”. In the play, hallucinations appear when the protagonist sees ghosts and floating knives that represent the guilt he felt for his immoral acts. Although he simply thought he was going mad, these hallucinations were his own way of punishing himself subconsciously.
All in all, hallucinations are abstract sensory experiences that vary for each person that has them. They come in different ways, shapes and forms, are different in terms of intensity, and can overall be truly terrifying. This term is used when somebody is seeing, hearing, feeling or even tasting unreal things, and represents a whole spectrum of assumptions about its origins, causes and meanings. It’s all rather complicated; however, diagnosticians try to track their primary causes when treating their patients, and many studies are done regarding trauma, emotions and addictions. Understanding your own self is of the outmost importance, as you can develop coping strategies, and ways to help yourself undergo difficult moments. That is something all therapists consider important: coping as well as possible with one’s own emotions!
Bibliography:
50 Psychology Ideas you Really Need to Know- Adrian Furnham
Macbeth- William Shakespeare
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