Hallucination
From Simple English Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
A hallucination is when a person sees an image or hears a sound that is not really there. People usually experience hallucinations due to taking illegal drugs, or due to a mental illness.
Contents |
[edit] What are the different types of hallucinations?
Hallucinations can affect all of a person's senses. People with the mental illness of schizophrenia may hear sounds or voices that are not really there. People with mental illnesses may also have hallucinations in which they see a person or thing which is not really there. People are less likely to have hallucinations in which they smell or touch something that is not really there.
[edit] What are the causes of hallucinations?
[edit] Illnesses
[edit] Mental illness
People with mental illnesses such as Psychosis or Schizophrenia may see or hear things that are not really there. This can be very scary for the person having the hallucination. As well, it can be dangerous, because the person who is having the hallucination may do something dangerous. For example, if a person with schizophrenia is driving and they have a hallucination, they might hurt themselves in a car crash.
[edit] Diseases or illnesses
Some diseases such as brain disorders or infections may cause a person to have hallucinations. As well, an alcoholic (person who is addicted to alcohol) who stops drinking alcohol suddenly may experience a type of hallucinations called delerium tremens (or "DT's"). Some people have hallucinations if they do not sleep for a number of days, or if they do not eat for a number of days.
[edit] Chemicals or drugs
Some people have hallucinations because they purposefully or accidentally put chemicals or drugs into their bodies.
[edit] Illegal drugs
Some people use illegal drugs that cause vivid (strong) hallucinations, such as LSD ("acid") and PCP ("angel dust"). Many illegal drugs will cause hallucinations if very large doses are taken, such as cocaine, heroin, crystal meth and hashish.
[edit] Legal drugs
Some legal drugs that dentists, doctors, or surgeons use cause hallucinations. The dentists, doctors, and surgeons use drugs called anaesthetics to make people not feel pain, and to make people become unconscious. The main effects (result) of these drugs are that they make the patient not feel pain, and become unconscious. But the drugs also have some other additional effects, which are called "side effects," such as nausea (feeling sick) and hallucinations.
Many dentists use an anaesthetic (stops you from feeling pain) called nitrous oxide ("laughing gas"). Inhaling large quantities of nitrous oxide can cause people to have hallucinations. Doctors and surgeons use many types of anaesthetic gases so that patients who are being operated become unconscious. When a person inhales anaesthetic gases, they may have hallucinations for several minutes, until they become unconscious.
[edit] Accidental poisoning
Some adults accidentally swallow a poisonous chemical, it is in a bottle has the wrong label. In some cases, children swallow a poisonous chemical because they think that it is a food product or a drink. Some dangerous, poisonous chemicals which can make people very sick or even kill them also cause hallucinations.
