Pseudohallucination
A pseudohallucination is an involuntary sensory experience vivid enough to be regarded as a hallucination, but recognised by the patient not to be the result of external stimuli. In other words, it is a hallucination that is recognized as a hallucination, as opposed to a "normal" hallucination which would be perceived as real. An example used in psychiatry is the hearing of voices which are inside the head according to the patient; in contrast, a hallucination would be indistinguishable to the patient from a real external stimulus, e.g. people were talking about me.
The term is not widely used in the psychiatric and medical fields, as it is considered ambiguous.[1] The term "nonpsychotic hallucination" is more preferred.[2] Pseudohallucinations, then, are more likely to happen with a hallucinogenic drug. Thus, when one speaks of hallucinating when under the influence of such a drug (excluding deliriants), they are probably referring to pseudohallucinations.
Notes
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<references />, or <references group="..." />- ↑ Berrios G.E. and Dening T.R. (1996) Pseudohallucinations: a conceptual history. Psychological Medicine 26: 753-763
- ↑ Pseudohallucinations: a pseudoconcept?
