Hallucinations are surprisingly common and varied experiences

By Emma Young Many mentally well people experience hallucinations. An estimated 6 – 15% of us hear, see, feel or even smell things that aren’t real. But there has been little research into what those hallucinations are like — and how they might differ from those experienced by people with psychosis. Now Mascha M.J. Linszen at Utrecht University and her colleagues report the results of a large study of more than 10,000 people aged 14 to 88. The work, published in Schizophrenia, throws up a few surprises among a host of interesting findings. The team’s online survey was open to anyone aged over 14 who could understand enough Dutch to complete the questionnaires. In total, 10,448 participants (68.9% female) took part. The team’s first finding was that hallucinations were common. About 80% reported having hallucinated at least once in their lifetime. About half had hallucinated within the past month and 32% within the past week. Auditory hallucinations were most common, with about 30% of the respondents saying they had experienced them in the past month, followed by visual (21.5%), tactile (about 20%) and olfactory hallucinations (about 17%). Of course, the participants were self-selecting, and not gender-balanced, and people who had hallucinated may well have been more likely to take part. It’s also worth noting that the team did not gather medical histories, so some of the participants may have had a diagnosis of psychosis. For all these reasons, i...
Source: BPS RESEARCH DIGEST - Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Authors: Tags: Perception Source Type: blogs