Psychology
Mental health in Pakistan: stigma, faith and getting help
Mental illness is common in Pakistan and most people never get treatment. How stigma and beliefs shape help-seeking, and where to find help.
27 Sept 20267 min read
Hallucination
Pronounced huh-loo-sih-NAY-shun
Also known as Hallucinations, Hearing voices, Seeing things
Seeing, hearing, smelling, tasting or feeling something that seems completely real but exists only in the mind. Hearing voices is the most common kind.
In Psychology
A hallucination is a perception with nothing outside to cause it: hearing a voice when no one is there, seeing people or shapes, feeling touched, or smelling or tasting something that is not present. To the person it feels entirely real.
Not always mental illness
Hallucinations have many causes. Some are harmless, such as hearing a sound or your name as you drift off to sleep. Others come from fever, severe sleep loss, , drugs or alcohol, medicines, dementia, Parkinson's disease or failing eyesight. They are also a feature of , and severe mood illness.
Whether a family understands voices as illness, jinn or sehr, new hallucinations need a doctor's assessment as well — first to look for a physical cause, then to treat.
Where this comes up
Psychology
Schizophrenia and psychosis: signs, causes and treatment
Psychosis means losing touch with what is real; schizophrenia is one cause of it. Both are treatable, and the sooner treatment starts, the better recovery tends to be.
27 Sept 202610 min read
Related terms
- PsychosisPsychotic episode, Psychotic symptomsA state in which a person loses some contact with reality — hearing or seeing things others do not, or firmly believing things that are not true. It is a symptom with many causes, and it is treatable.
- DelusionDelusions, False beliefA firmly held belief that is clearly untrue, does not change with evidence and is not explained by the person's culture or religion — such as being certain one is being poisoned or followed.
- SchizophreniaA long-term mental illness that affects how a person thinks, perceives and feels, with periods of psychosis such as hearing voices or holding false beliefs. It is not a split personality.
- AntipsychoticAntipsychotics, NeurolepticMedicines that reduce psychotic symptoms such as hallucinations and delusions, mainly by blocking dopamine. They treat schizophrenia and mania, and are sometimes used for other conditions.