Schizophrenia is a serious mental disorder which is characterized with delusions and hallucinations. The symptoms of hallucinations are very exact. The condition begins with slight delusions which can turn into full blown hallucinations. A single patient can experience many different kinds of hallucinations like auditory hallucinations, tactile hallucinations and so on. With time, if proper care and medical treatment is not given, the schizophrenia can intensify and ultimately, the symptoms can become really unmanageable and difficult to live with.
Due to these hallucinations, a person is not able to tell the difference between reality and fiction. The person also becomes incapable of rational responses and thoughts. They may even be unable in putting their thoughts together logically. Hallucinations are considered a symptom which is important for the diagnosis of the condition as being schizophrenia. These hallucinations are associated with sights, sounds, smells and other stimuli that only the affected person can experience. Here are some of the most common hallucinations experienced by those who are suffering from schizophrenia.
Auditory Hallucinations
As suggested by its name, these kinds of hallucinations are those in which a person begins hearing non-existent voices and sounds. They may have entire episodes in which they become oblivious to the world around them, focusing only on the voices that only they can hear. These voices often incite panic and they can be both hostile and friendly. A lot of schizophrenics hear voices warning them of impending dangers. These voices may also order the patient to perform tasks or do things which the affected person would not normally do. The patient may spend hours, and sometimes even days, talking to these non-existent voices. If the voices in the hallucinations talk about the person’s behavior, the person may feel extremely pained and concerned. They may also have difficulty in reconciliation with their reality and their surroundings. Often, the patient begins to experience a lot of trauma.
Visual Hallucinations
Visual hallucinations are usually a step ahead of auditory hallucinations. These hallucinations almost always manifest themselves when a person is further along in the condition and when the condition is becoming more complicated. The person begins to see people and objects that do not really exist. The images may be completely clear, or may even be distorted. Sometimes, the patient may be really frightened or disturbed by the images that they see when they are hallucinating.
Tactile Hallucinations
There are some schizophrenics who experience these kinds of hallucinations. Tactile hallucinations are not very common and these occur only when the patient is at a stage of the disorder where it has really developed into a severe condition. These patient feel and experience sensations which are not really there. The patients feel that there are fingers that are touching them, even if the patient is completely alone. The patient may also feel electricity running through their body, making them feel extremely uncomfortable. In fact, the person may even be in a lot of pain due to these strange and often foreign sensations.
Olfactory Hallucinations
Olfactory hallucinations in schizophrenia are also as rare as tactile hallucinations. Most patients suffering from schizophrenia experience auditory and visual hallucinations. Olfactory hallucinations, as their name suggests, are hallucinations which involve having a smell which is not present in the environment. These odors can be both pleasant and unpleasant. However, most of the times the smell that the person smells, is extremely unpleasant. A lot of times, the person feels that the smell is coming from their own body. If they feel that the smell is very foul, it could lead to a lot of embarrassment to the patient. Eventually, the patient may avoid social contact just because they feel that they smell really bad.