There are many different causes of hallucinations. Not all hallucinations are identical, and sometimes the type of hallucination can provide clues as to the cause of hallucinations. The type of hallucination can sometimes give you a clue as to the cause: They can be caused by illnesses such as schizophrenia, delirium, drug use, major depressive disorder and sometimes alcohol withdraw. Auditory hallucinations are the most common type of hallucinations. For example, an eardrum may vibrate in response to the sound of a bell, but it is understood by the brain to be the sound of a bell in the temporal lobe. An auditory hallucination is caused by the increased firing of dopamine, a hormone associated with alertness and cognition in the temporal lobe which is a part of the brain where signals carrying sound, originating from the eardrums are processed and given meaning. Auditory Hallucinations (hearing voices) – An auditory hallucination is when a person can hear sounds or voices which are not real. Hallucinations are classified as follows:ġ. It is important to identify the cause of a hallucination to initiate an appropriate treatment plan.

Careful history and evaluation as to the exact nature of the hallucination can provide clues to the cause. A hallucination can be caused by a variety of different illnesses such as schizophrenia and delirium, or by lesions such as a stroke or a tumor in the part of the brain associated with that particular sensation.

Hallucinations can mean seeing things (visual hallucinations, hearing voices (auditory hallucinations), feeling or smelling things (somatic hallucinations and olfactory hallucinations) which cannot be seen or detected by anything else. There are many different causes of hallucinations and many different types of hallucinations.

Auditory hallucinations causes