Symptom Breakdown: Tactile Hallucinations

Suggested Reading

Schizophrenia

---

Tactile hallucinations, also known as somatic or visceral hallucinations, are a perception of touch which is not consistent with reality. Tactile hallucinations include the feeling of movement under the skin, such as insects crawling under the skin, as well as the feeling of movement or touching on the surface of the skin (Kathirvel & Mortimer, 2013). These hallucinations have a high co-occurrence with olfactory hallucinations, and are much less common than either auditory or visual hallucinations in those experiencing schizophrenia. Individuals who experience childhood-onset schizophrenia are more likely than mid or late-onset sufferers to experience these hallucinations (Mueser et al., 1990).

Symptom Breakdown: Olfactory or Gustatory Hallucinations

Suggested Reading

Schizophrenia

---

Gustatory and olfactory hallucinations are experiences of tastes or smells which are not consistent with reality. This includes tastes or smells which are spontaneous, and not attached to an object, or experiencing an existing scent or taste as a different scent or taste. These two forms of hallucination are classed together because olfaction, better known as your sense of smell, is a main component of taste and so the two senses are highly entangled.

Symptom Breakdown: Auditory Hallucinations

Suggested Reading

Schizophrenia

Background of Mini-Review

Mini-Review

---

Auditory hallucinations are the most common form of hallucination for those suffering from schizophrenia. These hallucinations can come in the form of disembodied voices, environmental noises, or static noises. In general these kinds of hallucinations are categorized according to whether the hallucination is internal, it sounds like it’s inside the person’s head, or external, it sounds like it is outside of the person, and whether the hallucination is verbal or non-verbal.

Symptom Breakdown: Visual Hallucinations

Suggested Reading

Schizophrenia

---

Visual hallucinations are not a very common symptom of schizophrenia, occurring in only 35% of adult-onset cases. The rate of occurrence is much higher in child-onset cases of schizophrenia, with around 80% of child-onset patients experiencing them. The development of visual hallucinations indicates a more severe form of the illness, this explains the higher prevalence in child-onset cases which tend to be more severe and treatment resistant than adult-onset cases. Manifestations of this symptom are highly variable between individual sufferers but can, for example, take the form of partially or fully formed objects like humans or animals, visual distortions such as heat wave patterns, or light distortions such as flashing lights.