Causes of Organic Hallucinosis
The cause of hallucinosis can be all disorders characteristic of F06 heading. However, it is more often associated with a local lesion of the temporal, occipital, or parietal lobes of the brain as a result of traumatic brain injury, malformations, encephalitis, or epilepsy.
Symptoms of Organic Hallucinosis
Constant or recurring visual or auditory hallucinations occur with a clear consciousness. Usually auditory and visual hallucinations are true and are clearly localized at a specific point in space according to the type of Charles Bonet’s hallucinations. Tactile hallucinations may be subject, but they are also clearly localized. Elemental hallucinatory visual phenomena (photopsies) – circles, other simple geometric figures, auditory (akoasms) – humming, whistles, olfactory (parosmia) – usually an unpleasant smell are characteristic of epilepsy. Organic hallucinatory disorders may also include depersonalization and derealization phenomena. For example, experiencing changes in the shape of specific parts of the body (dysmorphsia), the shape or color of surrounding objects, experiencing an altered rate of time.
A secondary delusional treatment of hallucinatory phenomena is possible, but usually the criticism is preserved. An example of such a treatment is dermatozoan delirium. In psychopathology, a pronounced intellectual decline is absent, there is also no dominant mood disorder — mood changes are secondary to hallucinatory phenomena.
Diagnosis of Organic Hallucinosis
For diagnosis it is important to identify the organic causes of the disorder, as evidenced by data from CT and other objective methods of research, neuropsychological research. Psychopathological phenomena are stable, stereotypical and fixed in a particular place in space, consciousness is not altered, although hallucinatory phenomena may precede delirious or twilight episodes.
Differential diagnostics
Organic hallucinosis is often differentiated from hallucinatory phenomena as a result of the use of psychoactive substances, with hallucinatory manifestations in paranoid schizophrenia, with hallucinatory manifestations in chronic delusional disorders.
Hallucinatory phenomena as a result of the use of psychoactive substances appear more often on the background of an altered consciousness, drug history is important. Nevertheless, there are clinical cases when hallucinatory phenomena occur in patients with craniocerebral injuries against the background of abstinence, so even with a confirmed narcological history, organic causes should be excluded using objective research.
Hallucinatory phenomena in schizophrenia are more often related to pseudohallucinations and are projected into the subjective space. These auditory mutually exclusive, commenting, imperative hallucinations are combined with delusions of influence.
Hallucinatory experiences with chronic delusional disorders usually occur simultaneously with delusions, which, in fact, is the leading syndrome.
Treatment of Organic Hallucinosis
Depends on the underlying disorder. Haloperidol, triftazin are used, but in small doses. When paroxysmal nature of hallucinatory phenomena – finlepsin, carbamazepine or depakin. Sometimes hallucinatory phenomena weaken or disappear after treatment and diagnostic pneumoencephalography, resorptional therapy, in particular, courses of bioquinol, lidz, vitreous body.