Hallucinations auditory

Leg and foot cramps, hypertension, tachycardia, neuromuscular irritability, tremor, hyperactive deep tendon reflexes, confusion, disorientation, visual or auditory hallucinations, painful paresthesias, positive Trousseau s sign, positive Chvostek s sign, convulsions Hypermagnesemia... 

Auditory hallucinations. Voices repeating the person s thoughts and commenting on their actions. 

Alcohol hallucinosis refers to auditory hallucinations that occur during a clear sensorium, which distinguishes it from DTs, during which hallucinations are associated with a reduced clarity of awareness of the environment. Alcohol hallucinosis is generally treated with oral antipsychotics at usual therapeutic dosages for psychosis. 

Hallucinogen A drug that disturbs sensory perception. Visual hallucinations are the most common effect of the psychedelic drug LSD. In contrast, auditory hallucinations predominate in schizophrenia. 

Phencyclidine A dissociative anaesthetic that causes auditory hallucinations. 

Long-term amphetamine abuse results in many damaging effects, not least of which is addiction. Chronic abusers exhibit symptoms that can include violent behavior, anxiety, confusion, and insomnia. They also can display a number of psychotic features, including paranoia, auditory hallucinations, mood disturbances, and delusions (for example, the sensation of insects creeping on the skin). The paranoia can result in homicidal as well as suicidal thoughts. 

The positive symptoms are the most responsive to antipsychotic medications, such as chlorpromazine or halo-peridol. Initially, these drugs were thought to be specific for schizophrenia. However, psychosis is not unique to schizophrenia, and frequently occurs in bipolar disorder and in severe major depressive disorder in which paranoid delusions and auditory hallucinations are not uncommon (see Ch. 55). Furthermore, in spite of early hopes based on the efficacy of antipsychotic drugs in treating the positive symptoms, few patients are restored to their previous level of function with the typical antipsychotic medications [2]. 

One of the most prominent positive symptoms in schizophrenia is the auditory hallucinations that are perceived as distinct voices emanating from outside the individual. Regional cerebral-blood-flow studies in patients experiencing auditory hallucinations reveal activation of the associational auditory cortex during the episodes of hallucinations, but not in their absence. One theory holds that auditory hallucinations occur as a consequence of the inability of individuals with schizophrenia to monitor effectively their inner speech. fMRI studies suggest that... 

Controlled clinical investigations with careful titration of doses in normal subjects demonstrate that ketamine produces negative symptoms, such as withdrawal and the subtle cognitive impairments associated with schizophrenia [25]. As is the case for schizophrenia, these symptoms occur without clouding of consciousness or frank dementia. Positive symptoms with auditory hallucinations and fully... 

Emotional symptoms may include diminished ability to experience pleasure, loss of interest in usual activities, sadness, pessimistic outlook, crying spells, hopelessness, anxiety (present in almost 90% of depressed outpatients), feelings of guilt, and psychotic features (e.g., auditory hallucinations, delusions). 

Puffballs seem to usually produce only auditory hallucinations. L. marginatum found over much of Europe and America is active (1 or 2 constitutes a dose). 

The symptoms of schizophrenia are so foreign to most of us that it is difficult to appreciate their horror. Patients feel that they have lost control of their minds with thoughts being inserted into their brains. Their delusions are usually terrifying. The common auditory hallucinations are horrifically accusatory. Many psychiatrists characterize the entire adult lives of schizophrenics as a living death. The behavior of schizophrenics is so disruptive that fives of their parents and siblings are often devastated. Thus, whether calculated in terms of dollars lost to a country s economy or human suffering, schizophrenia may well rank as the number one mental illness. 

The term psychotomimetic was coined to compare the effects of hallucinogens to the symptoms of schizophrenia and other psychotic conditions. However, the effects produced by hallucinogens and mental illness are qualitatively different. While drug-induced hallucinations tend to be more visual, auditory hallucinations are most common in schizophrenia. The hallucinogenic drugs discussed here may induce positive symptoms (e.g., hallucinations), but do not induce the negative symptoms (e.g., cognitive deficits, social withdrawal) of schizophrenia. 

Delirium tremens (the D.T.s ) resulting from alcohol withdrawal is slightly different in that it is usually preceded by the shakes, convulsions and occasionally by alcoholic hallucinosis - characterized by accusatory auditory hallucinations. As observed 60 years ago by Maurice Victor, an expert on alcohol problems, delirium tremens usually does not appear until day 3 or 4 following abrupt withdrawal from alcohol. The patient is generally malnourished and grossly deficient in vitamin Bj (thiamine) as the result of a diet consisting of little but alcohol. This deficiency ftirther compromises mental function. 

There are two general classes of clinical characteristics of schizophrenia. First, there are the positive symptoms that include auditory hallucinations (voices) and delusions, often paranoid. Second, there are the negative symptoms these include disorganization, loss of will, inability to pay attention, social withdrawal, and flattening of affect. The relative roles of positive and negative symptoms for a particular victim vary over time. The positive symptoms may predominate for a period to be followed by one in which the negative symptoms are more prominent. About 10% of people with schizophrenia commit suicide. 

Mood Disorder with Psychotic Features. One subtype of major depression and many episodes of mania are associated with psychotic symptoms. Like schizophrenia, the most prominent psychotic symptoms of psychotic depression or mania are delusions and auditory hallucinations. Unless a longitudinal history is available, it is often difficult to distinguish schizophrenia from a psychotic mood disorder. 

Einally, patients with narcolepsy may experience very vivid visual or auditory hallucinations, called hypnagogic hallucinations, while falling asleep. Similar to sleep paralysis, hypnagogic hallucinations occasionally occur in the absence of narcolepsy, but the patient with narcolepsy may experience them several times a week. 

Four factors can help distinguish delirium from dementia. First, delirium usually has a rapid onset whereas dementia invariably has a gradual, often nearly imperceptible, onset and course. Second, delirium is marked by rapid fluctuations from clear, lucid thinking to confusion and agitation. These shifts may occur several times over the course of a single day. The cognitive decline of dementia does not fluctuate in this manner. Third, delirious patients are often stuporous and inattentive whereas those with dementia are alert but confused. Finally, visual and auditory hallucinations are common in delirium but less so in dementia. 

Fortunately, there are differences between delirium and psychotic illnesses. Delirious patients will more often experience visual or tactile as opposed to auditory hallucinations. In addition, they will often be disoriented that is, they cannot tell you where they are, what time it is, or who you are. By contrast, psychotic patients more commonly experience auditory hallucinations (i.e., they hear voices), and... 

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