Abstract

Reviews the literature on distinguishing psychopathic hallucinations from true ones. Since psychotics are often eager to ascribe their experiences to paranormal agents, and since content analysis of recurring particular features is inconsistent, it is concluded that each hallucination must be subjected to the rigors of individual validation. Some authors, however, note that certain features are more characteristic of one type of hallucination than the other. Veridical hallucinations are usually isolated events that occur unexpectedly, consist primarily of human figures that are part of the percipient's normal surroundings, and are recognized afterwards as subjective experiences. Psychotics, on the other hand, have hallucinations that are repetitive, often involving fanciful figures, and they are unable to distinguish them from waking reality. (55 ref)