Hallucinations

Hallucinations are perceptions that have no connection to stimuli received by our sensory organs. Affected individuals may see, hear, smell, taste, or feel something that does not actually occur. These are delusions.

Similar experiences can happen to healthy people, but only under exceptional circumstances. A well-known example is the "mirage": exhausted and thirsty travelers in the desert suddenly see a palm tree, stream, or lake. They believe they are nearing an oasis, rush forward with their last strength, only to find it vanishes. This occurs during extreme exhaustion when someone intensely desires to experience what they long for.

Hallucinations are most often a pathological phenomenon. Individuals with mental illness frequently experience confusing sensations: they hear voices or someone speaking despite being alone, see things others deny, feel touches when nothing is present, smell odors or foul scents that don’t exist, or find normally seasoned food tasteless or strange. Such individuals cannot be convinced otherwise.

Based on these distorted and unreal experiences, mental illness develops. The individual believes their sensations are real and tries to interpret them. They may reason partially like a healthy person. For example, if they hallucinate their neighbor’s threatening voice, they become convinced the neighbor intends harm, leading them to plan a defense. They may stop talking to the neighbor, avoid them, and observe their behavior.

If hallucinations intensify, the individual interprets every real word or gesture based on the hallucinated voice. They may suddenly, without apparent reason, verbally or physically attack the neighbor. To those unaware of the individual’s thoughts, the outburst seems senseless. However, the person has constructed a different reality, and their aggression is a defense against a perceived attack.

Such hallucinations may occur continuously or intermittently. It is known that individuals with high fevers, especially children, experience illusions and hallucinations. These can be particularly vivid in children. Visions are hallucinations so intense that the individual feels transported to a special world. They may see scenes from stories, religious content, or other themes. Influenced by desire and imagination, they see and hear fairies, speak with saints, or feel present at an event. They reject any criticism.

Visions may relate to past or future events, and we also refer to them when someone vividly imagines achieving a goal or task. Some visionaries have had exceptional observational skills, a trait shared by many scholars and inventors.

Every culture has had its visionaries and prophets. Their mistakes are forgotten, but accurate predictions are remembered. Today, we still cannot fully explain these phenomena, which are studied by the field of parapsychology.