What causes hallucinations in mental illness?
In: Biology
Your brain consists of billions of cells called neurons. Neurons send signals to one another at high rates of speed via connections between them called synapses. Various chemicals (called neurotransmitters) are released at the synapse.
Abnormalities in the conduction of signals between synapses in various mental disorders can lead to hallucinations; and drugs can sometimes rebalance the types of neurotransmitters released at synapses, as well normalize signals sent and received by neurons.
Our brains contain all the “machinery” needed to produce the subjective experience of, for example, seeing a cat
The cat you see in your mind *is not the cat that actually exists*. What you see is a construct, something your mind has made up, albeit based on things like the light hitting your eyes. The cat might be accurately represented, but it is still a representation, not the cat itself
The inappropriate activation of this same machinery can lead one to “see” a cat even when no cat is present. Maybe someone hears a cat, sees some leaves blown in the wind, and their mind fills in the gaps as best it can and produces the illusion of seeing a cat. Maybe the person is simply obsessing about cats, and this bleeds through into the machinery of perception. In many cases it is not anything so obvious, and the factors that lead to a particular hallucination are in no way clear, but in all cases it comes back to the unintended/inappropriate activation of the same perceptual systems used in normal sensory perception
These same systems, used somewhat differently, are also what enable you to have a dream about a cat, or picture a cat sitting in front of you when there is in fact not one there
Your reality is entirely within your head. Your senses send signals to your brain, but your brain has to read and interpret these signals to build your surroundings. Its entirely possible for a variety of causes to make your brain wrongly interpret these signals or even create false signals that it processes as reality.
Latest Answers