What are auditory hallucinations?
Auditory hallucinations happen when you hear voices or noises that aren’t there. The sounds you hear may seem real, but they’re not.
A person may perceive auditory hallucinations as coming through their ears, on the surface of their body, in their mind or from anywhere in the space around them. They can occur as frequently as daily or as an isolated episode.
Auditory hallucinations are often associated with schizophrenia and other mental health conditions, but they can happen for several other reasons, such as hearing loss, and aren’t always a sign of a mental health condition.
Researchers estimate that 5% to 28% of people in the United States experience auditory hallucinations. They’re the most common type of hallucination.
Some people experience auditory hypnogogic hallucinations that specifically take place as they’re falling asleep. These types of hallucinations are common and usually not a cause for concern.
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What are the types of auditory hallucinations?
The two main types of auditory hallucinations are verbal (hearing voices) and hearing sounds or noises.
Auditory verbal hallucinations (hearing voices)
An auditory verbal hallucination is the phenomenon of hearing voices in the absence of any speaker.
The experience of hearing voices can vary greatly from person to person and even for the same person. They can vary in how often you hear them, what they sound like, what they say and whether they’re familiar or unfamiliar.
The voices may come from a single source, such as a television, or multiple sources. It may be a singular voice or multiple voices. They may talk directly to the person, have discussions with them or describe events taking place.
The voices may be positive, negative or neutral. Sometimes, hearing voices can be upsetting or distressing. They may command you to do something that may cause harm to yourself or others.
Auditory verbal hallucinations most commonly affect people with schizophrenia and/or post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), but they can happen to people who don’t have any health conditions.
Hearing sounds or noises
Auditory hallucinations can take the form of hearing sounds or noises, such as music, animal calls, nature sounds or background noises. They may seem like they’re coming from anywhere in the space around you or in your mind. The noise volume can vary from very quiet to very loud.
Is it normal to hear auditory hallucinations?
If you experience auditory hallucinations just as you’re falling asleep (hypnogogic hallucinations) or waking up (hypnopompic hallucinations), it’s considered normal and usually not a cause for concern. Up to 70% of people experience these types of hallucinations at least once.
If you experience auditory hallucinations while you’re wide awake, it may be — but isn’t always— a symptom of a mental health or neurological condition. Talk to your healthcare provider about the hallucinations and any other symptoms you have.
FAQs
They are commonly experienced by those with psychiatric disorders and can be seen in up to 75% of people with schizophrenia. It is also caused by brain tumors, common types of street drugs (e.g., MDMA, LSD), alcohol use, and epilepsy. Auditory hallucinations may also be experienced when falling asleep or waking.
What are auditory hallucinations caused by? ›
They are commonly experienced by those with psychiatric disorders and can be seen in up to 75% of people with schizophrenia. It is also caused by brain tumors, common types of street drugs (e.g., MDMA, LSD), alcohol use, and epilepsy. Auditory hallucinations may also be experienced when falling asleep or waking.
What is the best treatment for auditory hallucinations? ›
Medications to manage auditory hallucinations
The antipsychotic medication clozapine (Clozaril®) is the most effective option for treating symptoms of schizophrenia, including hallucinations, but it can cause dangerous side effects that affect your blood.
How do you fight auditory hallucinations? ›
Distract yourself from your voices
- Focus on what's around you. Try listing 5 things you can see, 4 things you can touch, 3 things you can hear, 2 things you can smell and 1 thing you can taste.
- Focus on your breath. ...
- Do activities or tasks to distract yourself. ...
- Listen to other things. ...
- Use a grounding object.
Often, auditory hallucinations present as voices that comment on or criticize the behavior of the patient. Such verbal auditory hallucinations are defined as vocal perceptions in the absence of the corresponding, appropriate external stimulus.
What happens in the brain during auditory hallucinations? ›
Auditory hallucinations are among the most common symptoms in schizophrenia, affecting more than 70% of the patients. We here advance the hypothesis that auditory hallucinations are internally generated speech perceptions that are lateralized to the left temporal lobe, in the peri-Sylvian region.
What medications can cause auditory hallucinations? ›
A number of psychiatric medications such as olanzapine (Zyprexa), quetiapine (Seroquel), and haloperidol (Haldol) have all been associated with causing hallucinations, in addition to zolpidem (Ambien), eszopiclone (Lunesta), clonazepam (Klonopin), lorazepam (Ativan), ropinirole (Requip), and some seizure medications.
How bad can auditory hallucinations get? ›
Some auditory hallucinations can have dangerous complications. They can command an individual to hurt others or result in death by suicide. With this in mind, it is important to get help before such complications occur.
What mental illness has auditory hallucinations? ›
Auditory hallucinations are the sensory perceptions of hearing noises without an external stimulus. This symptom is particularly associated with schizophrenia and related psychotic disorders but is not specific to it.
What are the three auditory hallucinations? ›
There are three main categories into which the hearing of talking voices often fall: a person hearing a voice speak one's thoughts, a person hearing one or more voices arguing, or a person hearing a voice narrating their own actions. These three categories do not account for all types of auditory hallucinations.
ANTIPSYCHOTICS. Antipsychotic agents are the first-line treatment for patients with schizophrenia. There are two general types of antipsychotic drugs: first-generation (typical) and second-generation (atypical) agents.
What is the cure for eliminating auditory hallucinations? ›
A combination of treatment methods, including medication, psychotherapy, and detoxification/rehabilitation (if substance-related), is usually the most effective approach to managing auditory hallucinations.
What is the exercise for auditory hallucinations? ›
One person stands behind the other who should be sitting. The person standing is instructed to lean over and continually whisper something in the person's ear (such as a nonsense rhyme) and to interject it with comments about the person to whom they are speaking.
Which disorder is most commonly associated with auditory hallucinations? ›
Schizophrenia. The IPSS estimated that 70% of schizophrenia patients experienced hallucinations. [2] The most common hallucinations in schizophrenia are auditory, followed by visual. Tactile, olfactory and gustatory are reported less frequently [Table 1].
What do auditory hallucinations usually say? ›
Voices can talk about very personal matters, which can be quite frightening. Often, other sounds like music, animal calls and the telephone ringing can be heard. These may be experienced as coming from anywhere in external space or 'in the mind'.
Do auditory hallucinations ever go away? ›
Sometimes, once you and your doctor solve that problem, the hallucinations go away, or at least may not happen as much. In some cases, there's an easy solution. Your doctor may lower the dose of a medicine you take. In others, treatment is more complex, and you may need to try several things to see what works.
Can auditory hallucinations be triggered? ›
The earlier stages of the generation of hallucinations may prove more accessible to research. Cognitions have been reported by patients as a trigger of auditory hallucinations, but the role of these preceding thoughts has not been causally determined.
Can auditory hallucinations be caused by anxiety? ›
A study in the January 2016 edition of the journal Consciousness and Cognition documented a connection between anxiety and auditory hallucinations. This study noted that anxiety may cause verbal hallucinations (this is the subset of auditory hallucinations that involves hearing voices).
Can you hear voices and not be schizophrenic? ›
Abstract. Hearing voices (i.e. auditory verbal hallucinations) is mainly known as part of schizophrenia and other psychotic disorders. However, hearing voices is a symptom that can occur in many psychiatric, neurological and general medical conditions.
