Hallucinations

A mildly chronological overview of the philosophers who may have been inspired by the use of psychoactive chemicals, inc. Plato, de Quincey, Davy, Schopenhauer, Nietzsche, James, Bergson, Benjamin, Jünger, Paz, Marcuse, Sartre, Foucault; and a mention of the Outsight project.

This article was based on a talk given for the University of Exeter Philosophy Society (video: https://youtu.be/X2eY4n37FC0) and at the ICPR2016 conference. It was published in the popular HighExistence magazine on August 2nd 2016, and has received over 90 000 social media shares (http://highexistence.com/hidden-psychedelic-influence-philosophy-plato-nietzsche-psychonauts-thoughts).

Reference:
Sjöstedt-H, P. 'The Psychedelic Influence on Philosophy', HighExistence.com (2nd-08-2016)

This is a collection of 500 contemporary fairy experiences: most from the English-speaking world. The pdf is 400 pages long: about 160,000 words. The experiences date from the 1920s to the 2010s and respondents were aged from three-years old to ninety  when they believe that they encountered fairies. It is hoped that the collection will allow for further studies of the supernatural and of supernatural experiences both by the editor and others. A second phase of collection is now underway.

Auditory verbal hallucinations (AVH) are prevalent experiences that can induce distress and impede social functioning. While most voice hearers benefit from antipsychotic medication or cognitive-behavioural therapy, additional effective interventions are needed to reduce the burden of experiencing AVH. 'Temstem' is an easily accessible and useable smartphone application that was developed by designers in close cooperation with voice hearers and experts. By using language games, Temstem aims to reduce distress and improve social functioning. This is a single-blind multicentre randomised controlled trial with two arms: 'Temstem+AVH monitoring' versus 'AVH monitoring' (total n=100). Participants are adult patients who suffer daily from AVH and will be recruited in outpatient units. Primary assessment in daily life is made by the Experience Sampling Method (ESM) and daily monitoring with the PsyMate app. During an ESM period of 6 days, participants assess their m...

The Roman Circle of Psychopathology (Italy) This study is a preliminary theoretical discussion of possible specifi cities of AVHs (Auditory Verbal Hallucinations) in PTSD patients, based on the analysis of classic psychopathological literature enriched by personal clinical experience. AVHs have been extensively studied in empirical research, in diff erent clinical and non-clinical samples. Most of these studies do not show signifi cant diff erences, implicitly suggesting that AVHs are a unique "object" which is present in a wide array of clinical and non-clinical conditions. We claim that this is due to the instruments used to measure the phenomenon, and that a more qualitative study is needed to unveil possible diff erences. Accordingly, in this paper we focus on AVHs in persons with psychotraumatic reactions and, to highlight distinctions among apparently similar phenomena, we suggest considering AVHs not as fi xed, isolated object, but as the articulation of a dynamic, fi gure-background relationship. In patients with PTSD we found at least four diff erent kinds of AVHs: a) AVHs in typical post-traumatic fl ashbacks. In most cases of PTSD, AVHs appear within dissociative states of consciousness, such as fl ashbacks that represent one of the consequences of how the traumatic experience aff ects and modifi es the subject's experience. b) AVHs in post-traumatic fl ashbacks with "double-reality". AVHs, as well as other symptoms with a reliving character, can also be inscribed in brief experiences of dissociation such as depersonalization and derealization. c) AVHs in post-traumatic depression. AVHs are the external projection of the depressive guilt experienced by the patient. In these cases, AVHs are mood congruent, understandably derivable from guilt ideas, and represent the external personifi cation of what the patient thinks. d) "Schizophrenic-like" AVHs. AVHs occur in unaltered state of consciousness and they do not represent well-detailed personalities from the patient's past. Rather, they are vague, impersonal and allusive, as it is often the case with schizophrenic voices.

We report a case of recurrent psychosis, spanning decades, with full inter-episode recovery and minimal functional impairment. While it is difficult to classify this disorder using DSM IV-TR criteria, Leonhard and others have described a 'cycloid psychosis' that correlates well with the phenomenology and course of this case. We believe this may represent a subset within the ICD-10 category of 'acute and transient psychotic disorders'. While this disorder, of unknown incidence, is not well reported in the U.S., it is worthy of further investigation and clinical attention given its generally favorable prognosis and potentially distinct pathophysiology and treatment.

ALIUS is an international and interdisciplinary research group dedicated to the investigation of all aspects of consciousness, with a specific focus on non-ordinary or understudied conscious states traditionally classified as altered states of consciousness. The group fosters a unique interdisciplinary collaboration of researchers, involving neuroscientists, psychologists, philosophers of mind, psychiatrists and anthropologists, towards the development of a systematic and scientific model of consciousness supported by both theoretical work and experimental studies. This interdisciplinarity also aims to facilitate the investigation of consciousness states at different scales, at different levels of analysis, and with different methodologies. Neuroscientific, philosophical and anthropological approaches to the study of hallucinations, for example, are likely to be mutually informative.
However, this plurality of approaches has been a source of criticism between disciplines. While neuroscience is often deemed reductionist, anthropology is sometimes taken to be unduly relativist, and philosophy is routinely suspected of being disconnected from empirical research. Our position is conciliatory rather than antagonistic: we see disciplinary diversity as a resource in the collective effort to achieve a scientific understanding of consciousness. Nonetheless, this interdisciplinarity raises important questions: which methodological approaches allow for a fruitful dialogue between disciplines in the investigation of consciousness?
This question is the starting point of this workshop, which will present recent developments on methodological issues in consciousness research across disciplines. This event is intended first and foremost as a collective reflection on the methods used by ALIUS researchers, in order to understand their strengths and limitations.
The workshop revolves around three axes, each of which will be discussed over half a day. The first session, coordinated by Matthieu Koroma (ENS-IJN), will focus on how studying the diversity of conscious states questions dominant paradigms in neuroscience of consciousness. The second session, coordinated by David Dupuis (Durham University), will provide a reflection on the contribution of field survey methods as they are conducted in social anthropology in the study of consciousness. Finally, the third session, coordinated by Raphael Millière (University of Oxford), will discuss new methodological development bridging first-person and third-person approaches to the scientific study of consciousness.

More information on: www.aliusresearch.org/events

Recent literature emphasizes that recovery from schizophrenia involves recovery within one's own narrative of an integral sense of identity, agency, social connection, and worth. While this is intuitively appealing and consistent with a wide range of literature, it raises the issue of how to best help people do this in individual psychotherapy. In this article, we explore how psychotherapy might help people construct new narratives or storied understandings of their lives and thereby promote recovery from schizophrenia. Exemplified with two individual examples, we first discuss the barriers that challenge and the techniques that help psychotherapists seeking to enter into dialogue with people with severe mental illness. We also offer a theoretical model of how the revitalization of dialogues within therapy can be conceptualized as a process that promotes recovery and discuss the objective measurement of such outcomes.

Altered states of consciousness (ASC) can be represented in video games through appropriate use of sound and computer graphics. Our research seeks to establish systematic methods for simulating ASC using computer sound and graphics, to improve the realism of ASC representations in video game engines. Quake Delirium is a prototype ‘ASC Simulation’ that we have created by modifying the video game Quake. Through automation of various graphical parameters that represent the conscious state of the game character, hallucinatory ASC are represented. While the initial version of Quake Delirium utilised a pre-determined automation path to produce these changes, we propose that immersion may be improved by providing the user with a ‘passive’ method of control, using a brain-computer interface (BCI). In this initial trial, we explore the use of a consumer-grade electroencephalograph (EEG) headset for this purpose. Keywords—Altered States of Consciousness; Video Games; Brain-Computer Interface ...

Corticosteroids are widely used in modern medicine but can result in troubling psychiatric side-effects. Physicians and other medical professionals should be aware of the potential for these side-effects, possible means of prevention, and efficacious treatments. Herein, we review adult case report data published during the past quarter-century on adverse corticosteroid-induced psychiatric effects, and present a case of corticosteroid-induced psychotic depression. PubMed and PsychLit databases were searched using the terms 'corticosteroids', 'steroids', and the generic names of corticosteroid medications with terms for psychiatric symptoms or syndromes, including psychosis, mania, hypomania, depression, apathy, anxiety, panic, depersonalization, delirium, confusion, hallucinations, delusions, paranoia, cognitive impairment and dementia. Fifty-five cases and a number of clinical trials investigating the incidence and treatment of these psychiatric symptoms and syndrome...

Cognitive-behavioural therapy has been shown to be effective in reducing psychotic symptoms, but few patients have access to these services. Group cognitive treatment may provide a less costly service with similar benefits. To explore the effectiveness of group cognitive-behavioural therapy on insight and symptoms, particularly auditory hallucinations. Twenty-one DSM-IV diagnosed patients with schizophrenia with treatment-resistant, distressing auditory hallucinations were referred to a group programme consisting of six sessions of cognitive treatment following a strict protocol which emphasised individual power and control as well as coping strategies. There were significant changes in all three main outcome measures following treatment; those changes were maintained at follow-up and were greater than changes over the waiting-list period. Specifically, there were changes in perceived power and distress as well as increases in the number and effectiveness of the coping strategies. Group treatment for auditory hallucinations needs further investigation but does look promising and may provide a less costly alternative to individual cognitive treatment.

Background/objectivesMany people with schizophrenia face stigmatisation. Several methods have been produced to simulate the auditory and visual hallucinations experienced by people with schizophrenia in order to increase empathy and understanding about the condition. However, there has been no review of such methods. This systematic review aims to determine whether and how simulated hallucinations are effective in reducing stigma, and if

This article posits that the DSM-5 and its psychiatric diagnoses are a monumental artifact of social power rather than a useful system for naming, describing, classifying, or understanding mental disorders. Two biographic documentaries, Crumb and Jupiter's Wife, are examined as alternative information about people with severe mental, behavioral, and emotional disturbances, which ordinarily would be diagnosed as schizophrenia or a related psychotic disorder. In contrast to the disease processes implied by psychiatric diagnoses, these detailed documentaries revealed particular social (e.g., lack of positive role models, bullying), environmental (e.g., poverty, homelessness), and historical (e.g., child abuse, failure in school) factors that might have brought about the individual's personal problems. Seeing people in the actual places where they live and hearing about their struggles first-hand can evoke sympathy and empathy in viewers, potentially freeing them from the technical abstractions and pathological attributions inherent in psychiatric diagnoses.

Altered states of consciousness (ASC) induced by meditation, psychedelic drugs, or impending death are quite a fascinating but challenging field of investigation.

By proposing an original model for hallucinations as a breakthrough, we develop a whole new theoretical framework centered on perception to interpret ASC.

At the meantime, we discover the correlation between Buddhism and ASC. Thereupon we introduce time dimension and reveal the science behind Buddhism.

Ziconotide is a nonopioid analgesic currently indicated as monotherapy, but frequently used in combination with opioids, for the management of severe chronic pain in patients for whom intrathecal (IT) therapy is warranted and who are intolerant of, or whose pain is, refractory to other treatments. There is a paucity of information regarding ziconotide use in patients with complex regional pain syndrome (CRPS). Seven cases in which IT ziconotide was used in patients with CRPS were analyzed. All patients (4 male, 3 female; age range, 14 to 52 years) had experienced inadequate pain relief with multiple conventional and interventional treatments. Three patients received ziconotide monotherapy exclusively; 4 patients received ziconotide monotherapy initially, then combination IT therapy. The mean ziconotide dose was 5.2 mcg/d (range, 0.5 to 13 mcg/d) at initiation and 24.7 mcg/d (range, 0.06 to 146 mcg/d) at the last available assessment. The mean duration of ziconotide therapy was 3.1 years (range, 26 days to 8 years). At ziconotide initiation, the mean visual analog scale (VAS) score was 89.3 mm (range, 75 to 100 mm); VAS scores decreased by a mean of 47.5% (range, 5% to 100%) at last assessment. Of the 5 patients who experienced substantial improvement in pain, edema, skin abnormalities, and/or mobility with ziconotide therapy, 2 have discontinued ziconotide and are pain free. Another patient experienced marked reversal of both edema and advanced skin trophic changes. Adverse events included urinary retention, depression, anxiety, and hallucinations. Adverse events generally resolved spontaneously, with treatment, or with ziconotide discontinuation/dose reduction. Although further studies are required, ziconotide holds promise as an effective treatment for CRPS.

URL : http://revueties.org/document/index.php?/ties/la-voix-dans-tous-ses-etats/660-polyphonie-litteraire-et-imaginaires-de-la-voix-spectrale-chez-fedor-dostoievski

Cet article a pour but de replacer la poétique de la polyphonie, propre à l'oeuvre de Fédor Dostoïevski, dans une histoire culturelle du XIX e siècle. Il s'agit donc de considérer dans cette oeuvre la superposition de plusieurs imaginaires de la voix. Chez l'écrivain russe contemporain de l'invention du phonographe, les voix présentent souvent un aspect fantomatique et spectral que met particulièrement en évidence l'étude du récit Bobok (1873). Publié en amont des théories de Mikhaïl Bakhtine sur la pluralité des voix, ce texte permet de souligner la transversalité du motif des hallucinations auditives chez Dostoïevski. La reprise des théories spirites dans le récit peut nous apparaître enfin comme une réponse ironique aux accusations de folie dont Dostoïevski lui-même commence à faire les frais dès les années 1870. Cette réponse fictionnelle aux attaques du journal La Voix se double d'une critique des nouvelles conditions médiatiques dans lesquelles Dostoïevski produit son oeuvre en général. Avant même l'invention du phonographe, la voix spectrale devient une allégorie du mot imprimé et le signe d'une entrée définitive de la littérature russe dans l'ère médiatique. ABSTRACT. This article aims to situate Fyodor Dostoevsky's poetics of polyphony in the historical perspective of cultural evolutions during the nineteenth century. It is therefore necessary to consider the coexistence of different "imaginations of voice" in Dostoevsky's work. Like his contemporary Thomas Edison, the inventor of the phonograph, Dostoevsky creates voices that are endowed with a ghostly and spectral aspect, which is particularly highlighted in the study of his short story entitled Bobok (1873). Published before Mikhail Bakhtin had considered the plurality of voices in Dostoyevsky's work, this text emphasizes the transversality of auditory hallucinations in his novels. The fictionalization of spiritualist theories in the narrative can therefore appear as an ironic answer to the accusations of madness that the author was the victim of in the early 1870s. His fictional response to the attacks of the liberal newspaper "The Voice" came along with a critique of the new conditions in which Dostoevsky had to produce his work at the age of media. Even before the invention of the phonograph, the spectral voice thus had become an allegory of the printed word and the sign of the definitive entry of Russian literature into the era of the media.. MOTS-CLÉS : Dostoïevski, polyphonie, hallucination auditive, voix spectrale, spiritisme, média

In the Cartesian tradition, hallucination reveals that what we take to be direct experiences of the world are in fact mere appearances: appearances which give only mediate and unreliable testimony to reality. If hallucination can pass itself off as perception – if we can be deceived by hallucinations – then it is always possible that our perceptions are false. Thus, if we wish to have knowledge of the world, we must transition to a different register: that of reason and judgment. In this classical analysis, abnormal perception functions to show the deficit of normal perception. As is well known, Merleau-Ponty's analysis of hallucination differs from this classical analysis in crucial respects. Not only does Merleau-Ponty argue that hallucination differs structurally from perception and that the hallucinating subject does in fact distinguish between her hallucinations and her perceptions, but he uses his analysis of hallucination to confirm his account of the bond between perception and the world. It is Merleau-Ponty's analysis of hallucination that leads him to his first sustained account of perceptual faith in Phenomenology of Perception. Here, abnormality is conceived not as demonstrating the deficits of normal perception, but as confirming its claims. In this paper, I will try to show how this analysis is possible.

Altered states of consciousness (ASC) induced by meditation, psychedelic drugs, or impending death are quite a fascinating but challenging field of investigation. By proposing an original model for hallucinations as a breakthrough, we develop a whole new theoretical framework centered on perception to interpret ASC. At the meantime, we discover the correlation between Buddhism and ASC. Thereupon we introduce time dimension and reveal the science behind Buddhism.

Our study starts from summarizing four essential phenomena (hallucinations, mystical experiences, enhanced awareness and paranormal phenomena) in ASC.

Firstly, we develop a unique model to interpret hallucinations which are extremely miraculous and perplexing in ASC: When false internal stimulations and external objective stimulations affect perception together, the changes in their relative strength will result in the consistence, breakdown and re-consistence of the five senses, leading to three basic states of hallucinations (one can distinguish reality from illusion, one cannot distinguish reality from illusion, and reality and illusion are totally reversed). As an inference of this model, the inconsistence of the five senses can explain various marvelous hallucinations in ASC in combination with the amplifying function of enhanced awareness discussed later. Moreover, it can also explain the mechanisms of out-of-body experiences (resulting from the inconsistence of vision and touching) and synesthesia (resulting from the mismatch of the two pairs of five senses) well.

Secondly, we point out that mystical experiences occur in Samadhi. From a psychological perspective, we argue that the essence of Samadhi is perception shutting down to activate a new mode of apperceiving, one totally different from the usual five sense mode of perception. That’s why one feels that everything in daily life disappears and he and the universe assimilate each other in Samadhi. Hallucinations also disappear in Samadhi because perception shuts down.

Thirdly, enhanced awareness is emphasized in ASC and explained by a perception-filtering hypothesis: In ordinary conditions, perception has a natural threshold for its sensitivity for the purpose of biological survival; but in ASC, awareness becomes more sensitive because the perception-filtering function gets weakened to allow the influx of more details, resulting in various unusual capabilities, one of which is Vipassana. That is to say, enhanced awareness makes contemplating the five skandhas possible, just like watching a slow-motion film. This would lead to the insight that no Self could be found in each skandha, which is also known as enlightenment in Buddhism. That there is a fixed entity underlying all skandhas is just an illusion resulting from that all these happen so quickly in ordinary conditions.

Fourthly, the existence of paranormal phenomena is always controversial. As an implication of above model for hallucinations, the third state of hallucinations suggests a novel hypothesis to interpret extrasensory perception: When one is in deep hallucinations, false internal stimulations are mistaken as external objective stimulations which enter through sensory organs, while real external objective stimulations are mistaken as perceptions which do not result from sensory organs. It indicates that paranormal phenomena are delusions that happen along with deep hallucinations.

On the basis of above analysis, we argue that the nature of ASC is a story about perception. Finally, we introduce time dimension to figure out the relationship among these essential phenomena in ASC, bringing the long-standing mystery of Buddhist tranquility and insight to light: Enhanced awareness after Samadhi is the path to attain enlightenment.

Clinicians need to consider a wide range of differential diagnoses when children and adolescents present with hallucinations. This includes considering whether it is a developmentally normal phenomenon or if there is a psychiatric, medical, or neurologic diagnosis. Nonpsychotic children with hallucinations can be differentiated from psychotic children. Nonpsychotic children who are at risk (or prodromal) for future psychosis can be differentiated from nonprodromal healthier children. We examine the epidemiology, prognosis, and neurobiological research. Lastly, we discuss treatment approaches, including medication and cognitive behavioral therapy.

How are inner speech, self-dialogue, auditory imagery, and hallucinations related? And what exactly are hallucinations? Some have suggested that hallucinations are caused by a monitoring defect in inner speech (also termed inner voice, silent speech, subvocal speech, covert speech, self talk, internal monologue, verbal thought, etc.) (Fernyhough, The Voices Within, 2016). Such a claim, however, ignores the overwhelming evidence concerning hallucinations before about 1000 BCE. Any theoretical linkage must take into account one crucial datum: hallucinations were central to normal sociopsychological functioning. The ubiquity and important role of hallucinations in the ancient world as a mechanism for social control (until about the first millennium BCE). The “monitoring defect” hypothesis confuses matters: Rather than hallucinations resulting from a problem with inner speech, inner speech is a type of watered-down hallucination. This is why, arguably, for some an inner voice possesses agent-like properties or is accompanied by a felt presence, suggesting vestigial bicamerality.

Read more at: https://www.julianjaynes.org/blog/julian-jaynes-theory/disentangling-inner-speech-self-dialogue-and-auditory-hallucinations/