Types and contents of hallucinations in schizophrenia

ABSTRACT

Hallucinations are one of the commonest symptoms seen in schizophrenia. This research aimed to study the types and content analysis of various hallucinations seen in patients with schizophrenia. Cross sectional study. This study was conducted in a private psychiatric hospital in Mumbai from January 2002 to January 2007. The nature and content of hallucinations in 559 patients with schizophrenia was analyzed. The patients meeting DSM IV criteria for Schizophrenia were asked to complete a questionnaire which enquired the hallucinatory experience. The data was tabulated and the results presented. The most common type of hallucinations were of auditory nature [69.23%] and amongst that a majority of patients heard voices of an unknown person [54.52%]. Visual hallucinations were less common [8.59%] followed by the other types of hallucinations. The study was an exploratory study in a private care setting. Auditory hallucinations were the most frequent as is generally reported in literature. More than one third [37%] of those experiencing auditory hallucinations had first rank symptoms