There are many forms of visual hallucinations that any well-balanced individual can experience; however, society vary rarely associates hallucinations or illusions with anything other than individuals who are diagnosed with psychotic disorders. A visual hallucination can be defined as, “perceptions or sensations that are entirely subjective” (West, Hallucinations, 92). In the 18th century, Charles Bonnet coined Charles Bonnet Syndrome (CBS) which proved that not all who experience hallucinations are mentally insane. In fact, nearly ninety-five percent of the blind population experience Charles Bonnet Syndrome within their lifetime.
Charles Bonnet was a Swiss naturalist whose studies fluctuated from entomology to psychology and philosophy.
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These visual disturbances may also be caused by issues within the occipital, temporal, and parietal lobes of the brain (Sacks, Hallucinations, 15). Charles Bonnet hallucinations are defined as, “persistent or recurrent visual pseudo hallucinatory phenomena of a pleasant or neutral nature which occur in a clear state of consciousness” (Cite article). These visual hallucinations can be seen as either complex or simple images but are always beyond anything you can see from the human eye. Simple hallucinations, are rudimentary level hallucinations and appear to be the most common. These hallucinations include geometrical shapes and patterns as well as bright and vivid colors. Complex hallucinations, just like Lullin’s, often include people and faces, buildings, and can be triggered by past memories. In multiple accounts by Oliver Sacks, he shows that there are many different ways you can hallucinate. “Sometimes people with CBS may hallucinate letters, lines of print, musical notes, numerals, mathematical symbols, or other types of notation” (Sacks, Hallucinations, 12). Others may recall seeing strangers looking over them while they lay in
Losses, Excesses, Transports, and The World of the Simple are all four topics in the book “The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat and Other Clinical Tales,” by Oliver Sacks. You might not understand what those mean or discuss until you realize who Oliver Sacks is. Oliver Sacks is a Neurologist who has had the chance to take upon these twenty-four case studies and share them in a book. The book is more focused on neurological functions, different forms of the mind, and hallucinations/visions. All of these are related to the first few chapters in our Psychology textbook (Chapters 2,3,6,8,10). Oliver Sacks gives us clear insight into the mind of those that perceive things much differently than most. It is a clear insight to what most of us are curious about but may not fully understand.
In J.J.C. Smart’s essay, Sensations and Brain Processes, he disagrees with dualism as he believes that states of consciousness and brain processes are similar. He presents a case where he reports that he sees a round and yellowish-orange after-image. He describes various perspectives about what he is actually reporting. He claims that he could not be reporting anything, and that this after-image is only the result of him having a temptation to say that he sees it. Another example involves an individual reporting pain, and, like the after-image example, he or she could not be reporting anything as well. In regards to both the reporting of the after-image and pain, Smart disagrees with the claim that these reports are “irreducibly psychical,” (Rosen 372) which means they cannot be reduced to mental properties.
... sight: A case of hemineglect. In J. A. Ogden, Fractured Minds (pp. 113-136). New York: Oxford University Press.
(5) D. Lewis (1986): Veridical Hallucination and Prosthetic Vision. In: D. Lewis: Philosophical Papers. New York et al., Vol. II, 273 - 290
“… There is a feeling of strange intoxication and shifting consciousness with minor perceptual changes. There may also be strong physical effects, including respiratory pressure, muscle tension (especially face and neck muscles), and queasiness or possible nausea… After this the state of altered consciousness begins to manifest itself…..among the possible occurences are feelings of inner tranquility, oneness with life, heightened awareness, and rapid thought flow…these effects will deepen and become more visual. Colors may become more intense. Halos and auras may appear about things. Objects
6. Anyamwu E, Harding GF, Jeavons PM, "Telephillic Syndrome" In Pattern and PhotoSensitivity Epilepsy: Report of Three Cases. East Afr Med J. 1995;72:402-405.
Visual Hallucinations: Differential Diagnosis and Treatment. N. p. : Physicians Postgraduate Press, Inc., 2009. PDF. The. Patrick, Christopher J., Don C. Fowles, and Robert F. Krueger. "
The Capgras Delusion is one of the rarest and colorful syndromes in neurology. The patient fails to recognise the faces of close acquaintances and calls them as an ‘imposter’. They claim that the person ‘looks like’ or is ‘identical to’ someone they know, while continuing to believe that they are two different individuals. The delusional belief is strongest when the putative imposter is present [2]. Capgras delusion is classified as a delusional misidentification syndrome, a class of beliefs where the patients have delusional beliefs that involves misidentification of people, places or objects.
Rieber, R. W. (2001). Wilhelm Wundt in history: the making of a scientific psychology. New York: Kluwer Academic/Plenum.
An American psychologist called Francine Shapiro developed The Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) Therapy in the 1980s. Dr. Shapiro was born on February 18th, 1948, she is currently 67 years old. She earned her PhD in clinical psychology from the Professional School of Psychological Studies in San Diego, California (Shapiro, 2015). Dr. Shapiro is a senior research fellow at the Mental Research Institute in Palo Alto, California (Shapiro, 2015). This therapy was created for the treatment of psychological traumas which led to controlled research studies about EMDR therapy (Trauma Recovery, 2015). She works in Northern California as a licensed clinical psychologist and author (Shapiro,
(Sacks, 2012) The person experiencing them is convinced that what they are seeing or smelling is real, and become very confused as to what is reality and what is not. These most commonly occur in people who suffer from a mental illness such as schizophrenia or various types of psychotic disorders. In this article the author discusses how hallucinations are becoming more common amongst people today, and the different scenarios where they are more present. Hallucinations can occur when experiencing migraines, seizures, or even consuming too much of a particular medication. (Sacks, 2012)
All of the situations in Macbeth that concern a hallucination can be characterized as a situation of mental decline in the character, due to the fact that a hallucination is supernatural and are usually only experienced by a single character at a time. Macbeth experiences several hallucinations in the tragedy that portray his insanity. For example, at a dinner with other high-positioned leaders, Macbeth had a hallucination of Banquo sitting in Macbeth’s chair, much to the embarrassment of both Macbeth and Lady Macbeth as hosts. His pale face and shaking body portrays how unstable his mind has really become. His guests are genuinely concerned for his health as they witness him talking to an empty chair, so he tells them if “trembling I inhabit, then protest me the baby of a girl. Hence, horrible shadow. Unreal mockery, hence.” He compares himself to a little girl, symbolizing the weakness and vulnerability of his mental state. This also brings up the idea of him losing his manhood, as Lady Macbeth tells him when she too is concerned for his having a hallucination. He then goes on to tell the ghost, or mockery of reality, to get out, when it was not even there in real life. He does not seem to care that he is hosting well educated guests and wants to impress them, which goes to show that he is in another level of mental instability. Likewise, Shakespeare uses hallucinations to cause insanity for Lady Macbeth. Compared to Macbeth, Lady Macbeth held a clean and invincible mental state for an extended period of time, even after a couple murders were committed. Nonetheless, Shakespeare demonstrated that hallucinations, at some point or another, are bound to bring a character to a point of weakness, and lead to his or her downfall--even the “invincible” Lady Macbeth. For example, near the end of the tragedy, Lady Macbeth was experiencing a hallucination of a spot of blood on her
Johann Spurzheim’s contribution to phrenology was also great. He helped Gall in a study of brain injuries with the phrenology concept Gall had created. He also studied many cases of aphasia following victim’s cranial injuries in battle. In 1832, he arrived in America, which was at that time desperate for insight into human personality, and started on a lecture circuit that eventually killed him only six months into it.
Claiming the title of 'Psychologist' Wundt showed that psychology had its own right to be labelled as a scientific discipline separate from those of physiology and philosophy. This was done via 'Voluntarism' the school of thought associated with Wundt and also through 'Introspection'.
Several persons contributed to the development of physiological psychology; such as Charles Darwin who were a biologist and whose theory of evolution revolutionized biology and strongly influenced early psychologists, René Descartes a philosopher and mathematician, Hermann von Helmholtz and Johannes Muller etc.Amongst them one of the most important figures in the development of experimental physiology was Johannes Muller. (Physiology Psychology, 2008)