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Tactile hallucinations, where someone feels a sensation on their body that isn’t there, can occur for various reasons, including drug use, medical conditions, and hypnagogic/hypnopompic experiences. Phantom limb sensations are a common example, and treatments such as antidepressants or mirror therapy can help alleviate the pain.
When a person hallucinates, they are essentially perceiving something that isn’t actually there. People may hear voices or sounds, smell things that aren’t there, or have a variety of experiences that are real to the person but not real outside of the person. One type of hallucination that is often overlooked is tactile hallucination; this occurs when someone feels a sensation on the body that is, in fact, not there. Like many forms of hallucinations, tactile hallucinations are not limited to those with mental illness and could have many causes.
Tactile hallucinations can present in many different ways. One of the most common of these is the phantom limb. When people lose a limb, they can still feel its presence on the body. It may feel like the limb is still there, and sometimes this condition can also be extremely painful. The sensations in the “not present” limb are very real to the person experiencing them and a variety of treatments could be used to control this pain which is both present and not present.
For most people the phantom limb experience is not indicative of conditions such as schizophrenia, although the mind has definitely been tricked into being aware of something that doesn’t exist. One could try a number of treatments to get rid of the pain, including taking antidepressants or using therapies that involve a box with mirrors. Sometimes “seeing” and working with the missing limb, through mirror work, has an appropriate effect in relieving the discomfort.
Another form of these hallucinations is when people feel like they have things moving on their skin. Often people identify this as having bugs or bugs under or on their skin. This is not an uncommon reaction to certain types of drugs, especially methamphetamine or cocaine. The sensation often disappears when a drug has also left the body system and hopefully discouraged the person from using illegal drugs in the future. This hallucination can cause great mental distress when it occurs, resulting in irrational behavior.
Sometimes tactile hallucinations are transient and can occur as part of hypnopompic or hypnogogic experiences. These are all hallucinations that occur before waking up or falling asleep, respectively. A person may feel that someone or something has touched or put pressure on them. Alternatively, the sensation of falling and hitting the ground may be tactile and may indeed feel like a physical experience has occurred. These hallucinations are quite common and many people will experience at least one in their lifetime.
Occasionally, people have a real reason for experiencing what might initially be dismissed as tactile hallucinations. Some medical conditions unrelated to mental illness can make the body feel things that seem not to exist. Some skin conditions, for example, could create pain, burning or pressure on certain parts of the body. These aren’t actually hallucinations because there is a reason such feelings are present, even if that reason is below the skin’s surface or isn’t automatically apparent.
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