What Are Drug Hallucinations?

A hallucination is a sensory perception or experience which exists in the mind and occurs due to some medical disorders or adverse reactions to drugs. There are several different types of hallucinations in which you may hear voices, experience vivid dreams, and see objects as smaller in size than they really are.

Drug-Induced

• Drug-induced hallucinations occur due to an adverse effect to some medications and drugs -- and typically occur in the form of a visual or unformed tinnitus. During a visual hallucination, you may see light, objects, patterns and other things that are not real. During an unformed tinnitus hallucination, you might hear sounds which are not there such as a ringing in the ears, banging, whistles, thuds and music. Certain recreational drugs such as ecstasy, ketamine, LSD and PCP also cause re-occurring flashbacks for long periods of time.

Types of Drugs

• Both therapeutic and recreational drugs can result in hallucinations. Therapeutic medications such as antihistamines, antidepressants, antibiotics, antipsychotics, tranquillizers, steroids, painkillers such as opioids, and cardiovascular medications are associated with possibly causing hallucinations. Typically, these hallucinations are isolated events. Withdrawal from recreational drugs and substances such as cocaine, crack, amphetamines, heroin, alcohol and marijuana also cause hallucinations. Some recreational drugs specifically induce hallucinations such as phencyclidine, or PCP, lysergic acid diethylamide, or LSD -- and peyote, a cactus plant which contains mescaline.

Other Symptoms

• Drug-induced hallucinations not only produce sensory distortion, the hallucinations also cause a person to feel agitated, anxious, fearful and paranoid, and often results in an extreme detachment from reality. A person who is experiencing a hallucination has the potential to become a danger to others and themselves due to these feelings. When with a person who is hallucinating, seek medical help to avoid any harmful occurrences.

Treatment

• Often a drug-induced hallucination is a symptom of drug-induced psychosis, a condition characterized by hallucinations, confusion, memory loss and delusions which occurs after prolonged and heavy recreational drug use. Generally, drug-induced hallucinations and drug-induced psychosis will discontinue upon withdrawal of the drugs or after discontinuing use of the medication. In some cases, treatment is necessary for a person to safely discontinue use of recreational drugs. Seek medical attention for a treatment plan.