Stages of Hallucinations
Stage 1: Comforting (correlates with moderate levels of anxiety)
- The individual experiences anxiety, loneliness, and guilt.
- Focuses on comforting thoughts to try to relieve anxiety.
- Individual realises thoughts are one’s own and can control them.
Stage 2: Condemning (correlates with moderate to severe levels of anxiety)
- If anxiety increases, the individual puts self into a listening state for the hallucination and the hallucination process begins.
- Individual is unable to control own awareness and may feel terror. Individual becomes afraid others may hear the voices and may begin to withdraw from others.
- Individual attempts to put distance between self and perceived source(s) of the hallucination.
- Heart rate, respiration and blood pressure may begin to increase. Attention span begins to narrow.
Stage 3: Controlling (correlates with panic level of anxiety)
- The voices become threatening if the individual doesn’t follow commands. The hallucination becomes elaborate and may be interwoven with delusions.
- The hallucination may last for hours or days if there is no therapeutic intervention.
- Individual may feel suicidal.
- Individual may become violent or catatonic.
How to help:
- Follow the direction of the individual and help observe and describe the present and recently past hallucination.
You need to find out what the person is seeing, hearing, tasting, touching, or smelling, and begin to discover if a pattern exists. - Be patient and LISTEN