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Book

Auditory Hallucinations

Tanu Thakur  1 , Vikas Gupta  2
In: StatPearls [Internet]. Treasure Island (FL): StatPearls Publishing; 2025 Jan.
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Book

Auditory Hallucinations

Tanu Thakur et al.
Free Books & Documents

Excerpt

Auditory hallucinations, or paracusias, are sensory perceptions of hearing in the absence of an external stimulus. Auditory hallucinations can refer to a plethora of sounds; however, when the hallucinations are voices, they are distinguished as auditory verbal hallucinations. This specific subset of paracusias is particularly associated with schizophrenia but is not specific to it. Nonpsychotic disorders associated with auditory verbal hallucinations are affective, trauma-related, substance-related, and neurological disorders. These voices can be distressful when threatening, derogatory, commanding, or haunting, affecting an individual's social and occupational functioning. Fortunately, paracusias respond well to the administration of psychotropic medications.

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Conflict of interest statement

Disclosure: Tanu Thakur declares no relevant financial relationships with ineligible companies.

Disclosure: Vikas Gupta declares no relevant financial relationships with ineligible companies.

References

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