Hallucination: A profound distortion in a person's perception of reality, typically accompanied by a powerful sense of reality. An hallucination may be a sensory experience in which a person can see, hear, smell, taste, or feel something that is not there.
The types of hallucinations include:
- An auditory hallucination is an hallucination involving the sense of hearing. Called also paracusia and paracusis.
- A gustatory hallucination is an hallucination involving the sense of taste.
- A hypnagogic hallucination is a vivid dreamlike hallucination at the onset of sleep.
- Hypnopompic hallucination is a vivid dreamlike hallucination on awakening.
- Kinesthetic hallucination is an hallucination involving the sense of bodily movement.
- Lilliputian hallucination is an hallucination in which things, people, or animals seem smaller than they would be in reality.
- Olfactory hallucination is an hallucination involving the sense of smell.
- Somatic hallucination is an hallucination involving the perception of a physical experience occurring with the body.
- Tactile hallucination is an hallucination involving the sense of touch.
- Visual hallucination is an hallucination involving the sense of sight.
