Kinesthetic hallucinations: what is this symptom, causes and treatment

If we close our eyes and concentrate on it, we may be able to hear our heartbeat, how air enters our lungs, or when our kidneys or liver hurt. All this is due to the fact that we are capable of perceiving our own sensations inside our body, something that helps us to adapt to situations and to survive.

But these situations have a reason: our heart beats, we breathe, we are full or we have a urinary infection. However, sometimes some people can have perceptions of this type, coming from inside the body, without anything really causing them. It is kinesthetic hallucinations.

• Related article: "The 15 types of hallucinations (and their possible causes)"

What is a hallucination?

As a preamble and in order to make the concept of kinesthetic hallucination more easily understandable, it is useful first of all to review what a hallucination is and implies.

The concept of hallucination refers to the existence of a false perception or perception without an object, that is to say, the capture by the senses of a person of information or stimulation that does not come from any real and existing source. It is a type of perceptual deception in which something that does not exist and that is the product of the subject's mind is perceived.

However, it is necessary to emphasize the fact that it is a perception: the subject really sees, hears or notices some kind of sensation despite the fact that this does not prevent any stimulation that generates it.

Is about one of the main symptoms of schizophrenia and psychotic disorders, although it can appear in a large number of situations that do not always have to be the product of psychopathology (for example, a poisoning or intoxication can generate hallucinations, or even the prolonged experience of stress).

There are many different types and classifications of hallucinations, among which we can find visual, auditory, olfactory or gustatory, tactile, kinesthetic (perception of movement) or those that give this article its name: kinesthetic hallucinations.

kinesthetic hallucinations

Kinesthetic hallucinations (also called somatic or visceral hallucinations) are understood to be those in which the subject has an objectless perception referring to the existence of sensations inside your own body, in which specific reference is made to elements such as viscera, specific organs or elements of the organism regardless of whether these elements have sensitivity or not (for example the blood).

It is a type of hallucination in which the perception is carried out at a somatic level or body consciousness: in the internal perception of the organism itself. The subject has the perception of some type of alteration inside his body, which can be limited to specific parts or organs of this or to the organism at a general level. It is common for this type of hallucination to occur together with different types of delusions that explain them, which are usually of a heightened extravagance and strangeness.

An example of this is given in those people with delusions of infestation, in which they often refer to the sensation that ants, insects or other small beings have infested the subject and move around inside the body and there may even be the idea that they are devouring their bodies. organs.

Perceived sensations can be highly variable and include, among others, the perception of mechanical pressure, displacement, emptiness, pain, itching or temperature changes. Likewise, there may also be the sensation of changes in the composition of parts of the body (for example, perceiving that one of its lungs has dissolved), sensations related to organ movements (such as perceiving that the brain has lowered to the position of the stomach) or variation in their number (as could occur in the case of having the sensation of having lost a leg without have done).

Other possible sensations could be the perception of the presence of inserted external elements (for example, the perception of the insertion of a microchip would enter this type of hallucination) or removal/loss of body parts (feeling like their heart has come out of their body).

• You may be interested in: "Delusions: what they are, types and differences with hallucinations"

Linked to other types of hallucination

As it is possible to imagine based on this description, kinesthetic hallucinations are deeply linked with others such as tactile or haptic or those related to the perception of movement or kinesthetics.

In fact, it is often possible to find that both types of hallucinations occur together. Some authors even indicate that kinesthetic hallucinations actually include tactile ones, kinesthetic and visceral as subtypes, although kinesthetic is usually identified with visceral.

The main difference between these types is that in the case of kinesthetics we are talking about perceptions related to one's own body and generally inside it, without the idea of ​​external contact or displacement occurring externally. Despite this, they often occur in association or jointly.

contexts of appearance

Kinesthetic hallucinations are less common than others such as auditory or visual hallucinations, although they can occur in multiple contexts and conditions.

At the psychiatric level, one of the best known is schizophrenia, along with other disorders of the psychotic spectrum such as chronic delusional disorder.

For example, in the Ekbom syndrome or delusion of parasitosis, in which the subject maintains the belief of being infested by living beings, or in Cotard's syndrome (delusional disorder in which there is the belief of being dead or that the organs are rotting, something that can start from the interpretation of hallucinations somatic). However, it must be taken into account that these syndromes are based on the existence of delirium, without the need for hallucination in this regard.

They can also occur in the context of some depressions, and its appearance is possible in some cases in manic-type episodes (such as bipolar disorder).

Another context of appearance may be medical disorders. Among them, it is possible, for example, that kinesthetic hallucinations appear in situations such as poisoning by substances such as cocaine or in some cases of epilepsy, although it is less frequent.

• You may be interested in: "Ekbom syndrome (delusional parasitosis): causes and symptoms"

Causes

Regardless of the context in which they appear, the causes of kinesthetic hallucinations are not clear, although as with other hallucinations the limbic system and the diencephalon appear to be involved.

The involvement of the somatosensory cortex has also been observed, as well as the part of the cortex corresponding to the insula. Some theories stipulate the existence of a basic difficulty in integrating sensory information, something that can cause our nervous system to generate perceptions without there being a physical element that trigger.

Likewise, other theories (which do not exclude the previous one) indicate that the problem may come from a difficulty separating mental content from physical experience, in such a way that it is not possible to separate the imagined from the perceived.

Treatment

Kinesthetic hallucinations are not a disorder in themselves, but are a symptom of the existence of some type of alteration. In this sense, treating these hallucinations will require an evaluation of the patient's situation and an assessment of the origin or disorder of which they are a symptom. This will require the multidisciplinary work of various professionals from different fields of health.

Depending on the case, it is possible to use different therapeutic strategies. At the pharmacological level, the use of antipsychotics can help curb this type of perception, as well as some antidepressants.

On a psychological level, dealing with these perceptions may require helping the subject to reattribute their perceptions so that you end up seeing them as a product of your own mind, with techniques such as restructuring knowledge and the proposal of behavioral experiments in which they can verify whether or not their perceptions are real.

Bibliographic references:

• Belloch, A., Baños, R. and Perpigná, C. (2008) Psychopathology of perception and imagination. in a. Belloch, B. Sandin and F. Ramos (Eds.) Manual of Psychopathology (2nd edition). Vol I Madrid: McGraw Hill Interamericana.
• Cruzado, L., Cordova, R. and Vizcarra, O. (2012). Visceral and cenestopathic hallucinations in the differential diagnosis of medically unexplained symptoms. Heredian Medical Journal. 23 (3). Peruvian University Cayetano Heredia. Alberto Hurtado School of Medicine. Peru.
• Fernández-Díaz, A., Bobadilla-Pérez, E., Bello-Porto, J., Méndez-Iglesias, R. and Menendez-Sanchez, B. (2013). Psychotic clinic or seizures? Diagnostic considerations in clinical practice. Magazine of the Galician Association of Psychology, 12. A Coruna, Spain.
• Going to. (1979). Psychopathology of Perception. In: Clinical Psychiatry. Ed. Spaxs. Barcelona, ​​pp 173-180.
• Slade, PS. & Bentall, R.P. (1988). Sensory deception: A scientific analysis of hallucination. Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University.