Letter to the Editor July 21, 2009

Pseudohallucinations Versus True Hallucinations in Prodromal Psychosis: Does It Really Matter?

Paolo Fusar-Poli; Oliver D. Howes; Philip McGuire

J Clin Psychiatry 2009;70(7):1056-1057

Article Abstract

Letter to the Editor

Sir: According to the traditional accounts of European psychiatry,
true hallucinations are apparent perceptions of an external
object in the absence of adequate sensory stimuli. Conversely,
Sims states that Kandinsky and Jaspers described pseudohallucinations
as a separate form of perception from true hallucination.
Pseudohallucination is a perceptual experience that is figurative,
not concrete or "real," is located in inner subjective space, and is
perceived with the "inner" ear (or eye) (Table 1).