Structure and content of hallucinations in alcohol withdrawal and functional psychosis.

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Abstract
Selected perceptual and content characteristics of the hallucinations of 28 alcoholics (mean age 47 yr; 10 blacks, 10 women) and 28 functional psychotics (mean age 38; 10 blacks, 11 women) were compared to test the theory that such imagery might have a uniform underlying mechanism. The participants were patients in a state psychiatric hospital. The alcoholics were significantly less educated than the psychotics (8.6 vs. 10.3 yr of school, P < 0.02), but the 2 groups had identical reading levels. Patients completed a checklist of 308 hallucinatory items that included experiences stemming from both organic and nonorganic origins, and psychotic and nonpsychotic experiences (i.e., sensory distortions and illusions of normal controls). A structured interview was obtained to evaluate auditory, visual, gustatory, olfactory, tactile and sexual experiences. The 2 groups did not differ in the total number of hallucinations or in the conformity of their experiences with external reality. Alcoholics reported fewer total (P < 0.01) and unformed taste hallucinations (P < 0.04) and fewer perceptually whole auditory hallucinations (P < 0.027). The alcoholics experienced more animal content and the functional psychotics more human content for vision and audition. Negative emotional content of the visual experiences was more often reported by the alcoholics. A cognitive theory of hallucinations that assumes a final common pathway for imaginal forms across the criterion groups examined was supported.

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