Some patients who have schizophrenia experience musical hallucinations due to their ongoing psychosis, but there are some cases that do so without psychosis. Īccording to Evers and Ellgers, some other major psychiatric disorders that contribute to musical hallucinations include schizophrenia and depression. After a complete course of ECT, her hallucinations dissipated, also suggesting that they can be acute. The patient had no known abnormalities in hearing, suggesting that musical hallucinations could arise from a variety of sources including psychiatric illnesses. Investigators found that the patient's depression symptoms were inversely related to her hallucinations and primarily stemmed from the ECT treatment. 2006, revealed a 93‑year‑old woman with major depressive disorder who experienced musical hallucinations while treated with electroconvulsive therapy (ECT). Psychiatric disorders Ī case study by Janakiraman et al. 2011, there have been suggestions that pontine lesions could alter the central auditory system's function causing hypoacusis and musical hallucinations. Hypoacusis is one of five etiologies of musical hallucinations, and is the most common in the case studies reviewed by Evers and Ellgers. Hypoacusis is defined as impairment in hearing or deafness. and were able to categorize five major etiologies: Evers and Ellgers compiled a significant portion of musical hallucination articles, case studies etc. In addition, investigators have pointed to factors that are associated with musical hallucinations. Most people find their musical hallucinations obtrusive, and wish to be rid of them, while others welcome them. Musical hallucinations can occur in people who are physically and mentally healthy, and for them, there is no known cause. For her, the symptoms only lasted a year due to the treatment of quetiapine, which she responded well to. Through scans, doctors found no neurological impairments, but prescribed her with medication. Following her recovery, she mentioned the onset of hallucinations followed by headaches. Prior to her hallucinations, the patient had undergone surgery for intraventricular and intracranial hemorrhages. Oftentimes, cases are commonly found in the elderly, but a 29-year-old female reported hearing music for one week. Moreover, through further analysis the patient had a medical history of hypertension, hyperlipidemia, and atrial fibrillations. Researchers suspected her hearing loss as a factor for developing the hallucinations. These symptoms would occur when the patient was alone and much more frequently when driving. Through further analysis, researchers found that due the unexpected origin of the hallucinations, there is no clear diagnosis or treatments to carry out.Īnother case, which studies a 74-year-old woman, described her symptoms as music that would play in short verses of patriotic and children's songs. From these diagnosis it was theorized that the distress from the illnesses manifested the hallucinations. However, she did have hypertension, hyperthyroidism, and osteoporosis. Moreover, had been widowed for a while and had no signs of psychiatric disorders. The music that played over her head was similar to the hymns and songs sung at her own wedding. įor the case of an 84 year old widow who complained of hearing sounds, she described her symptoms as pleasant, but also sought for treatment because she felt distracted. Memory traces refer to anything that may seem familiar to the patient, which indicate why certain childhood or familiar songs were heard. Keshavan found that the consistent feature of musical hallucinations was that it represented a personal memory trace. Vocal and instrumental forms of classical music were also identified in most patients. These tunes ranged from religious pieces to childhood favorites, and also included popular songs from the radio. In 73 individual cases reviewed by Evers and Ellger, 57 patients heard tunes that were familiar, while 5 heard unfamiliar tunes. While there is no set form of treatment, research has discovered medications and alternative therapies to be successful in alleviating the hallucinations. Majority of patients who have symptoms of musical hallucinations are older and have onset conditions predisposing them to the disease. These hallucinations are often rare and are followed by mental decline. The source of these hallucinations are derived from underlying psychotic illness or hearing impairment. Musical hallucinations (also known as auditory hallucinations, auditory Charles Bonnet Syndrome, and Oliver Sacks' syndrome ) describes a neurological disorder in which the patient will hallucinate songs, tunes, instruments and melodies.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |