Environmental and biological factors that can cause hallucinations

Topic 

Environmental and biological factors that can cause hallucinations

Instructions 

Please answer FOUR of the following questions. Each question is worth 25 points.

 

  1. Describe the characteristics of mass psychogenic illnesses. What factors can precipitate mass psychogenic illnesses? How and why can culture influence the symptoms of mass psychogenic illnesses?

 

2. How does a person understand that they have ownership over their own body? What happens if a person’s sense of ownership doesn’t function properly?

 

  1. What sorts of environmental and biological factors can cause hallucinations? Why might otherwise normal individuals experience hallucinations? How do hallucinations in individuals’ Charles Bonnet compare to hallucinations with individuals who have schizophrenia?

 

  1. Why does synaesthesia, such as mirror-touch synaesthesia or shared pain, occur? How does synaesthesia manifest itself in the brain and in behavior?

 

  1. Tell me about psychopathy. What are the behavioral and physiological features of psychopathy?

 

What can cause it? How does psychopathy differ/compare with sexual sadism?

 

  1. What are some different types of stalkers and features of stalking (Describe some of their characteristics)? What are some explanations for why stalking behaviors occur?

 

  1. Describe how dissociation functions and different types of dissociation. What are some ways to help people who suffer from dissociative disorders?

 

  1. Choose your own topic related to the readings

Answer Preview 

Biological factors are also visual hallucinations. Teeple, Caplan, and Stern (2009) indicated that several processes that cause visual hallucinations, which involve the interplay of disturbances on the brain chemistry, psychodynamic, prior experiences, and bran anatomy in general. Irritation affecting the cortical centers functioning as visual processing medium is one of the mechanisms causing visual hallucinations. Generally, irritation to the primary visual cortex is associated with causing minimal hallucinations while irritation to the visual association cortices is associated with causing complex visual hallucinations. Moreover, Teeple et al added that deafferentation-causing lesions to the visual systems are more likely to cause hallucinations as part of the resulting cortical release phenomenon.

Word Count: 1000