Harv Rev Psychiatry
September 9, 2025
Arjen Neven, Jan Dirk Blom
3 citations
Learning Objectives: After participating in this CME activity, the psychiatrist should be better able to: Hallucinogen persisting perception disorder (HPPD) is characterized by perceptual phenomena that either linger after substance-use cessation or recur as reperceptions or flashbacks. These symptoms may be either mild and transient or long-lasting and severely burdening. Since evidence for...
Frontiers in Psychology
March 7, 2024
Fatih Incekara, Jan Dirk Blom
2 citations
a seven-volume journal, reveal new insights into this debate. Based on a phenomenological analysis of his self-reports in these books and in other writings, we here identify several types of anomalous perceptual experiences: hypnagogic-hypnopompic experiences, hyperphantasia, hallucinations, personifications, and sensed presence. We argue that these experiences were not indicative of a...
Sleep medicine clinics
March 1, 2024
Flavie Waters, Ivan Ling, Somayyeh Azimi et al.
The diagnostic category of sleep-related hallucinations (SRH) replaces the previous category of Terrifying Hypnagogic Hallucinations in the 2001 edition of International Classification of Sleep Disorders-R. Hypnagogic and hypnopompic hallucinations (HHH) that occur in the absence of other symptoms or disorder and, within the limits of normal sleep, are most likely non-pathological. By contrast,...
Schizophrenia
April 23, 2022
Mascha M.J. Linszen, Janna De Boer, Maya Schutte et al.
55 citations
Although epidemiological studies report that hallucinations occur in 6-15% of the general population, little is known about their phenomenology. To overcome this paucity, this study investigates the phenomenological characteristics of hallucinations in the general population, by using a nationally promoted online survey to assess hallucination phenomenology in four sensory modalities, through a...
Frontiers in Psychiatry
2022
Marc L Molendijk, Ouarda Bouachmir, Harriët Montagne et al.
The incubus phenomenon is a paroxysmal sleep-related disorder characterized by the visuotactile sensation of a person or entity exerting pressure on one's thorax during episodes of sleep paralysis and (apparent) wakefulness. This terrifying phenomenon is relatively unknown even though a previous meta-analysis indicated a lifetime prevalence of 0.11 for individuals in the general population and...
Frontiers in Neuroscience
August 11, 2021
Pieter J. Vis, Anneke E. Goudriaan, Bastiaan C. Ter Meulen et al.
40 citations
Hallucinogen-persisting perception disorder (HPPD) features as a diagnostic category in the DSM-5, ICD-11, and other major classifications, but our knowledge of the phenomenology of the perceptual symptoms involved and the changes in consciousness during the characteristic “flashbacks” is limited. We systematically evaluated original case reports and case series on HPPD to define its...
Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B Biological Sciences
December 13, 2020
Flavie Waters, Joseph M Barnby, Jan Dirk Blom
26 citations
Within the broad field of human perception lies the category of stimulus-independent perceptions, which draws together experiences such as hallucinations, mental imagery and dreams. Traditional divisions between medical and psychological sciences have contributed to these experiences being investigated separately. This review aims to examine their similarities and differences at the levels of...
Frontiers in Psychiatry
July 10, 2018
Flavie Waters, Vivian Chiu, Amanda Atkinson et al.
163 citations
Background: Going without sleep for long periods of time can produce a range of experiences, including perceptual distortions and hallucinations. Many questions, however, remain unanswered regarding the types of symptoms which are most reliably elicited, the time of symptom onset, and whether symptoms worsen over time towards psychotic decompensation. Since sleep deprivation exceeding 48 h is...
Transcultural Psychiatry
December 1, 2015
Jan Dirk Blom, Igmar T Poulina, Trevor L Van Gellecum et al.
Brua is an Afro-Caribbean religion and healing tradition from the southern part of the former Netherlands Antilles. Like other Caribbean healing traditions, it plays a significant role in shaping how individuals experience and express disorders which Western health professionals consider to require psychiatric care. Because little has been published on Brua, and because patients from Aruba,...
Harvard Review of Psychiatry
Jan Dirk Blom, Rosemarij J B Van Veen, Emma H C Van Rooijen et al.
Sexual hallucinations are little known, yet often extremely burdening, phenomena. In this systematic review, we summarize what is known about their phenomenology, prevalence, etiopathology, ensuing distress, and treatment options. Sexual hallucinations can be experienced as genital or orgasmic sensations, although other sensory modalities can also be involved. With the notable exception of...