Pseudohallucinations: A pseudoconcept? A review of the validity of the concept, related to associate symptomatology

"Pseudohallucination" is a concept used in the classification of nonpsychot ic perceptual disorders. This report describes the history of the concept a nd investigates whether pseudohallucinations can be differentiated from rel ated psychopathological symptoms, such as hallucinations, re-experiencing, and dissociative phenomena. We performed a literature review, which shows t hat pseudohallucinations and related symptoms have low construct validity a nd are, accordingly, clinically ambiguous. Most likely, pseudohallucination s are placed on an overlapping continuum of symptomatology that includes pe rceptual disorders, re-experiencing, (dissociative) imagery, and normal tho ught and memory processes. Recommendations are made regarding the specifica tion of dimensions of this continuum. The term "nonpsychotic hallucinations " is preferred over "pseudohallucination." Copyright (C) 2001 by W.B. Saund ers.