Hallucinations as sensory-perceptual intrusions from traumatic memory: Empirical investigation of a phenomenologically important subgroup.
Psychological trauma : theory, research, practice and policy March 1, 2026 Jessica O'Connell, Michelle H Lim, Ilias Kamitsis et al.
Among 64 young people using an early psychosis service, 20% (12 individuals) who had both a history of trauma and hallucinations reported a hallucination that contained a sensory-perceptual element matching a traumatic experience or posttraumatic intrusion. However, 71% of those hallucinations also included novel content not directly from the trauma. The groups with and without such matching hallucinations did not differ in severity of childhood trauma, posttraumatic intrusions, hyperarousal, dissociation, or rates of PTSD diagnoses. The findings suggest that for a clinically significant minority, hallucinations may incorporate intrusive traumatic memories, but additional processes likely contribute to hallucination content.