Read the passage below and answer the questions that follow:
Ravi was a sales assistant in an electronics shop who got a commission for every sale over and above his monthly salary. For the past few months, he had been behaving differently, and his performance was declining. When his boss checked with him, Ravi reported that he heard voices in his head telling him that the customers were spying on him. In fact, he was confident that someone had embedded a chip in his brain. Therefore, he was feeling threatened and deliberately victimized. Ravi's colleagues complained that he often used new and strange words and reacted inappropriately in any situation. One of Ravi's neighbours also shared that Ravi loved kicking and hurting street dogs and would laugh loudly when they were wounded and bled. It seemed that Ravi needed to visit a mental health professional to seek help.
Which type of hallucination was Ravi experiencing?
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 4
The correct answer is Option (4) → Auditory
A hallucination is a perception that occurs in the absence of external stimuli. Ravi reported that he heard voices in his head telling him that the customers were spying on him.
Option (1) Tactile — Incorrect. Tactile hallucinations are felt on the skin, as tingling or burning with nothing touching the person. Ravi reports nothing he feels on his body.
Option (2) Somatic — Incorrect. Somatic hallucinations are the sense of something happening inside the body, such as a snake crawling inside one’s stomach. Ravi’s belief about a chip in his brain is a delusion, a false belief, not a felt sensation.
Option (3) Gustatory — Incorrect. Gustatory hallucinations concern taste: food or drink tastes strange. The passage says nothing about taste.
Option (4) Auditory — Correct. Auditory hallucinations, the most common in schizophrenia, are sounds or voices that the patient hears speaking words, phrases and sentences. Voices in his head are this kind.
NCERT (2025-26): “Symptoms of Schizophrenia … People with schizophrenia may have hallucinations, i.e. perceptions that occur in the absence of external stimuli. Auditory hallucinations are most common in schizophrenia. Patients hear sounds or voices that speak words, phrases and sentences directly to the patient (second-person hallucination) or talk to one another referring to the patient as s/he (third-person hallucination). Hallucinations can also involve the other senses. These include tactile hallucinations (i.e. forms of tingling, burning), somatic hallucinations (i.e. something happening inside the body such as a snake crawling inside one’s stomach), visual hallucinations (i.e. vague perceptions of colour or distinct visions of people or objects), gustatory hallucinations (i.e. food or drink taste strange), and olfactory hallucinations (i.e. smell of poison or smoke).…” |