Question by Stephen H: Tactile hallucinations?
One of my “symptoms” of “schizophrenia” was that I had “tactile hallucinations”. This was following being asked if I had any strange sensations and I explained that I had sensations like pulses and vibrations. And when asked what they were I said I didn’t know. So three different people all wrote that I believed I had “implants” (in three different places). It seemed a bit of a stretch of the imagination to me, and strange that they should all use the same word, a word that wouldn’t even have occurred to me even if I had believed anything remotely similar. “Implants” isn’t exactly used in ordinary everyday conversation. I could imagine some people would arrive at unusual explanations if they were unfamiliar with the sensations. It doesn’t strike me that this would necessarily indicate any mental defect.

Anyway, it seems to me almost certain that all it is is blood flow in the veins. I tested it and the sensations match the pulses in nearby veins. So how is it that three people (two of them medically trained) didn’t know that it’s possible to sense blood flow and have to imagine some other extraordinary explanation that presumably they believe they can read in the minds of the patient. And they persist, even after the patient vociferously objects to what’s been written? (That believing that they know what the patient is thinking contrary to what the patient is saying, would in itself be a symptom of mental illness according to the diagnostic criteria.)

There must be plenty of people who’ve had similar “tactile hallucination” experiences or other experiences which would have a similar ordinary explanation and don’t even know what it is and are labeled has having “tactile hallucinations”.

I was told by one psychiatrist that “tactile hallucinations” were absolute proof that I had schizophrenia according to their diagnostic criteria.

To be honest, it’s not really so much of a question as an attempt to make some people aware that their “tactile hallucinations” might well have very ordinary explanations and it will almost certainly follow that knowing what they are will result in there being no problem or easy ways of making it that way.

Best answer:

Answer by stridor
Sensing your own pulse = somatization
Unexplainable tactile hallucinations = schizophrenia or drug/alcohol withdrawal
There may be something else but I can’t think = tired.

Add your own answer in the comments!