ARIETI'S DEFINITION OF HALLUCINATIONS

   In 1974 the Italian-American psychiatrist Silvano Arieti (1914-1981) defined hallucinations as follows: "Hallucination is an apparent perception of an external object when no such object is present. The stimulus that elicits the seeming perception is an internal one; that is, it comes from within the individual himself. Inasmuch as what is perceived in the hallucinatory experience purports to portray or mirror an aspect of external reality, the perception is false."

   References

   Arieti, S. (1974). Interpretation of schizophrenia. Second edition, completely revised and expanded. New York, NY: Basic Books.