Can people with bipolar disorder have hallucinations?
Most certainly. The DSM-IV (p. 766) defines a hallucination as: A sensory perception that has the compelling sense of reality of a true perception but that occurs without external stimulation of the relevant sensory organ. Hallucinations should be distinguished from illusions, in which an actual external stimulus is misperceived or misinterpreted. Some people know that they are having hallucinations, and others do not. Most people who have bipolar disorder realize that the hallucinations are not actual perceptions of reality. However, this realization does not keep them from occurring.
