The Anatomy of Hallucinations [Hardcover]

Fred H. Johnson (Author)

Product Details

• Hardcover: 239 pages
• Publisher: Burnham Inc Pub; First Printing edition (March 1978)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0882291556
• ISBN-13: 978-0882291550
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,375,182 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Anatomy of Hallucinations, February 12, 2001

By 

Robert Pearson (Seattle, WA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Anatomy of Hallucinations (Hardcover)

The Anatomy of Hallucinations by Fred H. Johnson is one of the best psychology books of all times. It is a book of such rare insight one might almost think it is a book too good to be true, when one starts reading other books on the subject of mental illness and hallucinations.

For instance, to quote the book on page 29 "...of the 113 geniuses that have most helped civilization, 37 per cent to 40 per cent were psychotic, 83 per cent to 90 per cent were psychopathic or sociopathic , and 30 per cent of the most important were committed (Lange-Eichbaum 1932, Stein and Heinze, 1960)."

This is typical of Johnson's style. He states the most sublime and unusual facts, and then backs it up with academic psychological studies. It's really a wonder that the book is not in print. You can't even presently buy a copy from a rare book search! Please write Wadsworth publishing who own the rights to the book to get it reprinted.

This book is especially important because of the exact nature it describes how audio hallucinations are causes, by our projecting our inner speech or thoughts. Many people today are engaged in doing this not by mental illness but by wishful new age thinking. This statement doesn't deny true spirituality, it instead can define it. With knowledge of Johnson's work, one can see that the practice of "listening for the voice" is often self-deluding and self-serving.