A nurse is assisting with an admission interview for a client who has schizophrenia. He tells the nurse that he is receiving special audible messages from the Central Intelligence Agency that no one else is able to hear. The nurse should identify that the client is having which of the following alterations in perception?

B. Hallucination: A hallucination is a sensory perception that occurs in the absence of an external stimulus. The client reports hearing special audible messages that no one else can hear, which indicates an auditory hallucination, a common symptom in schizophrenia. A. Depersonalization: Depersonalization involves feelings of detachment from oneself, as if observing oneself from outside the body. The client’s statement does not reflect this experience. C. Illusion: An illusion is a misinterpretation of an actual external stimulus (for example, mistaking a shadow for a person). In this case, there is no real external stimulus being misinterpreted. D. Derealization: Derealization is a feeling that the external environment is unreal or distorted. The client’s experience of hearing voices does not indicate altered perception of the environment itself.