Trailing Phenomena (Tactile Type) in a Veteran with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder: A Case Report

Trailing phenomena has been described as perceptual abnormality associated with hallucinogenic drugs and involuing the visual senses. In this disorder moving objects are seen as a series of discrete and continous images. More studies are needed for detecting the causes. Trailing phenomena has not been reportead in the other senses. Case Report: The patient was a 41 year old veteran with previous diagnosis of chronic post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), who was admitted to Kerman Shahid Beheshti hospital in 2008. He reported that following the cessation of drug use, his previous symptoms had excerberated. He experienced a specific type of trailing phenomena in which he believed that after touching the objects, and when he gets away from them, he still feels the objects in his hand. The patient under went the drug treatment and after three weeks he showed partial remition and was discharged after one month. Conclution: The rare trailing phenomena besides the visual sense might involve other senses such as touch associated with dissociation, which is a mechanism for patients justifying some of the symptoms related to PTSD.