May 27, 2015 02:26 PM EDT By Staff Reporter, UniversityHerald Reporter

New research suggests that hallucination and delusions may be more common than previously thought.

Researchers at the University of Queensland and Harvard Medical School found that hearing voices and having sensations that appear real but are created by the mind impacts about 5 percent of the general population at some point in their lives.

"We used to think that only people with psychosis heard voices or had delusions, but now we know that otherwise healthy, high-functioning people also report these experiences," researcher John McGrath said in a statement. "Of those who have these experiences, a third only have them once and another third only have two-to-five episodes across their life. These people seem to function reasonably well. So it's incredibly interesting that not only is hearing voices more common than previously thought, but it's not always linked to serious mental illness."

For the study, researchers based their findings on a population-based survey which involved approaching randomly selected members of the community, sitting down with them and conducting a very detailed interview about their mental health.

Based on this data, they also found that auditory hallucinations are more common in women than men, and they are also more common in people from wealthier countries.

McGrath said the findings could help generate new research into the causes of these isolated symptoms.

"We need to understand why it's temporary for some people and permanent for others. We can use these findings to start identifying whether the mechanisms causing these hallucinations are the same or different in both situations," she said.

The findings are detailed in JAMA Psychiatry.

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