Dealing with hallucinations in dementia care.

Hallucinations – seeing, hearing, touching, tasting or smelling things that are not there – are a common phenomenon in people with dementia. In Alzheimer’s disease they usually occur in the later stages. Those with Lewy Body Dementia are likely to experience them earlier in their disease.

Most of my mother’s imaginary visitors were friendly and didn’t cause her any distress. She believed that her sister came to see her and slept in the bed beside her. They had lively conversations and it brought my mother great comfort to have her there. We just went along with it when she said her guest had been there. The fact that her sister had been dead for some time was irrelevant.

Sometimes she would say – “Good dog” – and pet the dog she believed was at her feet. He wasn’t threatening in any way so we just ignored him.

However, some people don’t have such an easy time. Their loved ones see people who have come to hurt them or do them harm and it can be hard to convince them that the intruder has gone.

There is no point trying to convince them that they are not seeing what they believe they are seeing. They simply will not believe you and will think you are trying to fool them.

It is better to ask questions to find out where the person is. It might be that they are seeing someone in a corner of the room where there are shadows and an extra light can get rid of the person.

Sometimes people think that the characters they are seeing on the television are real and are in the room with them. This can cause them to feel afraid. It can be things that seem harmless to us but, if you saw a car driving straight at you, you would very likely be scared too. In this case the simple answer is to turn off the TV.

It might be that they see their reflection in a mirror but don’t recognize themselves. Sometimes they will chat happily to the person in the mirror but, in other cases, they can be afraid of the stranger. If that occurs, cover or remove the mirror.

On some occasions, as a last resort, you may have to tell the imaginary dog or person to get out of the room and close the door after them.

Distraction by just sitting and chatting for a while or doing some activity can help them to forget about their imaginary visitor. Reassuring them over and over again that they are safe and secure will hopefully handle it.

If this is a new occurrence, and is causing distress, have them checked for a Urinary Tract Infection. UTIs are the most common cause of confusion in older people and play havoc with those with dementia.

If it is an ongoing issue which causes fear and anxiety there are some medications which may help. Discuss all the pros and cons with their doctor before you go down this route.