Elderly people often cannot distinguish events that happened in real life from those that they imagined. The line between the real and fictional world in old age is erased in people suffering from hallucinations.
What to do if an elderly person has hallucinations? What kind of hallucinations do old people have, why do they occur and how to deal with them? Let's look into these issues
Classification of hallucinations
It is known that the cause of the disease is the progressive degradation of brain tissue, as well as impaired blood circulation in it.
There are different types of hallucinations in adults:
Isolated hallucinosis Bonnet
They are most common in the elderly. They arise against the background of an almost complete lack of hearing and vision. The age subject to this manifestation is about 70 years. Bonnet hallucinosis can be auditory or verbal or visual.
With visual hallucinosis, old people see certain scenes that are presented in the form of nature and people. They can talk to those visible, take part in the ongoing scene. With auditory hearing, people hear extraneous sounds and conversations, although they understand that this is not real.
Tactile hallucinosis
Another name is “delirium of skin parasites.” The age of appearance is quite early, 55-60 years. It manifests itself as a sensation of pricking, insects crawling on the skin, burning, itching. It may seem that these actions occur on the arms, legs, back, neck, head.
Personality disintegration in old age
Patients can even define their feelings - lice are running around, worms are fiddling around, pricking themselves with needles. If such hallucinosis is burdened by the visual, then the problem doubles, and the sensations have a color, figurative representation.
For example, it seems that worms are crawling out from under the skin, and insects are running around. Some try to treat these skin manifestations.
Hallucinations in combination with a paronoid state
60-65 years old is the age of paranoids. Patients suffer from precognition based on unpleasant events. For example, they see death, theft, persecution, and the actors are close relatives and neighbors.
Further in age, verbal hallucinations join paranoid visions. The old man begins to see who is trying to cause pain and hostility to the family. They can think about such topics, which sometimes become out of the realm of fantasy.
Their thinking becomes confused and later manifests itself as memory impairment. The next day or after some time, older people will not remember what happened.
For mental disorders
An old person is exposed to mental illness, it can occur at a young age and last until old age, sometimes appearing only in old age.
Among these diseases: schizophrenia, epilepsy.
Support for relatives with hallucinations in the elderly
In addition to the listed species, there are varieties. The auditory and visual categories have subtypes: gustatory, olfactory, visual, vestibular.
Important! Doctors believe that it is impossible to save a patient from hallucinations of old age, since many diseases are natural to the past and cannot be treated.
Causes of hallucinations
All types of hallucinogenic manifestations can occur against the background of diseases, or they can occur spontaneously, without good reason. Let's consider these reasons.
Treatment of hallucinations in old age
Treatment of auditory hallucinations in the elderly should be carried out extremely delicately, because often the patient hears voices that tell him to act in one way or another. Unfortunately, this type of hallucination is the most common. Do not use folk remedies or advice from the Internet for treatment - this will only harm the patient! Treatment of sound hallucinations in the elderly is the exclusive prerogative of qualified doctors. For this diagnosis, the latest generation of sedatives and tranquilizers are used; in some cases, the body is cleansed of substances that caused hallucinations, and inpatient treatment is prescribed.
Treatment of visual hallucinations in the elderly follows a similar scenario. This is the second most common type of disease. To relieve the condition, the same drugs and techniques are used as for auditory hallucinations.
Causes of hallucinations
These phenomena may occur in the following diseases and cases: • schizophrenia and psychosis; • tumor or syphilis of the brain; • herpetic encephalitis; • alcoholic psychosis; • hypothermia; • cerebral atherosclerosis; • epilepsy; • some infectious diseases, for example, malaria, pneumonia, typhus; • poisoning with tetraethyl lead, etc.; • due to the use of drugs and hallucinogenic mushrooms and plants containing neurotoxic poison.
People have known about hallucinations for a long time, but in ancient times their meaning was special. Shamans specifically used so-called “sacred” mushrooms or plants that were considered divine, thanks to which they fell into a trance and saw “predictive visions.”
Many geniuses of the past, suffering from mental illness, alcoholism, or “indulging” in opium or morphine, experienced hallucinations. In their inflamed brains, reality intertwined with perception and the spiritual world, which allowed the birth of masterpieces of literature, music, painting, and science. It is enough to recall such names as Vrubel, Chopin, Edgar Poe, Maupassant, John Forbes Nash, Gogol, Goya, Yesenin, Vincent van Gogh.
Types of hallucinations
Hallucinations come in different forms:
1. Visual - a person sees images, pictures, bright or faded, static or entire scenes in which he himself participates.
2. Auditory - the patient hears non-existent sounds: voices calling to him, talking to him, whole phrases or individual words, encouraging or scolding.
3. Olfactory – sensation of different smells.
4. Gustatory – a sensation of taste in the mouth without the presence of an irritant. It can be both pleasant and disgusting.
5. Bodily – sensations on the body and in the body, quite unpleasant. The patient may feel that someone is crawling on him, grabbing his limbs, bubbles are bursting in the intestines, etc.
There are false hallucinations - they are not projected in external space, but exist only in the head. True hallucinations are very real, the patient sees them very accurately, as if from the outside, perceives them with the senses.
In addition, hallucinations are distinguished between simple and complex (a reflection of a hallucination of one or a combination of several senses). An example of the second can be given as follows: you see a monster, hear whispers, steps, and even feel cold from its touch. Such a hallucination develops depending on the personality of the patient, the characteristics of his psyche, complexes and self-hypnosis.
It is worth noting that the very content of the hallucination depends on the patient’s unconscious sphere and psyche, so it has a unique character, that is, it can be different and completely unexpected.
Features of the manifestation of hallucinations
There may be certain signs that an older person has developed delirium. You should definitely pay attention to them. At the slightest strangeness in the behavior or speech of an old man, you should immediately be wary.
If confusion persists or even worsens, you should seek medical help immediately.
Typically, hallucinations do not develop suddenly in older people. First, the general style of their behavior changes, they become unexpectedly angry, irritable, touchy, or, on the contrary, too kind. Such features sometimes indicate not only a mental disorder, but also the development of a severe internal illness.
Some old people dissimulate or hide their condition. Therefore, you should be especially vigilant and not take their word for suspicious behavior.
Relatives need to pay attention to:
- a conversation between an elderly person and himself;
- his desire to stop contact with the outside world:
- extreme untidiness;
- changes in facial expressions and hand movements that are not related to the current situation;
- unjustified aggression – verbal and non-verbal;
- constant desire to hear something;
- gaze directed into empty space;
- immersion in oneself too deeply;
- the desire to isolate yourself from loved ones;
- euphoria, etc.
The main danger for an elderly person and his loved ones is due to the fact that the old man does not comprehend reality.
In a delirious state, he is able to transfer the apartment to someone who seems to be a relative.
Under the influence of delusional fantasies, an elderly person may spill boiling water on himself, being sure that he is in the shower, fall from a balcony, thinking that he is getting out of bed, or eat something inedible, believing that he is having breakfast in a restaurant.
In extremely severe cases, aggression occurs, which can be directed at the old man himself or even his loved ones.
But the main danger lies in the rapid deterioration of the patient’s condition. Under the influence of a pathological condition, his blood pressure can rise significantly, a heart attack may occur, or an exacerbation of a chronic disease may occur.
In addition, confusion, which remains unnoticed by loved ones for a long time, often clearly signals increasing intoxication. If it is not quickly eliminated, it sometimes causes death.
How to get rid of hallucinations
People who do not experience this mental problem often make fun of hallucinations, since they are not given the opportunity to understand what they are and what the patients experience. Sometimes it is very scary, frightening and makes you doubt your mental health. At the same time, there are quite a few reasons for the origin of visions and sounds, so you should not delay, but you should contact the professionals of our Center as soon as possible. As a rule, the patient may not realize that they are hallucinating, and may experience severe fear, anxiety, and anger. This condition is more often noticed by loved ones, and it is they who should insist on a visit to the doctor.
First of all, the specialist will identify the “culprit” of the hallucinations. This could be poisoning, various disorders, or more serious problems that require careful examination. After this, treatment is prescribed - medication and psychotherapy.
You need to understand that you cannot hesitate in the presence of hallucinations, because in its advanced form it is much more difficult to cure such a disorder.
Treatment of hallucinations in the modern world is becoming increasingly important. This is due to increasing stress on the nervous system. Often, the appearance of hallucinations is regarded by a person as madness. However, in most cases, this is not the case.
The appearance of these symptoms, of course, is not a very good thing and indicates that a disease is emerging. Therefore, treatment for hallucinations must begin as quickly as possible. The sooner proper treatment is started, the greater the chances of a full recovery.
Features of delirium in the elderly
Hallucination is a pathology, the essence of which is that the real vision of the world is significantly distorted.
If an old man practically loses touch with the events of everyday reality, then he is diagnosed with a mental disorder. It is embodied in various images that are not related to the environment, and in no way reflects what is happening around the patient.
In other cases, the older person picks up on what loved ones say or do, but interprets their behavior in his own way.
In such cases, caring for him becomes much more difficult. If an elderly person practically does not comprehend the situation or reacts aggressively to his hallucinations, then caring for him at home becomes too difficult.
Why delirium occurs, medicine and psychiatry have still not found a clear answer.
Nevertheless, scientists have a number of assumptions that are quite close to the truth. Most often, a delirious state occurs due to painful changes in brain structures. They form an inadequate response to irritation of the organs of perception of reality and respond to them accordingly.
The main factors leading to the development of pathology are:
- Alzheimer's disease.
- Excessively low mobility of an elderly person. The need to remain in a lying position for a long time.
- Intoxication in old people suffering from cancer, disorders of the liver or endocrine system.
- Infections affecting the brain or nervous system.
- Loneliness and inability to compare your feelings with the real picture of what is happening.
- Internal diseases, neoplasms or brain injuries.
- Taking certain pharmacological drugs, the side effect of which is confusion.
- Too long and deep sleep. In some cases, hallucination may be a consequence of chronic lack of sleep as a result of insomnia.
- Chronic depression with fear of a deterioration in the general condition of an elderly person, the threat of contracting an incurable disease or a premonition of imminent death.
- Schizophrenia and some other specific causes.
Treatment of hallucinations
In some cases, hallucinations do not require active therapy and treatment is carried out on an outpatient basis, at home.
Hallucinations that require specific treatment are disturbances of perception that arise as a result of certain mental disorders.
Some hallucinations may occur against the background of severe fatigue, stress overload, and in the presence of certain somatic diseases.
Most often, hallucinations are characterized by the appearance in the patient’s mind of vivid images that do not exist in reality and, unlike illusions and mirages, do not have an objective basis.
Therapy for hallucinations is divided according to the type of manifestation.
Type of hallucinations
- auditory;
- visual;
- olfactory;
- tactile;
- muscular and visceral (general sensation);
- combined.
Depending on the content, hallucinations during therapy are divided into:
- true - connected with actually existing reality (for example, the voices of really existing people);
- false (pseudohallucinations) - in which a fictional reality displaces an objective picture of the world, while the patient is sure that they are caused by the influence of third forces (aliens, ill-wishers, etc.) on him.
Types of delirium
Older people experience their hallucinations differently. Therefore, doctors distinguish between true and false types (pseudohallucinations).
In the first case, it seems to the old person that what appeared before his mind’s eye is being embodied in reality. He is unable to distinguish one from the other. He completely lacks criticism of his condition. The patient is sure that he sees, hears or feels some things or objects that are not actually near him.
True hallucinations in the elderly are:
- Reflexive. They develop as a result of the fact that a particular sensory organ is overly irritated, but older people mistake this for an effect on another receptor. An example would be a situation where an old man hears the siren of a passing fire truck, and it seems to him that a fire is blazing right next to his bed.
- The functional appearance also stands out. Then the patient correctly perceives the events of the surrounding world, but interprets them in the most bizarre way. For example, he sees a nurse who brought breakfast, but believes that there is poison in the food.
- There are also spontaneous hallucinations that occur suddenly and are not associated with sharp stimuli.
With the development of false delirium, everything happens only in the imagination of an elderly person. He himself understands that reality has nothing to do with his fantasies. Nevertheless, it is sometimes so difficult for him to separate them from reality that he refuses to return to everyday life.
The pathological condition can affect the vestibular or tactile sphere, organs of taste, vision, smell or hearing. Sometimes there is a combination or other manifestations of hallucinatory syndrome.
When is Hallucination Treatment Required?
Common causes of hallucinations requiring specific treatment:
- mental disorders - schizophrenia and schizotypal, bipolar or post-traumatic disorders, psychotic depression;
- physiological factors affecting the central nervous system - Parkinson's disease, stroke, epilepsy, dementia, brain tumors;
- some infectious diseases (for example, syphilis and tuberculosis);
- lung, liver, or kidney failure;
- migraine;
- systemic hormonal and metabolic disorders;
- alcoholism and drug addiction (in particular when taking large doses, during periods of delirium, “withdrawal” and withdrawal syndrome).
Treatment of hallucinations after taking hallucinogenic mushrooms
Hallucinations also occur after taking certain types of mushrooms - psilocybin and fly agarics. In terms of their effects on humans, these mushrooms are similar to LSD; the symptoms of poisoning resemble manifestations of schizophrenia. Tremors, chills, and anxiety appear 15-20 minutes after administration. After them, unusual visions are noted, the sense of time and space disappears, and the person seems to observe himself from the outside.
Hallucinations of this type can be positive or negative, but in any case they require treatment. If the syndrome is negative, the patient experiences panic, aggression, and a tendency toward violence, and in some cases, suicide attempts occur.
Diagnostics
Diagnosis is based on the clinical picture and is aimed at differentiating this pathology from illusions that often arise in healthy people. The presence of hallucinations is determined by alertness and delirium, characteristic facial expressions, conversations with non-existent counterparties, reactions to non-existent images and events (closed eyes, plugging ears, attempts to hide, etc.). In practice, they practically never occur in isolation and, as a rule, are part of the symptoms of certain psychopathic disorders.
Treatment methods for hallucinations
Depending on the nature of hallucinations, they are treated by psychiatrists, neurologists, narcologists, infectious disease specialists, etc. The choice of treatment method depends on the true reasons for the formation of these symptoms.
Drug therapy is aimed at reducing agitation and eliminating hallucinatory states. To treat hallucinations, sedatives, tranquilizers and antipsychotics are used, and detoxification therapy is carried out. In severe cases, hospitalization in a hospital is indicated.
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