Are Delusions and Hallucinations a Part of Alzheimer’s, or Could They be Caused by a Medication?
A hallucination is a sensory experience that is not shared by other people. While a hallucination might involve any of the five senses, people most often experience auditory and visual hallucinations. Delusions are not necessarily sensory in nature; rather, they are rigidly held belief structures that remain fixed despite the presence of conflicting evidence. The presence of both hallucinations and delusions can be the result of the disease’s progression or the side effects of certain drugs.
If you believe that a loved one’s medication may be inducing hallucinations or delusions, speak with their doctor. Information on hallucinations or delusions can also be found through your pharmacist or by visiting the website for the medication in question. Even if you believe that a medication is causing hallucinations or delusions, you should always speak to a doctor before discontinuing usage because it is often dangerous to abruptly disrupt any medicinal regiment. Physicians will often suggest that you gradually reduce usage over time until it is safe to stop.
However, the presence of hallucinations and delusions may not be related to drug use - they could simply be symptoms of a progressing case of dementia. Yet, since each individual’s experience with the disease and its progression is unique, it is difficult to predict who will and who will not experience hallucinations and delusions as a natural part of dementia.
As a general rule of thumb, if a hallucination or a delusion is a “friendly” one (meaning it does not cause distress to the individual or those around them), the caregiver should not disrupt the hallucination or delusion. It may be best to “go with the flow.”
When dealing with hallucinations, validation is essential. If your loved one believes they see and/or hear someone who is not actually there, you could ask, “Who is your friend?” “What is their name?” and “Are they friendly?”
However, should the hallucinations or delusions be of a more distressing nature, the situation becomes increasingly difficult. Commonly experienced delusions that are of a more distressing nature include belief structures such as: “A person is trying to break into my house and rob me,” or, “Someone is trying to kill me.” In this situation, validation may also be somewhat helpful. It may be necessary for the caregiver to use “therapeutic fibs” (meaning you are telling a half-truth for the good of the loved one). For example, if your loved one is afraid that there is an armed robber in the house, you might say that you are also afraid, but you called the police and the authorities have arrested the stranger. While this may temporarily alleviate your loved one’s anxieties, the hallucinations and delusions may persist over time. If this is the case, you should consult your doctor.
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