As Alzheimer’s disease advances, a person may begin to experience hallucinations. These sensory experiences seem completely real to the person with Alzheimer’s disease.
The most common hallucinations involve sight (seeing something that isn’t really there) and sound (hearing something that isn’t really there). That doesn’t mean the other senses can’t be involved too. Hallucinations can also involve taste, smell, and touch.
What should a caretaker or family member do if a loved one is having hallucinations? Your response can vary depending on several things:
- What is the hallucination?
- Is it upsetting the person? Frightening them?
When a hallucination is upsetting or disturbing, the best thing you can do is be reassuring. Tell the person that you are here to help — don’t accuse them of imagining things or making things up. To a person with Alzheimer’s disease, the hallucination is very real. It might upset them further to have someone disbelieve them.
Your best bet is to try to redirect the person onto another activity — something that will distract them from the hallucination and the negative feelings. Ask them to help with an easy household task — unload the dishwasher or fold laundry — or have them join you in a game.
Sometimes, a hallucination can be harmless. A person might see something pleasant outside the window. There’s no reason to tell them that nothing is there.
As the caretaker, it’s important that you don’t get upset or agitated if you can help it. You getting upset is only going to make the person with Alzheimer’s disease pick up on the mood and become more agitated. That’s often easier said than done — someone you love is seeing things that aren’t really there. There’s a certain instinctive urge to correct them, and a desire to bring them back to reality.