Tag Archives: hallucinations

The Imaginary Visitor

I did a little research on people with Alzheimer’s disease experiencing hallucinations because of my grandmother. She is progressing from mild into moderate Alzheimer’s disease and has been experiencing hallucinations from time to time. I remember her calling through the house, looking for her mother (who passed away in 1998). She told stories of a little white dog she saw running through our backyard (that no one else ever saw). Lately, the hallucinations have been becoming more frequent. Last week, she told my mother a story about a stranger coming to the door. According to my grandmother, the doorbell rang … Continue reading →

Alzheimer’s Disease: Hallucinations

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 … Continue reading →

Helping Your Friend or Family Member through a Psychotic Episode

Watching a loved one go through psychosis is a heart-breaking process, especially for parents. Not knowing what to do compounds the problem and causes more stress, both for the sufferer and the family member alike. Knowledge is power and there are many things that family and friends can do to help. 1. Find out as much about psychosis as you can. Knowing the typical behavior patterns of a person going through a psychotic episode will assist you to recognize the early signs of the condition, seek earlier intervention, and develop your own set of coping skills to better deal with … Continue reading →

Amphetamines: What Do They Do?

Originally used as a treatment for asthma and as a nasal decongestant, amphetamines were first manufactured as early as 1887. Because they suppress the appetite, amphetamines were often used to assist in weight loss. Amphetamines are still prescribes for certain forms of narcolepsy (a sleeping disorder where the person falls asleep unexpectedly) and for ADHD, Ritalin being one of the more famous amphetamines used for medical purposes today. Street amphetamines, by contrast, are made in homemade labs and hence are not manufactured under the strict guidelines of pharmaceutical-grade drugs. Hence the raw ingredient, often sources from drugstores as nasal decongestants … Continue reading →

Understanding Psychosis

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The phenomenon of psychosis affects a person’s thoughts, perceptions, emotions and consequently, behavior. Around 3% of the population will experience psychosis during the course of their lifetime, so the condition cannot be regarded as rare. However one in one hundred people who suffer from psychosis will only have one event. The remainder will go on to have many breaks with reality and be in need of medical intervention. It is likely that you know someone who has had a psychotic episode. A person experiencing a psychotic episode will have disordered thought patterns and experience difficulty in distinguishing what is reality … Continue reading →

Childhood schizophrenia

Any parent would be concerned if their child was experiencing voices or seeing objects or people that weren’t really there. Where there is disturbed social interaction, the presence of a voice or voices speaking in negative terms to and about the child, in conjunction with evidence of the child talking to him or herself, there could be cause for a diagnosis of childhood schizophrenia. Schizophrenia can be difficult to positively diagnose in adolescence and young adulthood. It is even more fraught with difficulties when dealing with young children. The age of the child and stage of development must be considered … Continue reading →

Symptoms of schizophrenia

Schizophrenia is such a complex illness that diagnosis can be delayed due to the confusing array of behaviors that characterize the condition. However, because it is an illness that mostly strikes in the late teens and early twenties, it is important to be informed of the symptoms of this erratic and disturbing illness. People who suffer from schizophrenia do not all display the same types of symptoms. Not only do they vary from person to person, but they differ for the same person over time. Often correct diagnosis and appropriate treatment can be delayed for this reason. In some cases, … Continue reading →

The minefield of schizophrenia (1)

Having a family member diagnosed with schizophrenia is distressing enough, but having to deal with the terminology and language of schizophrenia can be a nightmare in its own right. Here is a short glossary of terms that are frequently used by mental health professionals to describe the common characteristics of this puzzling and disturbing illness. • Acute episode The period of the illness when severe symptoms, including hallucinations and delusions, are experienced. • Affect A synonym for “mood” and refers to the outward expression of emotion. Persons suffering from schizophrenia may be described as having “flat effect” meaning that little … Continue reading →

Schizophrenia: Diagnostic Symptoms

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Schizophrenia is a very complex disorder and affects many or all of the functions that we rely on to successfully get through each day. The condition typically includes delusions (irrational beliefs) and hallucinations (sensory experiences in the absence of actual events). Schizophrenia is also one of the disorders that include psychotic episodes. We will look at a couple of case studies of people suffering from this disorder in future blogs. Meanwhile, we will look at the symptomology of this puzzling and tragic illness. The DSM-IV-TR lists the following criteria for a positive diagnosis of schizophrenia: 1. Two or more of … Continue reading →