How to Handle Hallucinations and Delusions Effectively in Your Aging Parent

Elderly Care in Salisbury NC

If you are on an elderly care journey with an aging parent who has Parkinson’s disease, it is possible that you will encounter hallucinations and delusions as a part of your care experience. These issues are often linked to psychiatric conditions, but it is important to note that when they appear in a person with Parkinson’s disease they do not indicate that your senior has developed a new condition or is suffering from a psychiatric condition. Instead, these are effects of the disease itself and should be treated in conjunction with other elements of the disease as a part of a whole-person care approach. This means you must understand these symptoms and know how to approach them effectively in order to offer care that is compassionate, nurturing, and personalized to your parent’s specific needs.

Use these tips to help you handle hallucinations and delusions effectively in your aging parent:

• Acknowledge they are out of her control. The very nature of hallucinations and delusions can make it very difficult for you to understand what your parent is going through. Some of them can be so extreme that it seems that she is creating them or doing them willfully. It is important to remind yourself regularly that this is not the case. The sensory experiences of hallucinations and the irrational thoughts of delusions are not something that your parent makes up and cannot be controlled. They are very real and will make a serious impact on your parent just as anything that you perceive would make an impact on you.
• Avoid the urge to “correct.”  Again, these experiences and thoughts are completely real to your parent, so attempting to correct her or reason with her about what she is thinking, feeling, hearing, seeing, smelling, or otherwise dealing with is not going to do any good. In fact, it could create further agitation, frustration, and anger, and diminish the effectiveness of your care efforts. Put yourself in her place and try to imagine how you would feel if you saw a cat sitting on a chair in your living room and your child persistently told you that that cat was not there and that you needed to stop seeing it. Just as you would feel frustrated and possibly offended, so will your parent.
• Utilize therapeutic white lies. Honesty is essential to all relationships and should be utilized as much as possible with your parent, but there are times when you may need to stretch the definition of honesty a bit to help you handle what your parent is going through in a way that is compassionate and constructive. Consider it as being honest within the constructs of her current reality rather than your own. For example, if your mother is seeing that cat sitting on the chair, but it is not there, telling her that it is not there is not going to stop her from being anxious about it or wanting it out of the room. Instead, let her know that you will get the cat out of the room for her. This addresses her anxiety and helps her to feel better.

If you or an aging loved one are considering elderly care in Salisbury, NC, contact the caring professionals at TenderHearted Home Care today. Call us at (704) 612-4132

Source: http://www.parkinson.org/understanding-parkinsons/non-motor-symptoms/Psychosis