Hi Milly Mae , I haven't come across the situation you describe specifically with my two relatives who had/have dementia. However, does your mother in law suffer with macular degeneration in her eyesight as if so, there is a condition known as Charles Bonnet Syndrome hallucinations? My mother in law did suffer with this and it was nothing to do with her dementia (though perhaps it may be with other people). The Macular Society website will give you more info. on CB syndrome but I don't think will mention any link with dementia. Fortunately my MIL found it quite amusing when she could see animals that we couldn't see but they were very real to her. I can understand though that it could be very frightening, particularly when it is people you are seeing. Does she have a dementia professional involved in her care that you could discuss this with? Good luck. Hope you get some responses that can give you some helpful advice on how to deal with the distress this is causing.My ex-mother in law has recently been diagnosed with dementia or Alzheimer's. she keeps seeing people who aren't there and its distressing her. Any advice as to how I can deal with this, it's heart breaking to see her so distressed.
Oh Yes.... my Dad does that too! the house was full of people going to a meeting, some had come to stay on their way walking, there was a drunken man on the bathroom floor so he Dad said he couldn't go in there, Dad hid in the spare room under a small cover so that "they" couldn't find him, he regularly waved at people out of the window, and talked to "that lady over there", and asked as he pointed "whats her name then"........it can be very odd but also very waring especially at 1 a.m. after a whole day of it.My ex-mother in law has recently been diagnosed with dementia or Alzheimer's. she keeps seeing people who aren't there and its distressing her. Any advice as to how I can deal with this, it's heart breaking to see her so distressed.
My ex-mother in law has recently been diagnosed with dementia or Alzheimer's. she keeps seeing people who aren't there and its distressing her. Any advice as to how I can deal with this, it's heart breaking to see her so distressed.
It's a bit like the famous line 'I see dead people'
Now I take the approach that what she sees is real and I just reassure her. The other day there were lots of people in the dining room in the corner and she'd had to shout at them all to leave she was going to call the police (she can't use the phone now). She was anxious so I told her that I would phone the police and that I would call earlier the next day just in case the 'people' returned.
she got really upset over something that happened on Hi-de-hi.
If you can get hold of Martin Slevin's book "The Little Girl in the Radiator", have a read. His Mum used to talk to a little girl trapped in her radiator - when she moved to a care home, it moved with her. She also once saw a full Irish band performing that no one else saw. It took him years to understand that the little girl was his Mum in younger years, helplessly trapped in a situation she did not understand.