Phychriatric hospital

[Jessigucci]

hi I’m new to all this ! My nan is in middle/late stage of dementia she has recently been detained under the mental health act to go into a phychriatric hospital due to hallucinations and talking to objects and things and getting violent she has been in just over a week and we have been told that it’s going to be at least 6 weeks before they even think about discharge we are quite concerned about the amount of medication they are giving her to try to keep her calm and relaxed and to try stop hallucinating.Has anyone else been in this situation ? What happens next ? Should we be preparing for worst case scenario?

Regards
Jess

 

[nae sporran]

Hullo and welcome to Talking Point, Jess.
I don't actually have any experience of what your nan is going through, but I can imagine it is a stressful time for your family. You will get better advice from others, but I hope the factsheet on the link can help you. As it references other factsheets I've given the full list too.

https://www.alzheimers.org.uk/sites...al_and_psychological_symptoms_in_dementia.pdf

https://www.alzheimers.org.uk/get-support/publications-factsheets-full-list

 

[YorkshireLass]

hi I’m new to all this ! My nan is in middle/late stage of dementia she has recently been detained under the mental health act to go into a phychriatric hospital due to hallucinations and talking to objects and things and getting violent she has been in just over a week and we have been told that it’s going to be at least 6 weeks before they even think about discharge we are quite concerned about the amount of medication they are giving her to try to keep her calm and relaxed and to try stop hallucinating.Has anyone else been in this situation ? What happens next ? Should we be preparing for worst case scenario?

Regards
Jess

Hi and welcome to the forum. I don't have any advice for you but I'm sure some members will be along who have. My mum has Alzheimer's and is blind. She has started having hallucinations and can become quite agitated and distressed. So far it has been manageable but earlier on I spoke with the Elderly Care Psychiatric Consultant as seeing her in this state was dreadful. There weren't any positive outcomes as he wouldn't medicate and suggested a solution would be for the care home to employ more staff. At that point sadly I realised we were on our own. Hopefully the medication for your nan will be adjusted over time and she will be on a dose that makes her as comfortable as possible. xxx

 

[Jessigucci]

Hi and welcome to the forum. I don't have any advice for you but I'm sure some members will be along who have. My mum has Alzheimer's and is blind. She has started having hallucinations and can become quite agitated and distressed. So far it has been manageable but earlier on I spoke with the Elderly Care Psychiatric Consultant as seeing her in this state was dreadful. There weren't any positive outcomes as he wouldn't medicate and suggested a solution would be for the care home to employ more staff. At that point sadly I realised we were on our own. Hopefully the medication for your nan will be adjusted over time and she will be on a dose that makes her as comfortable as possible. xxx

Thankyou for your reply I just feel like they are just feeding her tablets to kind of send her to sleep because she is quite disturbed it’s so sad and upsetting to see her like this x

 

[Jessigucci]

Thankyou for your reply I just feel like they are just feeding her tablets to kind of send her to sleep because she is quite disturbed it’s so sad and upsetting to see her like this x

I hope your mum doesn’t get any worse and hope the hallucinations pass it’s such an awful disease x

 

[Kevinl]

Hi Jessi, welcome to TP
My wife was sectioned originally for 4 weeks, turned out to be 6 months in the end. That was in January 2016 so over 2,5 years ago now, after that she moved into an EMI nursing home along with 4 others who'd been sectioned with her, at the time she was only 62.
Sadly 2 of the 5 have passed away but they were in their late 80's, my wife and 2 other are still going strong in the nursing home.
Getting sectioned was in some ways the best thing that could have happened strange though it may sound, but for once someone did something, all kinds of medications, combinations and doses were tested until a level of stability was found that worked. Some medications made her sick, some made her a bit of a zombie and a fall risk but there were always doctors and nurses there constantly evaluating the situation, I can't speak highly enough about the level of care she got there.
Going into the system via the secure assessment/psychiatric hospital route is probably the worse way to go in if it's your first experience of the care system as it is pretty "hard core" in some of these places but sometimes, as in my wife's case it was definitely for the best.
There's a link to my original thread at the time below, it was hard then but it worked out for the best, I can hardly believe that was over 2.5 years ago now.
K
https://forum.alzheimers.org.uk/threads/kevinl-that-was-a-week-to-remember.89276/

 

[YorkshireLass]

Thankyou for your reply I just feel like they are just feeding her tablets to kind of send her to sleep because she is quite disturbed it’s so sad and upsetting to see her like this x

I know how you feel it is all so sad and we want things to be so much better for them and for us because we love them so much. To be honest I am at a stage where as long as my mum is calm I am grateful. Sometimes that means she is in bed and unresponsive as she may well have been awake day and night for the last 48 hours or more. She's exhausted. I sit by her bed, give her a kiss and hold her hand and as I watch her peacefully sleeping. I at least feel she is away from the confusion and torment for a while. Fingers crossed with your nan that they will begin to decrease the medication to a point where she is more awake but less distressed. It is pleasing that they are doing something to help her settle, it will take a while for the medication dosage to be right for her. xxx

 

[Distressed55]

Hi @Jessigucci

I just wanted to second what @Kevinl said. It's horrible for you, but the hospital will help. They will monitor your nan's behaviour very closely whilst they get her medication correct. It may take a while but they will get there. And in view of your nan's age, it may take them a bit longer before they start talking to you about a potential discharge. So she is in safe hands. Ask as many questions as you like, talk to the doctors and nurses about her, and they will be able to give you support too.

 

[Angela57]

My dad was sectioned and in a phsychitratric hospital for nine months. He went straight to an EMI unit from there, but it was lovely to see dad more stable and less tortured mentally in the end. It was for the best.

They will try different medications to find what keeps your nan most comfortable and less confused and agitated, it can take time, it was explained to me that each new combination of medication needs a couple of months to see what the true outcome is, and during that time, they tweak the dosages. Your nan will be closely monitored.

During the nine months, I attended several meetings about dad, and everything was explained to me on a regular basis. I hope that you are kept informed, because it helped me to understand that everything they did was in dad's best interest.

 

[DonnaTr]

hi I’m new to all this ! My nan is in middle/late stage of dementia she has recently been detained under the mental health act to go into a phychriatric hospital due to hallucinations and talking to objects and things and getting violent she has been in just over a week and we have been told that it’s going to be at least 6 weeks before they even think about discharge we are quite concerned about the amount of medication they are giving her to try to keep her calm and relaxed and to try stop hallucinating.Has anyone else been in this situation ? What happens next ? Should we be preparing for worst case scenario?

Regards
Jess

Hi Jess,

My mum was diagnosed with vascular dementia about a year ago. Since about 6 month ago she’s has become increasingly aggressive, which culminated in her threatening to attack my daughter.

She was taken away to a psychiatric generatric facility. They told me she had been sectioned for 28 days because she was attacking staff.

They staff are administering haloperidol as and when. I think they are planning on starting her on something more frequently.

She’s gone downhill within one week. I feel bad for saying this but I hope my mum goes quietly in the night. I don’t want to see her suffer.

They will probably reassess your mum at the end of the 6 month.

I have prepared myself for the worst case scenario because haloperidol has some serious side effects.