Hello, this is my first time posting here. Sorry to jump straight in with this, but I’m concerned and thought someone here may be able to help me.
My mum has been experiencing some hallucinations, mainly visual and I have noticed some small changes in behaviour. After googling extensively, I ended up on schizophrenia.com and what I read started to make sense of things. I think.
She is 65, and has a few health problems already. She has had a few minor strokes and angina, along with mobility issues. She lives alone, apart from her two dogs, and is a 40 min drive away, so I sometimes feel she may be a bit separated (although she has neighbours and friends that visit fairly frequently). I feel this is relevant as from what I have read, this could exacerbate schizophrenia.
My main cause for concern though, is her hallucinations. These started a year or so ago with ‘visions’ of scenery, someone being murdered and other people doing random things. Recently, this has progressed on to her seeing lizards quite a lot and believes all this is a result of her third eye being opened (pineal gland I believe). She says the visions come in waves and can calm down for a while and that her dogs seem to notice when this happens.
She is very stubborn and I’m not sure how to approach this subject with her, because she has already attributed all this to aliens and other such things. Very recently, she has started talking about David Icke and a website called in5d.
I’m sorry this post is so long and detailed, I’m just very worried and not sure if this even is schizophrenia and what to do about it if it is!
If anyone could shed any light at all, it would be most appreciated.
Of course. I wouldn’t expect anyone to be able to diagnose a person from some text. Just want some clarity that may be able to be provided by someone with more experience before broaching the subject.
I considered this, but memory doesn’t seem to much of a problem and she is very independent. Admittedly, I’ve not researched dementia thoroughly. What makes you think that?
imo be careful reading up what could it be, because you could be missing something that doctors know what to look for before making a diagnosis. I mean no offense.
Being lonely and isolated can cause hallucinations and false beliefs. Also read about EP. Epilepsia is not always grand mal. Sometimes you can’t see the episode. No jerking movements.
None taken. I managed to get her to go to a neurologist, who told us to go to a psychiatrist. Rather rudely too. But my mum has a hatred for docs in general. Only managed to get her to go that time because she was so scared. I kinda want to go in already having a good idea what’s wrong, so I can use it to convince her it’s necessary.
Appreciate you elaborating. I’ll look in to that more thoroughly. I suspected brain tumor at first and managed to get her scheduled for an MRI, but she opted not to go for it at the last minute as she had old fillings in and was afraid they’d pop in the scanner after reading about it online. She has a real fear of doctors and hospitals due to past experiences.
I’d like to direct you over to our Family forum, found at http://family.schizophrenia.com. While this forum is for people with schizophrenia and other closely related psychotic disorders, the Family forum is specifically for people like yourself, who have a loved one they are concerned about.
In your mother’s case, I strongly recommend that she talks to her family doctor about these new experiences. Her doctor should be able to determine which tests are necessary to understand what’s happening.