How to relieve hallucinations. Hallucinations - symptoms and treatment. Treatment for alcoholic hallucinosis

The appearance of hallucinations is a cause for concern not only for the person suffering from them, but also for his relatives. In some cases they are considered a sign of severe mental disorders. In no case this situation cannot be ignored, you should consult a doctor who, using medicinal correction will improve the patient's condition. Our article will tell you how to get rid of hallucinations using medications.

The occurrence of hallucinations requires immediate appeal to a specialist. Most often, the responsibility for treatment falls on the shoulders of the patient’s relatives, since usually the latter do not understand the seriousness of the situation and are in no hurry to see a specialist. Before treating hallucinations, it is necessary to consult a doctor, who, before prescribing treatment, establishes the cause that caused this problem and, in accordance with it, establishes adequate therapy.

If this state caused by medications, then you should not only stop taking them, but also rid the body of intoxication. When auditory hallucinations occur simultaneously with visual ones, the patient must be hospitalized in a hospital. Today there are different medications, helping to cure different types hallucinations.

Important! Before prescribing treatment for mental illness or dementia, the doctor must be warned, since some types of pills can worsen the course of the disease.

Neuroleptics

Therapy for hallucinations is most often carried out with the help of medications belonging to the group of antipsychotics, which cope with this problem quite successfully. Neuroleptics are psychotropic drugs intended to eliminate neurological and psychological problems. However, these drugs have many side effects, although today there are antipsychotics modern generation, which are more secure than the previous one.

New generation drugs help not only cure hallucinations, but also relieve muscle tension and provide mild hypnotic effect, clarify the thought process. The most popular drugs that help treat hallucinatory-delusional syndrome today include:

Tranquilizers

Often, treatment of hallucinations requires the use of tranquilizers that have a sedative effect. Tranquilizers relieve panic, anxiety, stress, depression, and help eliminate hallucinations. These drugs will help reduce internal tension, without affecting cognitive processes. Tranquilizers for hallucinations are prescribed if the pathology is caused by an increased anxiety state. The most prescribed drugs include:

Antidepressants

Drugs that are active against depression and help with mental disorders associated with weakened motor activity, autonomic disorders, decreased mood, and loss of reality are called antidepressants. The most commonly prescribed antidepressants for hallucinations include the following medications.

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Classmates

Hallucinations refer to pathological perception, which manifests itself in the form of certain images or sensations that arise spontaneously without the influence of a real stimulus or object, acquiring the character of objective reality for a sick person.

Hallucinations in the elderly are integral part many psychopathological syndromes and accompany various mental illnesses. In addition, hallucinations after a stroke, with metabolic pathologies and disorders in the neuropsychic sphere are a fairly common phenomenon. The mechanism of development of hallucinations is not fully understood, but it is clearly known that their occurrence is based on the pathology of those brain structures that are responsible for perceiving stimuli from the surrounding world and forming a response to them.

Classification of hallucinations

Hallucinations in older people in relation to subjective reality are divided into true and pseudohallucinations. True hallucinations are:

• spontaneous - occur without any stimulus;
• reflex - arise in one analyzer during real irritation of another;
• functional - occur when the corresponding analyzer is irritated, but are perceived by patients in a curved form.

Depending on in which analyzer the pathological perception occurs, hallucinations are divided into visual, olfactory, with impaired hearing, taste and tactile sensitivity, vestibular and others. It is worth noting that auditory and visual hallucinations most often occur, which manifest themselves geometric shapes, photomoms (light flashes) or more complex forms (patients can see fantastic creatures, various objects, people, plants and animals).

What are the causes of illness in elderly patients?

The appearance of any hallucinations indicates a significant impairment mental activity, which can develop when:

• various mental pathologies, for example, epilepsy or schizophrenia;
• psychoses of infectious origin;
• hallucinations due to acute or chronic intoxication;
• at organic damage brain, especially in the presence of tumors;
• when exposed to hallucinogens;
• when taking certain medicines(some antibacterial and antiviral drugs, sulfonamides, drugs used to treat tuberculosis, anticonvulsants, antihistamines and antihypertensive drugs, psychostimulants, tranquilizers and many others);
• with sensory and social isolation;
• temporary visual hallucinations in older people can be caused by taking medications with psychodysleptic properties;
• with disturbances in the mechanism of alternation of sleep and periods of wakefulness.

It is worth noting that psychopathological symptoms among elderly patients are observed when various states. Clinical manifestations These disorders depend on the underlying disease.

The acute onset of senile hallucinations is characteristic of delirium; it can also develop with various somatic diseases, as well as in case of abuse psychoactive substances or upon admission individual drugs that can cause psychosis. The chronic course of hallucinations and their stable nature are characteristic of chronic schizophrenia, as well as for psychoses developing against the background of chronic somatic pathology or Alzheimer's disease.

In addition, hallucinations are quite common in Parkinson's disease. Thus, approximately 20−60% of patients develop psychotic disorders. In most cases they are called external influences, although they can also occur with internal disorders, for example, with the development of a neurodegenerative process that develops in nerve cells, responsible for the synthesis of dopamine.

It is worth noting that most antiparkinsonian drugs, if taken incorrectly, can cause the development of psychotic symptoms. When treating hallucinations that develop against the background of Parkinson's disease, we must remember that people in old age have increased sensitivity to antipsychotic drugs. In this case, clozapine becomes the drug of choice in most cases.

In addition, cholinesterase inhibitors can be used, which lead to a reduction in psychotic symptoms and improve cognitive function in this pathology. It is worth noting that there are a number of other factors that increase the likelihood of hallucinations in old age:

• damage to the cerebral cortex in the frontal or temporal region, which is caused by age-related changes;
• neurochemical disorders associated with the aging process;
• social isolation of older people;
• insufficiency of sensory organs;
• pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic age-related disorders;
• polypharmacy, which can also cause hallucinations in the elderly.

If your grandparent is hallucinating, prehospital stage It is important to ensure the safety of both the patient and others, since often the behavior of people with hallucinations includes actions that pose a danger, which can cause significant injury.
Acute manifestations of hallucinations must be eliminated in a hospital setting. A thorough examination of the patient requires an examination by a neurologist, psychiatrist, narcologist and oncologist.

How to treat hallucinations should be determined in individually. In elderly patients, treatment of hallucinations should be carried out taking into account the etiology of their occurrence and with parallel treatment of the underlying disease. Most often prescribed antipsychotic drugs and neuroleptics. The following side effects are possible when taking them:

• extrapyramidal disorders - dystonia, dyskinesia, akathisia;
• anticholinergic effects, which include dry mouth, difficulty urinating, and constipation;
• hypersalivation;
• postural hypotension;
• changes from digestive system and liver;
• weight gain and disruption of the pancreas, which can provoke the occurrence of acute pancreatitis and pancreatic necrosis.

That is why hallucinations in older people should be treated under the supervision of a doctor with strict adherence to the prescribed dosage. For hallucinogenic syndrome, the use of sedatives, tranquilizers, and detoxification drugs is also indicated. After subsiding acute manifestations psychosocial and cognitive behavioral therapy is indicated.

Any attempts to explain to the patient that he is a victim of hallucinations do not bring any benefit. positive effect- a person completely lacks a critical attitude towards his condition, and he does not realize the harmfulness of these phenomena. That is why, when hallucinations occur in elderly patients, they can be hospitalized in an inpatient psychiatric department without their consent, only on the direction of a doctor who monitors him constantly or at the time of an attack.

Alcohol hallucinations are considered one of the signs of alcoholic psychosis. The mirage that occurs from alcohol most often progresses with a long course of the disease, that is, with dependence on alcoholic beverages. Highest probability The occurrence of alcoholic hallucinosis occurs with many years of alcohol abuse.

Every tenth person who drinks alcohol in excessive quantities is prone to developing hallucinatory syndrome. Visions last from one day to several years. This directly depends on the condition of the human body, timely consultation with a doctor and other factors.

Alcohol overdose is accompanied by anxiety, fear, depression, after which hallucinations appear. It is already extremely difficult to cure such forms. Human, alcohol addiction which has lasted for more than ten years, is at an extreme point of risk, his body is weakened. These patients are the most difficult to treat.

Kinds

There are several types of hallucinatory syndromes. They are divided depending on the symptoms and characteristics of the disease.

Signs of hallucinosis

Treatment is selected depending on the symptoms. Typically, hallucinations in alcoholism occur unexpectedly. Most often, a few days before the first visions appear, a person feels anxiety, internal tension and a feeling of oppression. Due to constant drinking, he cannot control his consciousness. Around him he hears noises, voices that scold him, threaten him, and speak bad messages. Patients say that during hallucinations it seems to them that walls, objects, people, and otherworldly forces are talking to them.

Often noises are combined with optical illusion. As a result, patients see a certain picture of “what is happening.” It seems to a person that they want to beat him, kill him, harm his family and friends. At this moment the level of anxiety is the same as when real danger. Patients try to do everything to protect themselves. At the same time, they can run away from home, hide in garages, in the forest, in the country; they want to quickly leave the place of danger and “save” themselves. The symptoms are similar to those when a person uses a hallucinogenic drug. Often such messages can lead him to attempt suicide.

The duration directly depends on the severity, i.e. in a reduced form, hallucinosis can last up to two days, with medium degree- up to three, and in severe cases - up to five.

Disease progression

During hallucinations after a binge, the most difficult times come for a person. Hard times. The victim simply cannot control the situation, many fragments of his life are erased from his memory, the person confuses all the information he has ever known. Hallucinations after heavy drinking may not begin to “pursue” the patient immediately, but only on the third or fourth day after intoxication. But it may also be that they appear on the seventh to tenth day. This process is individual for each patient.

The drunken period may end neurological disorder. After constant stress, against the backdrop of a passion for such drinks, alcoholic psychoses which appear from uncontrolled drinking. The patient experiences stress, his sleep is disturbed, his nervous system is shaken, and as a result, hallucinations occur. A person suffers from toxic brain damage.

Treatment methods for alcoholic hallucinosis

Getting rid of hallucinations is not as easy as it might seem at first glance.

The main rule: under no circumstances should you be treated at home. In any case, the help of specialists is needed.

overcome this terrible disease Only a narcologist can help. The patient will need to go to a drug treatment hospital to be under constant supervision of experienced people.

There are three main approaches to getting rid of such an illness: detoxification treatment, antipsychotic therapy, and psychotherapeutic treatment. All of them, taken together, can help the patient overcome the severity.

1. Detoxification treatment is the cleansing of the body from toxic products. Solutions are used for this procedure. For example, Reopoliglyukin, Reosorbilakt, Hemodez. To maintain brain function, nootropic drugs are used: Piracetam, Mexidol.
2. Antipsychotic therapy is carried out differently in each individual case. Neuroleptics, electric shock, and insulin therapy are used.
3. After completing the basic procedures, the person is given assistance to return to normal life.

Only a doctor will prescribe a specific method for you. We remind you that this disease cannot be cured. traditional methods Houses. Only a serious approach to the disease will lead to a positive result.

Prognosis for recovery

It is impossible to determine exactly how long it will take full recovery. This period will be different for each patient. It is important to remember that this is a progressive disease, and therefore, the sooner you start eliminating the disease, the sooner you can recover. Also important factor for a favorable prognosis is complete failure from alcohol.

The body needs to be completely cleansed of all “destroyers”, and clarity of consciousness must be restored. Only with successful medical care does a person have a chance to live on, be healthy and happy.

Hallucinations are a cause for concern, whether you experience them yourself or observe them in another person. Mild cases of hallucinations can be successfully treated at home, but severe or chronic cases require mandatory medical intervention.

Steps

Part 1

Home treatment (self-help)

Understand the nature of hallucinations. Hallucinations can affect any of the five senses - sight, hearing, taste, smell or touch - and can be based on the most different reasons. However, in any case, the person experiences them while conscious, and they seem absolutely real.

• Most hallucinations are disorienting and discomfort, but some seem interesting or enjoyable.
• If you hear voices, such hallucinations are called auditory; if you see non-existent people, objects, light - these are visual hallucinations. The feeling of insects or something else crawling on the skin is a common tactile hallucination.

1. Take your temperature. High body temperature can cause hallucinations of varying severity, especially in children and the elderly. Even if you're not in one of these age categories, it can cause hallucinations, so it's best to check if you have a fever.

2. Get enough sleep. Mild to moderate hallucinations can be caused by severe lack of sleep. Severe cases Hallucinations usually have other causes, but lack of sleep can make them worse.

   • An adult needs an average of seven to nine hours of sleep a night. If you are currently suffering from severe sleep deprivation, you may even need to increase this amount by a few hours until your body recovers.
   • Daytime sleep may be disrupted normal cycle sleep and lead to insomnia and, as a result, to hallucinations. If your sleep pattern is off, try to establish a normal routine.

3. Manage stress more effectively. Anxiety states is another common cause of mild cases of hallucinations, but can also intensify severe hallucinations caused by other causes. If you learn to minimize the psychological and physical stress, this may help reduce the frequency and severity of hallucinations.

   • To reduce physical stress, you need to maintain water balance body and get enough rest. Regular light to medium physical exercise They will also improve your overall health and relieve you of symptoms caused by stress, including mild forms of hallucinations.

4. Recognize when it's time to ask for help. If you are unable to distinguish reality from a hallucination, you should seek emergency medical help immediately.

   • If you are experiencing mild hallucinations, but these are happening again and again, you should also make an appointment with your doctor, as they are most likely due to medical reasons. This is especially likely if general measures to improve well-being did not bring any effect.
   • If you are experiencing hallucinations accompanied by other severe symptoms, you also need emergency health care. Such symptoms include discoloration of lips or nails, chest pain, clammy skin, confusion, loss of consciousness, high temperature, vomiting, fast or slow pulse, difficulty breathing, injury, seizures, sharp pain in the stomach or behavioral disorders.

   Part 2

   Home treatment (helping others)

   1. Learn to recognize the symptoms. People who experience hallucinations may not talk about it openly. In such cases, you need to know how to identify the wrong obvious signs hallucinations.

      • A person experiencing auditory hallucinations may not notice others and actively talk to themselves. He may seek solitude or listen to music obsessively in an attempt to drown out the voices.
      • A person whose eyes are focused on something that you cannot see may experience visual hallucinations.
      • If a person scratches or shakes off something invisible to the eye, this may be a sign of tactile (tactile) hallucinations, if he pinches his nose for no reason - hallucinations associated with the sense of smell. Spitting out food may be a symptom of taste hallucinations.

   2. Keep calm. If you need to help someone who is hallucinating, it is important to remain calm throughout.

      • Hallucinations can be a source increased anxiety, so that the patient may be in a state of panic. If stress or panic increases because of you, it will only make the situation worse.
      • If someone you know is hallucinating, you should also discuss this with them when they are not hallucinating. Ask what it might be probable cause, and what kind of support you can offer.

   3. Explain what is really happening. Calmly explain to the patient that you do not see, hear, touch, taste or smell what he is describing.

      • Speak directly and without accusing anything, so as not to upset the patient.
      • If the hallucinations are mild or moderate and the person has experienced hallucinations before, you can also try to explain to them that what they are experiencing is not real.
      • Those who are experiencing hallucinations for the first time, as well as those who suffer from severe hallucinations, may not be able to recognize that they are hallucinating and act aggressively in response to your doubts.

   4. Distract the patient. Depending on the circumstances, it can be useful to distract the person by changing the topic of conversation or moving to another location.

      • This advice is suitable for cases of mild to moderate hallucinations, but you may not be able to influence someone who is experiencing severe hallucinations.

   5. Encourage the person to seek professional help. If someone you know suffers from recurring hallucinations, be persistent in encouraging them to seek medical or psychological help.

      • Talk to the person when they are not hallucinating. Discuss the seriousness of the situation and share any knowledge you have regarding possible reasons and solutions to the problem. Your approach should be one of love and support. Never take an accusatory position.

   6. Continue to monitor the situation. When hallucinations worsen, they can become a threat to the safety of the patient himself or others.

      • When it comes to safety, immediately call an ambulance.
      • If hallucinations are accompanied by other severe physical symptoms, or if the patient is no longer able to distinguish hallucinations from reality, emergency medical attention is also required.

   Part 3

   Health care

   1. Diagnose and treat the root cause. Hallucinations are typical symptom certain mental disorders, but can also be caused by a number of physiological reasons. The only way to rid a person of hallucinations is long term– cure the cause that causes them.

      • Psychiatric causes include schizophrenia, schizoid and schizotypal personality disorder, psychotic depression, post-traumatic disorder and bipolar disorder.
      • Physiological factors affecting the central nervous system, can also cause hallucinations. These include brain tumors, delirium, dementia, epilepsy, stroke and Parkinson's disease.
      • Some infectious diseases eg infections Bladder or lung infections can also cause hallucinations. Some people experience hallucinations during migraines.
      • Using drugs or alcohol can also cause hallucinations, especially when taking large doses or during the period of discontinuation of use (withdrawal syndrome, or “withdrawal”).

   2. Take antipsychotic medications. Antipsychotics, also known as antipsychotics, are most often used to help control hallucinations. These medications may be prescribed to treat hallucinations caused by both mental and physiological reasons, especially when other treatments are unavailable or insufficient.

      • Clozapine, atypical antipsychotic, is usually prescribed in dosages of 6 to 50 mg per day, depending on the severity of the hallucinations. The dose should be increased gradually to prevent complications. Your blood counts should be monitored regularly while being treated with this drug, as it can lower your white blood cell count to dangerous levels.
      • Quetiapine is another atypical antipsychotic used to treat hallucinations. It is generally less effective than clozapine in most cases, but is also safer.
      • Cocaine, LSD, amphetamines, marijuana, heroin, ketamine, phencyclidine, ecstasy are all hallucinogens.
      • Hallucinations can appear not only when using drugs, but also when stopping abruptly. However, hallucinations caused withdrawal syndrome, can usually be treated with antipsychotic medications.

   3. See a therapist regularly. Cognitive behavioral therapy, in particular, may help some patients who suffer from recurring hallucinations, especially those caused by psychological disorders.

      • This therapy examines and evaluates a person's feelings and thoughts. Having discovered probable psychological reasons problem, a professional psychotherapist can develop strategies to help the patient cope with it and reduce symptoms.

   4. Find group therapy opportunities. Classes in help and self-help groups can help reduce the severity and frequency of hallucinations, especially auditory hallucinations caused by psychological reasons.

      • Help groups teach patients to stay in touch with reality and help them separate hallucinations from real life.
      • Self-help groups motivate people to take responsibility for their hallucinations, thereby helping them control and cope with them.

Hallucinations are imaginary feelings that can begin without action. external stimuli. This is a mistake on the part of the senses, as they perceive false sounds and smells. The patient sees or hears something that in reality does not exist at all. Many people are interested in the question of what to do if hallucinations began and who should I contact?

What to do when hallucinations start?

When hallucinations begin, you need to contact one of the specialists - a psychiatrist, oncologist, narcologist or neurologist, who, in addition to the main treatment, will always prescribe individual treatment. In severe cases, hospitalization of the patient is necessary. There are several types of hallucinations. These include: visual, auditory, olfactory, gustatory, tactile, bodily.

Each type...

With visual hallucinations, the client is able to observe pictures that real life does not exist. May occur due to excess alcohol or drug poisoning. At auditory hallucinations the client hears sounds and voices that are not there at all. Occurs in schizophrenia or after alcohol poisoning.

Olfactory is the sensation of a smell that does not exist. In schizophrenia, bad odors are felt. Gustatory is the sensation of a taste stimulus. Tactile hallucinations are when the patient feels objects that do not exist. Bodily are unpleasant sensations in the body itself. Occurs in schizophrenia or encephalitis.