What hallucinations are associated with Parkinson's?
There are many side effects that the medications that are used to treat the symptoms of Parkinsons disease can create; and one of them includes hallucinations. The hallucinations that are caused by these medications are usually visual in form, they're sometimes auditory - people will hear things that are not actually there, or they can be what are called olfactory, or people will smell things that are not actually there. But far and away, the most common hallucination is of a visual nature, and people see very well formed hallucinations. They will see people in their home that are not actually present. They may see bugs on the floor, they may see an animal scurrying in the corner of the room or they may see their deceased parents sitting on the couch. These things are not uncommon, it's estimated that about a third of people who are treated for Parkinsons disease will experience these side effects at some point. They're not always as disruptive as they might sound to be, although if they continue over time, they can evolve into more troubling and frightening symptoms in some cases. Often, people who have these hallucinations are able to identify them as exactly that. They realise that this is a medication side effect, that the person is not exactly or truly there. On occasions, people don't have insight retained. They don't recognize that this is a medication side effect and not real, and in that circumstance it can at least be bewildering and sometimes downright frightening to people, if they think that there's a stranger in the home who may intend to do them harm. It can cause a great deal of difficulty for people.
