Personal experience of delirium

Agitated

Rashid is 75 and lives in a nursing home, as he struggled living alone. He is usually fairly independent and outgoing, and enjoys walking to the shops most days.

Over the past 3 days he has become upset. He doesn’t want to eat or drink anything. This isn’t like him. He usually likes his food and is an avid tea drinker. He doesn’t have an obvious sign of illness like a fever.

Then he starts to think that one of staff is his wife who died some years ago.

Do you think Rashid has signs of delirium? Is he more confused lately?

It turned out that Rashid’s medication was changed the day before all this started happening. This led to him experiencing delirium. He was back to his usual self after a few weeks.

Confused or acute psychiatric problem?

Joyce is an 85 year old retired teacher who still volunteers at her local primary school.

She went into hospital for gall bladder surgery. She was making a good recovery, so was due to go home soon. But one evening she began to wander around the ward. Then she began insisting she should go home and tried to drink washing up liquid.

The nurses did tests, but everything was normal. Staff wondered if she had an underlying mental health problem.

Do you think Joyce could be experiencing delirium. Is she more confused lately?

Joyce was actually experiencing an episode of delirium. This was because of being in a strange place, not having her glasses and the stress of the surgery. However, luckily it was caught early. She got her glasses back as well as other things from home. The nurses also gave her more support and in a few weeks she began to feel better.

Withdrawn or depressed?

Moreen is 67 year. She enjoys taking care of her grandchildren, playing cards with friends and golf with her partner. She fell ill with a chest infection and went into hospital. There she was given antibiotics to treat the infection This helped to improve her physical health.

However, she was also quite agitated. She said that her neighbours were spying on her and her partner, and plotting against them. Her partner though said they got on well with them. As a result, Moreen was given Haloperidol to treat these symptoms.

However, she seemed to withdraw into herself and stopped talking to staff or her partner. When she did she complained she felt tired all the time and didn’t feel like doing anything.

She was referred to see whether she had depression.

Do you think Moreen has signs of delirium? Is she more confused lately?

Actually, Moreen wasn’t talking as much as normal because she had lost her hearing aids. She couldn’t understand a word! The new medication was also making her tired and unable to enjoy anything. Once she got some new hearing aids, the dose of Haloperidol was adjusted. When she was back home she started to recover from the delirium.

Delirium or psychiatric episode

Lydia is 72 and has a long term diagnosis of bipolar disorder. She enjoys a number of hobbies. These include playing the piano, word puzzles and painting.

She went into hospital as her COPD lung disease problem had got much worse. There she began to get very upset and unsure about what was going on. Her husband, Tim, was worried and contacted Lydia’s usual psychiatrist. Tim told him ‘That’s not my wife!’ as her behaviour was so unusual.

Lydia didn’t recognise the psychiatrist when he visited her on the ward, despite knowing him for years. The ward doctor thinks her problem is a mental rather than a physical one.

Do you think Lydia has signs of delirium? Is she more confused lately?

Tests showed that Lydia had a minor urinary tract infection. She was in pain, though she hadn’t told the staff. This, as well as the lung disease problem and being in a strange place had helped to bring on the delirium. Once the infection and her COPD were treated and she went home, she began to get much better.