
Hallucinations in a Patient with Alzheimer’s Disease During the COVID-19 Crisis: A Case Study
Author(s) -
Mohamad El Haj,
Frank Larøi,
Karim Gallouj
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
journal of alzheimer's disease reports
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
ISSN - 2542-4823
DOI - 10.3233/adr-200241
Subject(s) - covid-19 , disease , pandemic , medicine , psychology , psychiatry , virology , infectious disease (medical specialty) , outbreak
While social distancing may be deemed necessary in order to avoid COVID-19 infections, the lockdown may impact mental health of patients with Alzheimer’s disease (AD). We present a case study involving hallucinations in a patient with AD who lives in a nursing home during the COVID-19 crisis. We compared this patient’s hallucination scores before and during the lockdown. We observed increased hallucinations during, compared to before, the lockdown. These increased hallucinations can be attributed to a number of elements such as the decreased in daily activities, social distancing, lack of physical contact with family members, and loneliness during the lockdown.