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A person with delirium is often disoriented with regards to:
The date.
The month.
The year.
The time of day.
They may be confused about where they are and who any other person is. Sudden reduced concentration and alertness can occur. Their family or carers may find them to be overactive (hyper) or quite lethargic (hypo) or difficult to wake up.
Changes to behaviour or the way the person communicates is common.
The family may find it more difficult to follow the person’s conversation. When they talk they can be easily distracted and change topic a number of times. Disorganised thinking and a sense of being misunderstood can make the person feel frustrated and act in an aggressive way.
The person may suddenly start having hallucinations (seeing or hearing things that are not there) or talking about strange experiences. Their hallucinations and thoughts can be very frightening, and the person may act to escape them.
The person might become suspicious. They may think they are being watched (because of that, they may get frightened of any interaction with others) or they might think that food and drinks are being poisoned.
People who have had delirium say they:
Felt unsure of their whereabouts.
Worried that other people were trying to harm them.
Felt afraid, irritable, anxious or depressed.
Felt slow and sleepy.
Felt agitated and restless.
Had vivid dreams that continued when they woke up.
Found it hard to follow what is being said.
Found it difficult to speak clearly.
Saw and heard things that were not there.
Video
Watch the video below from Dr Mani Krishnan, hashtag ‘icanpreventDELIRIUM’ for more information.
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