She imagined a small boy came to visit her also...I think that was just a dream. Hearing voices...is that due to her severe hearing loss or could it be some early sign of dementia? She is 91 and mentally still pretty sharp.
I have heard stories about hearing aids picking up a radio signal but I'm not sure if that is true. Newer hearing aids are very specialized. Since your mom is so specific about what she hears, it's not static, obviously. I'd just watch her closely. She may doze off or just become lonely and sleepy and either dream or imagine the voices.
Some dementia can cause people to hear a voice, but since she shows no other signs of an issue, there is likely some simpler explanation. Even so, I'd talk to her doctor about it. Take care, Carol
I have heard that hearing aids can pick up the signal from a radio station, there may be a lose solder connection in her hearing aid, have them checked out for her. Also, I have heard that people can experience tinnitus, and it presents differently in different people. Also people have picked up radio wave signals through dental implants and other devices inplanted in their bodies.
I have heard that hearing aids can pick up the signal from a radio station, there may be a loose solder connection in her hearing aid, have them checked out for her. Also, I have heard that people can experience tinnitus, and it presents differently in different people. Also people have picked up radio wave signals through dental implants and other devices inplanted in their bodies.
I have hearing aids my battery reminder is a mans voice in left ear and woman's in the right. Could be that ar she is just dreaming. My mom hears things all the time awake or asleep. If she is not stressed about it just let it go. My mom is 97. So I leather have her little things.
My dad (88) does not wear hearing aids and he both hears people singing usually at night and has also 'seen' a man dressed as a soldier in his bedroom. He primary care physician did not seem concerned when we told her about the singing. My dad functions fairly well as long as he keeps to a routine. Should I be concerned?
My mom experienced the exact same thing. We all figured it was because of her dementia. She heard a man singing opera and kept asking us if we heard him, too !
For an unrelated reason, we happened to take her to the audiologist - who found that Mom had shoved a hearing aid battery into each ear. It took the ENT, using his super-duper ear vacuum, to suck the batteries (with tabs still attached) out of Mom's ears. She hasn't heard the opera singer since.
A friend of mine who is an audiologist told me that it's not uncommon for an elderly person with dementia to mistakenly put batteries directly in their ears instead of in the hearing aid. She's seen it happen quite often.
The batteries may very well be picking up some signal, but I suggest you definitely rule this out as a reason by taking her to the ENT ASAP.
My mother has also heard singing so clearly she thought the people next door were playing the stereo. Just ask your mom what the song is!! There was Three Blind Mice and also a song I didn't recognize. She sang it for me: "I'm coming, I'm coming for my head is bending low: I hear those gentle voices calling, Old Black Joe.
I googled "Old Black Joe" and wiki said it was now considered racist and making fun of Old Black Joe, a slave. Hearing it from the lips of my 83-year-old mother with dementia and where she and my father are now in life I know that is not what this is about.
I learned the words and we sang it together. It helped distract from the annoyance of hearing a song and it brought me into her world, too-- and history. I think of such sharing with my mother as a precious window into the past that will soon close from living memory, since this song was old even when my mother was a child in the 1930s:
OLD BLACK JOE Gone are the days when my heart was young and gay, Gone are my friends from the cotton fields away, Gone from the earth to a better land I know, I hear their gentle voices calling "Old Black Joe". Chorus I’m coming, I’m coming, for my head is bending low: I hear those gentle voices calling, "Old Black Joe".
My mom, who also wore a hearing aid until she lost it, used to hear music a lot...but it was church hymns! ;-) Could be worse. She had tinnitus too, but it seemed like the music thing was just a long phase of the dementia perhaps.
Ginach. I don't think you need to be concerned about the apparitions your Dad is seeing. Do live in a very old house? They could be previous residents.
You may need to replace the hearing aid or just the batteries. I notice when I hug one of our neighbors her hearing aid gives off a high pitched sound. They are malfunctioning somehow.
My Mum hears a little boy crying, and we have a whole story about this abused child which varies slightly each time she talks about it. She is in the early stages of alz/dementia and is in an old peoples home. It worries her a lot but she lives in the UK and we live in RSA! When my sister and myself visited last year, my sister would tell her it's in her head - I would accept what she was telling me as truth. My way helped her - my sister's way upset her!
My Mom, 95, was hearing hymns, too! But she was a church organist for 75 years, so I just thought she was replaying them "in her head". Finally I told her it was the "heavenly choir", and she hasn't mentioned it since!! Humor and distraction seem to work best with her.
kisna; Many people (myself included) believe spirit guides can appear when we're ready to see them. I know of individuals who saw them as children, and a few who could continue to see them into adulthood. I think all of us are more likely to see them in our dream state, because we are more receptive when we shut off our conscious programming. (Most of us forget our dreams when we wake up, so we don't remember this contact.) People who are near death are also sometimes more receptive. So in other words, one does not have to be near death to see or hear spirit guides. But it's not unusual to perceive them the closer we are to death (which I believe is a transition into another form of existence). :)
I agree this is nothing to be concerned about. Take Mom's word for what she is seeing and hearing and join in if she welcomes the interaction. Once you have the person's trust you will hear all kinds of stories. Some are incredibly outlandish and when you discuss it with the family they will often laugh and have an explanation. Spiritual visitors or guides are very common usually in the last weeks of life and seem to be very comforting. Sometimes other family members can see them too, but the most outsiders will usually feel is a change in temperature . One visiting nurse sat on a chair beside the bed and quickly got up because she thought it was wet. One of the daughters laughed and said that was where the skeleton sat. Apparently the skeleton of a young girl kept vigil at the bedside and the patient refused to be turned towards her. The family employed two Sharmens and they made separate journeys and I don't know where but when they came back they had the same information that this child had met an unpleasant end. When the patient died the skeleton morphed into a beautiful angel and left presumable with the soul of the departed. make what you will of that I was never in the house, the patient was non verbal and only the one daughter said she saw anything
May I suggest "forget Mom has 'dementia'." and consider other factors.
Sometimes I think it's the rest of us who have Dementia.... Not the ones closer to the end of their earth life.
From my experience being around seniors, and others, I find the closer one nears the age or medical point of 'crossing over', the 'veil' between the physical world and after life / astral planes/ other planes on the Other Side becomes a lot easier for the person to access visually or auditorially.
Suggestion - ask your Mom if she is getting "visited". She may be seeing people from the Other Side that she knows and some she's meeting coming to help her prepare to cross over.
She may experience this in a lucid / awake state or when asleep or even in the twilight sleep mode.
She might also start " time traveling" and remembering or meeting people she wouldn't know from this lifetime.
It's normal. Nothing to fear. A lot of people don't want to talk about this as they are afraid of getting labeled as "demented", "weird", "schizophrenic", etc.
Anti-psychotic meds can also make it easier for someone to come and go from the Other Side.
There are "spiritual enhancement paths" available if you want to learn more about this sort of experience. Not just seniors have these experiences. Many young children can do this, ("imaginary friends"), and only as we age and society tries to tell us this isn't "real" or to "stop talking about it", do people who do this start blocking out the experience.
If you want to connect more with your Mom on this - interview her and keep an open mind. Keep a Journal. Let her tell you about her Dreams and Journal these. You can help her put together her own dream symbol dictionary to help her interpret dreams. Usually dreams are either: precognitive, information applicable to daily life, past life or karma related.
Can your Mom still write? Ask her to transcribe what she's hearing or listening to. If she is getting visited offer to be introduced to people. My Mom was able to "translate" conversations between relatives on the Other Side and me. It was interesting and I learned a lot later confirmed with research... Things my Mom wouldn't have probably known in this lifetime. ( like the name of the boat her grandfather who died before she was born, came over on from Ireland.)
There is a lot that the field of psychology and psychiatry needs yet to do to help bridge the understanding between mental psychosis and metaphysics. The professional books cry to be updated. I believe a lot of psychic people (clairvoyant or clairaudient ) get mislabeled.
Then there is a lot that is flat out unexplained. As a kid I could pick up radio stations and sing whatever song a certain local station was playing at that time. The tower was near my home. Somehow I could hear it but more at a subliminal level. There are other things I just do that are normal for me and background for my life.
Your Mom may have Dementia but there may be other things she's experiencing that are not Dementia. She may be acquiring spiritual gifts (as listed in the Bible and other spiritual teachings).
If she is scared or concerned - you could teach her to sing HU. ( Hyoooo) Some spiritual paths use that word - which means God - as a meditation focus word for "protection" and "comfort."
For more on out of body experience - you can look into: Unity, Unitarian, Rosecrucians, or ECKANKAR, or any of the "old secret teachings" such as Sufism, Ekumkar, Jesuit, Kabala, Ancient Greek Mystery Schools, etc.
Good luck! Keep an open mind. You have a rare gift opportunity from your Mom if you accept it.
What your Mom has is called "Musical Ear Syndrome". It is a form of Virtigo. It is not well known yet to ENT's. My Dad (85yrs) had hearing aids also had Music in his ears (head). It started shortly after my Mom got very ill and we all knew she did not have long to live. The night she passed away, my dad told me about the Music. He was embarrassed and kept it from me, thinking I might find him crazy. What played in his ear (head) was the "Mens Tabernacle Choir" with a beautiful organist. He could change the song by just "thinking" of a different song. Many nights, I would hear him singing "Old Man River". How strange, I thought! But figured he just was singing and he was not the singing type. It was so disturbing to him because he could not sleep or think or concentrate. It was in his head all the time. I took him to the best EMT I could find and they could not find anything wrong with him. I know my dad REALLY did here the music and was not making up anything. I decided to research this myself in great detail and talk to everyone I knew. This is what I found out....MUSICAL EAR SYMDROME" is a VERY REAL CONDITION. It mostly occurs in older people with hearing problems. It is brought on by STRESS/ CHANGES in their LIFE (like loss of spouse/companion) or anticipation of losing someone close & LONELINESS. There are no medications for this. My dad passed away 6 weeks after my mom of "BROKEN HEART SYMDROME" (which is also a VERY REAL CONDITION). I hope this helps you.
My Dad was an avid radio operator of many kinds of equipment. He taught me how to build a transistor radio in a small Tupperware cup with lid, when I was about 10, teaching me much about how things worked, in the process of that, as well as all the time I got to spend with him while he was doing Civil Defense, Ham radio [with crystal sets & tube-filled equipment], CB radio, etc., and encouraged studying various sciences--it was really fun--he coulda given Mr. Wizard & Bill Nye The Science Guy, some real competition!
Historically, hearing aids HAVE picked up radio signals--it's been measured for decades--so have the old silver/mercury tooth fillings, especially if there were dissimilar metals on other teeth--that's been joked about for decades, but it's real. Not sure how on earth only the batteries could do that by themselves, though--maybe that's kinda like how tooth fillings do it? Dissimilar metals close together, cause measurable electrical charges.
Our modern world is -permeated- with radio signals of all kinds, both man-made and naturally occurring, including cell phones, computer components, radios, TV's, toasters, pacemakers, hearing aids, --anything with wireless-- signal capacity-- just consider how many wireless appliances you have in your possession/use, that signal other things--even simple clock auto-sets! Then there are electrical lines, which, while not "wireless" DO still emit signals, which can be picked up, measured, and CAN interfere with other things, as well as some people. Certain more easily adversely affected people MAY be those who have a larger number of microscopic particles of magnetite in each cell [these help with ability to sense directions--those who lack enough, get lost more easily!].
In the 1900's, most signals were actual radio & TV. Houses & buildings had relatively little wiring. Fewer main trunk lines of various wired Grids covered the land [electric, cable, phone, etc.] Towards the end of that century, we've developed, built & used so many other appliances, using both wireless & Wired Grids, which also use radio frequencies to travel, or that carry signals of various kinds---it's mind-boggling!
Radio frequencies travel in specified set bandwidths [like controlling traffic] [hope I'm remembering right terms here]; there are only a certain number of frequencies/bandwidths; perhaps more signals than can fit--kinda like rush hour of major freeways-- trying to travel them may cause some overlap/interaction of signals [like accidents on freeways?!]. Particular frequencies may act to push otherwise unheard signals---enough so the brain [which is, after all, electrically & chemically driven] to hear sounds which others may not yet be able to pick up on--particularly in elders who have less-than-fully-functioning bodies & minds.
No, an appliance shouldn't [without intent] signal another sort of appliance to function wrong. BUT...appliances CAN be interrupted: Chaney [of Halliburton] recently had a go-'round with Docs & suppliers of pacemakers, I believe? because he wanted one that no terrorist could manipulate via radio signals and shut his off by remote control.
Some folks hear Dog Whistles that aren't supposed to be audible to humans, either!
I recently heard that the British are stopping all FM radio signals there, permanently, imminently. I think this is related to the drastic increases of other equipment wanting to use those frequencies, & that radio can be via internet or cable, instead [though that's maybe not a good idea--the Brits, of all people, should know that--for security reasons!--this measure is also being promoted in the USA, unfortunately]
That said... There ARE other common causes of hearing sounds that seem not to exist; few go looking for these: ==Pressure compressing ear tissues, or even the neck & jaw areas, reduces blood flow & lymph circulation-- nerves might be pinched, which potentially can cause sounds in the ears--especially if Cranial nerves are compressed. This may include Tinnitus sounds & diagnosed that, or, ==Sounds in ears can be caused by vitamin/mineral/good fats deficiencies, as a nerve malfunction can be related to deficiencies; ==The person could potentially be strongly remembering sounds; the memories are so "loud" it SEEMS as if they are really hearing them again--brains can do this trick; ==The affected person may be taking a number of medications, many of which, alone or in combinations, can trigger the brain into hearing sounds no others can hear. ==MAYbe the person is one who is able to hear "the Hum"--one type is the naturally occurring frequency of the earth. Some are able to hear the hum of the worldwide HAARP arrays [military/gov't use], which resemble a giant generator spinning & carrying variable signals on it almost like Morse Code the way it vacillates---sometimes that can resemble music, or trigger memories of music, those 2 blending in the person's mind. Some buildings conduct these frequencies, even magnify them, better than others. Both can be measured using proper instruments. It can be a bother to hear these, or the person can learn to ignore them. As far as I can observe, the HAARP signaling has not stopped in over 50 years since the first one was built--signaling has increased using this system, only profoundly stopping entirely, for about 24 hours when 911 happened--then it resumed--it's a VERY busy conduit for signals. ==The person has mental issues.
BEFORE calling it a mental issue [which might cause more drastic meds to be used, which could cause more problems], or relegating it to dementia effects: ==I'd put some humor-spin on it, whatever that might be for the person affected. ==I'd also check the meds being used, to see if any of those cause tinnitus, for instance, or, that may cause blood discrasias or other conditions that could cause electrical signaling to be a bit haywire in the brain, or otherwise stimming hearing things. ==Check the ears for wax plugs or batteries, & check the hearing aids to make sure those are working right--they can malfunction & cause sounds, too! ==If they are lucid/coherent: try assuring them that aging may cause brain chemistry to work a bit differently, which might seem like hearing sounds that others may not hear--as long as it's not distressing, it should be OK, but may ask the Doc.. ==Ask questions to make sure "voices" are not telling the person bad things. ==See if those sounds "go away" by simply shutting off power mains to the home if they are at home--can't really do that in a facility-- --if one is motivated to try it, one could make a simple, portable Faraday Cage using aluminum window screen, wiring it so it can plug into ONLY the ground hole on the wall socket, then fully cloaking the elder from head to toe with that, to see if those sounds go away. ==If someone is into dementias, reassure them; fear is a constant part of their existence- far better to say stuff like "maybe it's angels singing to you a lullaby" than scarier things. ==PLEASE just avoid "gas-lighting" a lucid person, or saying things that might scare them.
My Dad was an avid radio operator of many kinds of equipment. He taught me how to build a transistor radio in a small Tupperware cup with lid, when I was about 10, teaching me much about how things worked, in the process of that, as well as all the time I got to spend with him while he was doing Civil Defense, Ham radio [with crystal sets & tube-filled equipment], CB radio, etc., and encouraged studying various sciences--it was really fun--he coulda given Mr. Wizard & Bill Nye The Science Guy, some real competition!
Historically, hearing aids HAVE picked up radio signals--it's been measured for decades--so have the old silver/mercury tooth fillings, especially if there were dissimilar metals on other teeth--that's been joked about for decades, but it's real. Not sure how on earth only the batteries could do that by themselves, though--maybe that's kinda like how tooth fillings do it? Dissimilar metals close together, cause measurable electrical charges.
Our modern world is -permeated- with radio signals of all kinds, both man-made and naturally occurring, including cell phones, computer components, radios, TV's, toasters, pacemakers, hearing aids, --anything with wireless-- signal capacity-- just consider how many wireless appliances you have in your possession/use, that signal other things--even simple clock auto-sets! Then there are electrical lines, which, while not "wireless" DO still emit signals, which can be picked up, measured, and CAN interfere with other things, as well as some people. Certain more easily adversely affected people MAY be those who have a larger number of microscopic particles of magnetite in each cell [these help with ability to sense directions--those who lack enough, get lost more easily!].
In the 1900's, most signals were actual radio & TV. Houses & buildings had relatively little wiring. Fewer main trunk lines of various wired Grids covered the land [electric, cable, phone, etc.] Towards the end of that century, we've developed, built & used so many other appliances, using both wireless & Wired Grids, which also use radio frequencies to travel, or that carry signals of various kinds---it's mind-boggling!
Radio frequencies travel in specified set bandwidths [like controlling traffic] [hope I'm remembering right terms here]; there are only a certain number of frequencies/bandwidths; perhaps more signals than can fit--kinda like rush hour of major freeways-- trying to travel them may cause some overlap/interaction of signals [like accidents on freeways?!]. Particular frequencies may act to push otherwise unheard signals---enough so the brain [which is, after all, electrically & chemically driven] to hear sounds which others may not yet be able to pick up on--particularly in elders who have less-than-fully-functioning bodies & minds.
No, an appliance shouldn't [without intent] signal another sort of appliance to function wrong. BUT...appliances CAN be interrupted: Chaney [of Halliburton] recently had a go-'round with Docs & suppliers of pacemakers, I believe? because he wanted one that no terrorist could manipulate via radio signals and shut his off by remote control.
Some folks hear Dog Whistles that aren't supposed to be audible to humans, either!
I recently heard that the British are stopping all FM radio signals there, permanently, imminently. I think this is related to the drastic increases of other equipment wanting to use those frequencies, & that radio can be via internet or cable, instead [though that's maybe not a good idea--the Brits, of all people, should know that--for security reasons!--this measure is also being promoted in the USA, unfortunately]
That said... There ARE other common causes of hearing sounds that seem not to exist; few go looking for these: ==Pressure compressing ear tissues, or even the neck & jaw areas, reduces blood flow & lymph circulation-- nerves might be pinched, which potentially can cause sounds in the ears--especially if Cranial nerves are compressed. This may include Tinnitus sounds & diagnosed that, or, ==Sounds in ears can be caused by vitamin/mineral/good fats deficiencies, as a nerve malfunction can be related to deficiencies; ==The person could potentially be strongly remembering sounds; the memories are so "loud" it SEEMS as if they are really hearing them again--brains can do this trick; ==The affected person may be taking a number of medications, many of which, alone or in combinations, can trigger the brain into hearing sounds no others can hear. ==MAYbe the person is one who is able to hear "the Hum"--one type is the naturally occurring frequency of the earth. Some are able to hear the hum of the worldwide HAARP arrays [military/gov't use], which resemble a giant generator spinning & carrying variable signals on it almost like Morse Code the way it vacillates---sometimes that can resemble music, or trigger memories of music, those 2 blending in the person's mind. Some buildings conduct these frequencies, even magnify them, better than others. Both can be measured using proper instruments. It can be a bother to hear these, or the person can learn to ignore them. As far as I can observe, the HAARP signaling has not stopped in over 50 years since the first one was built--signaling has increased using this system, only profoundly stopping entirely, for about 24 hours when 911 happened--then it resumed--it's a VERY busy conduit for signals. ==The person has mental issues.
BEFORE calling it a mental issue [which might cause more drastic meds to be used, which could cause more problems], or relegating it to dementia effects: ==I'd put some humor-spin on it, whatever that might be for the person affected. ==I'd also check the meds being used, to see if any of those cause tinnitus, for instance, or, that may cause blood discrasias or other conditions that could cause electrical signaling to be a bit haywire in the brain, or otherwise stimming hearing things. ==Check the ears for wax plugs or batteries, & check the hearing aids to make sure those are working right--they can malfunction & cause sounds, too! ==If they are lucid/coherent: try assuring them that aging may cause brain chemistry to work a bit differently, which might seem like hearing sounds that others may not hear--as long as it's not distressing, it should be OK, but may ask the Doc.. ==Ask questions to make sure "voices" are not telling the person bad things. ==See if those sounds "go away" by simply shutting off power mains to the home if they are at home--can't really do that in a facility-- --if one is motivated to try it, one could make a simple, portable Faraday Cage using aluminum window screen, wiring it so it can plug into ONLY the ground hole on the wall socket, then fully cloaking the elder from head to toe with that, to see if those sounds go away. ==If someone is into dementias, reassure them; fear is a constant part of their existence- far better to say stuff like "maybe it's angels singing to you a lullaby" than scarier things. ==PLEASE just avoid "gas-lighting" a lucid person, or saying things that might scare them.
i have tinnitis and hear sirens a lot. shortly thereafter i almost always run over stop sticks and blow out my front tires. im starting to think the events are related.
What some are calling spirit guides I might call angels - maybe angels are visiting your mother and she can actually see them and/or hear them...I happen to believe that angels accompany us on this earthly journey and if we are willing to see without fearing them, they sometimes will allow us to see them and/or hear them...I would consider it a good thing. Grace
SuziQ, your Mom is not nuts nor is this phenomena necessarily related to dementia. It is called "Musical Ear Syndrome," and if you go to Amazon and type Musical Ear Syndrome you will find a book by Neil Bauman, PhD who explains this disorder. In a nutshell, it is not unusual for people who are becoming deaf to "hear" music in their heads. This is very real to them. About two years ago my father began to experience this. He swore he heard a man singing outside in their back yard. This was so real to him that he called the police to ask them to tell the guy to shut up! Of course, when they came, there was nobody there, even though my Dad swore he could still hear him. A couple of times he went outside in the dead of winter in the middle of the night to tell the guy to be quiet! Of course there was nobody there. Dr. Bauman posits that when someone is becoming deaf, their brain makes up noises to replace the sounds they can no longer hear. We noticed that this never happened when Dad would wear his hearing aids, only when he did not.
We bought the book for dad so he could read for himself that there IS an explanation for this. We wondered if what Dad was hearing was a memory of himself singing, since my dad sang tenor in the church choir for about 50 years. When he heard this man singing, it was always church hymns.
He was so determined to prove us wrong that the next time he heard the singing, he said it was a baritone and he didn't know the song. I just laughed out loud at that one! My mother, who also sang in church choirs from childhood, said she heard a choir singing. She thought it was carolers on the lawn, even though it was the middle of summer. But she heard a choir singing Christmas music.
We finally convinced Dad to wear his hearing aids every day, and these events tapered off. The more he hears and is engaged in what is going on around him, the less he hears these sounds in his head. Once Dad stopped hearing music, Mom did too. Can't really explain that...
From time to time if he hasn't been wearing his hearing aids, he will hear singing or hear a man talking to him. He asks if we hear it too, and we tell him "Sorry, no." We don't argue with him about it, because it is very real to him.
Hope this helps! Buy the book and share it with your mom. Good luck!
Hallucinations are either visual or audible, but seldom both. My grandfather saw people, movies, birds with sticks as his kidneys failed. My daughter heard music with her brain cancer, but had no visual problems. This can be caused by: lesions on the brain stem (often resulting from a stroke). A CT scan can determine if the brain has damage.
Some dementia can cause people to hear a voice, but since she shows no other signs of an issue, there is likely some simpler explanation. Even so, I'd talk to her doctor about it.
Take care,
Carol
For an unrelated reason, we happened to take her to the audiologist - who found that Mom had shoved a hearing aid battery into each ear. It took the ENT, using his super-duper ear vacuum, to suck the batteries (with tabs still attached) out of Mom's ears. She hasn't heard the opera singer since.
A friend of mine who is an audiologist told me that it's not uncommon for an elderly person with dementia to mistakenly put batteries directly in their ears instead of in the hearing aid. She's seen it happen quite often.
The batteries may very well be picking up some signal, but I suggest you definitely rule this out as a reason by taking her to the ENT ASAP.
I googled "Old Black Joe" and wiki said it was now considered racist and making fun of Old Black Joe, a slave. Hearing it from the lips of my 83-year-old mother with dementia and where she and my father are now in life I know that is not what this is about.
I learned the words and we sang it together. It helped distract from the annoyance of hearing a song and it brought me into her world, too-- and history. I think of such sharing with my mother as a precious window into the past that will soon close from living memory, since this song was old even when my mother was a child in the 1930s:
OLD BLACK JOE
Gone are the days when my heart was young and gay,
Gone are my friends from the cotton fields away,
Gone from the earth to a better land I know,
I hear their gentle voices calling "Old Black Joe".
Chorus
I’m coming, I’m coming, for my head is bending low:
I hear those gentle voices calling, "Old Black Joe".
Sometimes I think it's the rest of us who have Dementia.... Not the ones closer to the end of their earth life.
From my experience being around seniors, and others, I find the closer one nears the age or medical point of 'crossing over', the 'veil' between the physical world and after life / astral planes/ other planes on the Other Side becomes a lot easier for the person to access visually or auditorially.
Suggestion - ask your Mom if she is getting "visited". She may be seeing people from the Other Side that she knows and some she's meeting coming to help her prepare to cross over.
She may experience this in a lucid / awake state or when asleep or even in the twilight sleep mode.
She might also start " time traveling" and remembering or meeting people she wouldn't know from this lifetime.
It's normal. Nothing to fear. A lot of people don't want to talk about this as they are afraid of getting labeled as "demented", "weird", "schizophrenic", etc.
Anti-psychotic meds can also make it easier for someone to come and go from the Other Side.
There are "spiritual enhancement paths" available if you want to learn more about this sort of experience. Not just seniors have these experiences. Many young children can do this, ("imaginary friends"), and only as we age and society tries to tell us this isn't "real" or to "stop talking about it", do people who do this start blocking out the experience.
If you want to connect more with your Mom on this - interview her and keep an open mind. Keep a Journal. Let her tell you about her Dreams and Journal these. You can help her put together her own dream symbol dictionary to help her interpret dreams. Usually dreams are either: precognitive, information applicable to daily life, past life or karma related.
Can your Mom still write? Ask her to transcribe what she's hearing or listening to. If she is getting visited offer to be introduced to people. My Mom was able to "translate" conversations between relatives on the Other Side and me. It was interesting and I learned a lot later confirmed with research... Things my Mom wouldn't have probably known in this lifetime. ( like the name of the boat her grandfather who died before she was born, came over on from Ireland.)
There is a lot that the field of psychology and psychiatry needs yet to do to help bridge the understanding between mental psychosis and metaphysics. The professional books cry to be updated. I believe a lot of psychic people (clairvoyant or clairaudient ) get mislabeled.
Then there is a lot that is flat out unexplained. As a kid I could pick up radio stations and sing whatever song a certain local station was playing at that time. The tower was near my home. Somehow I could hear it but more at a subliminal level. There are other things I just do that are normal for me and background for my life.
Your Mom may have Dementia but there may be other things she's experiencing that are not Dementia. She may be acquiring spiritual gifts (as listed in the Bible and other spiritual teachings).
If she is scared or concerned - you could teach her to sing HU. ( Hyoooo) Some spiritual paths use that word - which means God - as a meditation focus word for "protection" and "comfort."
For more on out of body experience - you can look into: Unity, Unitarian, Rosecrucians, or ECKANKAR, or any of the "old secret teachings" such as Sufism, Ekumkar, Jesuit, Kabala, Ancient Greek Mystery Schools, etc.
Good luck! Keep an open mind.
You have a rare gift opportunity from your Mom if you accept it.
organist. He could change the song by just "thinking" of a different song. Many nights, I would hear him singing "Old Man River". How strange, I thought! But figured he just was singing and he was not the singing type. It was so disturbing to him because he could not sleep or think or concentrate. It was in his head all
the time. I took him to the best EMT I could find and they could not find anything wrong with him. I know my dad REALLY did here the music and was not making up anything. I decided to research this myself in great detail and talk to everyone I knew. This is what I found out....MUSICAL EAR SYMDROME" is a VERY REAL
CONDITION. It mostly occurs in older people with hearing problems. It is brought on by STRESS/ CHANGES in their LIFE (like loss of spouse/companion) or anticipation of losing someone close & LONELINESS. There are no medications for this. My dad passed away 6 weeks after my mom of "BROKEN HEART SYMDROME" (which is also a VERY REAL CONDITION). I hope this helps you.
My Dad was an avid radio operator of many kinds of equipment.
He taught me how to build a transistor radio in a small Tupperware cup with lid, when I was about 10, teaching me much about how things worked, in the process of that, as well as all the time I got to spend with him while he was doing Civil Defense, Ham radio [with crystal sets & tube-filled equipment], CB radio, etc., and encouraged studying various sciences--it was really fun--he coulda given Mr. Wizard & Bill Nye The Science Guy, some real competition!
Historically, hearing aids HAVE picked up radio signals--it's been measured for decades--so have the old silver/mercury tooth fillings, especially if there were dissimilar metals on other teeth--that's been joked about for decades, but it's real.
Not sure how on earth only the batteries could do that by themselves, though--maybe that's kinda like how tooth fillings do it? Dissimilar metals close together, cause measurable electrical charges.
Our modern world is -permeated- with radio signals of all kinds, both man-made and naturally occurring, including cell phones, computer components, radios, TV's, toasters, pacemakers, hearing aids, --anything with wireless-- signal capacity-- just consider how many wireless appliances you have in your possession/use, that signal other things--even simple clock auto-sets! Then there are electrical lines, which, while not "wireless" DO still emit signals, which can be picked up, measured, and CAN interfere with other things, as well as some people.
Certain more easily adversely affected people MAY be those who have a larger number of microscopic particles of magnetite in each cell [these help with ability to sense directions--those who lack enough, get lost more easily!].
In the 1900's, most signals were actual radio & TV.
Houses & buildings had relatively little wiring.
Fewer main trunk lines of various wired Grids covered the land [electric, cable, phone, etc.]
Towards the end of that century, we've developed, built & used so many other appliances, using both wireless & Wired Grids, which also use radio frequencies to travel, or that carry signals of various kinds---it's mind-boggling!
Radio frequencies travel in specified set bandwidths [like controlling traffic] [hope I'm remembering right terms here]; there are only a certain number of frequencies/bandwidths; perhaps more signals than can fit--kinda like rush hour of major freeways-- trying to travel them may cause some overlap/interaction of signals [like accidents on freeways?!].
Particular frequencies may act to push otherwise unheard signals---enough so the brain [which is, after all, electrically & chemically driven] to hear sounds which others may not yet be able to pick up on--particularly in elders who have less-than-fully-functioning bodies & minds.
No, an appliance shouldn't [without intent] signal another sort of appliance to function wrong.
BUT...appliances CAN be interrupted:
Chaney [of Halliburton] recently had a go-'round with Docs & suppliers of pacemakers, I believe? because he wanted one that no terrorist could manipulate via radio signals and shut his off by remote control.
Some folks hear Dog Whistles that aren't supposed to be audible to humans, either!
I recently heard that the British are stopping all FM radio signals there, permanently, imminently. I think this is related to the drastic increases of other equipment wanting to use those frequencies, & that radio can be via internet or cable, instead [though that's maybe not a good idea--the Brits, of all people, should know that--for security reasons!--this measure is also being promoted in the USA, unfortunately]
That said...
There ARE other common causes of hearing sounds that seem not to exist; few go looking for these:
==Pressure compressing ear tissues, or even the neck & jaw areas, reduces blood flow & lymph circulation-- nerves might be pinched, which potentially can cause sounds in the ears--especially if Cranial nerves are compressed. This may include Tinnitus sounds & diagnosed that, or,
==Sounds in ears can be caused by vitamin/mineral/good fats deficiencies, as a nerve malfunction can be related to deficiencies;
==The person could potentially be strongly remembering sounds; the memories are so "loud" it SEEMS as if they are really hearing them again--brains can do this trick;
==The affected person may be taking a number of medications, many of which, alone or in combinations, can trigger the brain into hearing sounds no others can hear.
==MAYbe the person is one who is able to hear "the Hum"--one type is the naturally occurring frequency of the earth. Some are able to hear the hum of the worldwide HAARP arrays [military/gov't use], which resemble a giant generator spinning & carrying variable signals on it almost like Morse Code the way it vacillates---sometimes that can resemble music, or trigger memories of music, those 2 blending in the person's mind. Some buildings conduct these frequencies, even magnify them, better than others. Both can be measured using proper instruments. It can be a bother to hear these, or the person can learn to ignore them. As far as I can observe, the HAARP signaling has not stopped in over 50 years since the first one was built--signaling has increased using this system, only profoundly stopping entirely, for about 24 hours when 911 happened--then it resumed--it's a VERY busy conduit for signals.
==The person has mental issues.
BEFORE calling it a mental issue [which might cause more drastic meds to be used, which could cause more problems], or relegating it to dementia effects:
==I'd put some humor-spin on it, whatever that might be for the person affected.
==I'd also check the meds being used, to see if any of those cause tinnitus, for instance, or, that may cause blood discrasias or other conditions that could cause electrical signaling to be a bit haywire in the brain, or otherwise stimming hearing things.
==Check the ears for wax plugs or batteries, & check the hearing aids to make sure those are working right--they can malfunction & cause sounds, too!
==If they are lucid/coherent: try assuring them that aging may cause brain chemistry to work a bit differently, which might seem like hearing sounds that others may not hear--as long as it's not distressing, it should be OK, but may ask the Doc..
==Ask questions to make sure "voices" are not telling the person bad things.
==See if those sounds "go away" by simply shutting off power mains to the home if they are at home--can't really do that in a facility--
--if one is motivated to try it, one could make a simple, portable Faraday Cage using aluminum window screen, wiring it so it can plug into ONLY the ground hole on the wall socket, then fully cloaking the elder from head to toe with that, to see if those sounds go away.
==If someone is into dementias, reassure them; fear is a constant part of their existence- far better to say stuff like "maybe it's angels singing to you a lullaby" than scarier things.
==PLEASE just avoid "gas-lighting" a lucid person, or saying things that might scare them.
My Dad was an avid radio operator of many kinds of equipment.
He taught me how to build a transistor radio in a small Tupperware cup with lid, when I was about 10, teaching me much about how things worked, in the process of that, as well as all the time I got to spend with him while he was doing Civil Defense, Ham radio [with crystal sets & tube-filled equipment], CB radio, etc., and encouraged studying various sciences--it was really fun--he coulda given Mr. Wizard & Bill Nye The Science Guy, some real competition!
Historically, hearing aids HAVE picked up radio signals--it's been measured for decades--so have the old silver/mercury tooth fillings, especially if there were dissimilar metals on other teeth--that's been joked about for decades, but it's real.
Not sure how on earth only the batteries could do that by themselves, though--maybe that's kinda like how tooth fillings do it? Dissimilar metals close together, cause measurable electrical charges.
Our modern world is -permeated- with radio signals of all kinds, both man-made and naturally occurring, including cell phones, computer components, radios, TV's, toasters, pacemakers, hearing aids, --anything with wireless-- signal capacity-- just consider how many wireless appliances you have in your possession/use, that signal other things--even simple clock auto-sets! Then there are electrical lines, which, while not "wireless" DO still emit signals, which can be picked up, measured, and CAN interfere with other things, as well as some people.
Certain more easily adversely affected people MAY be those who have a larger number of microscopic particles of magnetite in each cell [these help with ability to sense directions--those who lack enough, get lost more easily!].
In the 1900's, most signals were actual radio & TV.
Houses & buildings had relatively little wiring.
Fewer main trunk lines of various wired Grids covered the land [electric, cable, phone, etc.]
Towards the end of that century, we've developed, built & used so many other appliances, using both wireless & Wired Grids, which also use radio frequencies to travel, or that carry signals of various kinds---it's mind-boggling!
Radio frequencies travel in specified set bandwidths [like controlling traffic] [hope I'm remembering right terms here]; there are only a certain number of frequencies/bandwidths; perhaps more signals than can fit--kinda like rush hour of major freeways-- trying to travel them may cause some overlap/interaction of signals [like accidents on freeways?!].
Particular frequencies may act to push otherwise unheard signals---enough so the brain [which is, after all, electrically & chemically driven] to hear sounds which others may not yet be able to pick up on--particularly in elders who have less-than-fully-functioning bodies & minds.
No, an appliance shouldn't [without intent] signal another sort of appliance to function wrong.
BUT...appliances CAN be interrupted:
Chaney [of Halliburton] recently had a go-'round with Docs & suppliers of pacemakers, I believe? because he wanted one that no terrorist could manipulate via radio signals and shut his off by remote control.
Some folks hear Dog Whistles that aren't supposed to be audible to humans, either!
I recently heard that the British are stopping all FM radio signals there, permanently, imminently. I think this is related to the drastic increases of other equipment wanting to use those frequencies, & that radio can be via internet or cable, instead [though that's maybe not a good idea--the Brits, of all people, should know that--for security reasons!--this measure is also being promoted in the USA, unfortunately]
That said...
There ARE other common causes of hearing sounds that seem not to exist; few go looking for these:
==Pressure compressing ear tissues, or even the neck & jaw areas, reduces blood flow & lymph circulation-- nerves might be pinched, which potentially can cause sounds in the ears--especially if Cranial nerves are compressed. This may include Tinnitus sounds & diagnosed that, or,
==Sounds in ears can be caused by vitamin/mineral/good fats deficiencies, as a nerve malfunction can be related to deficiencies;
==The person could potentially be strongly remembering sounds; the memories are so "loud" it SEEMS as if they are really hearing them again--brains can do this trick;
==The affected person may be taking a number of medications, many of which, alone or in combinations, can trigger the brain into hearing sounds no others can hear.
==MAYbe the person is one who is able to hear "the Hum"--one type is the naturally occurring frequency of the earth. Some are able to hear the hum of the worldwide HAARP arrays [military/gov't use], which resemble a giant generator spinning & carrying variable signals on it almost like Morse Code the way it vacillates---sometimes that can resemble music, or trigger memories of music, those 2 blending in the person's mind. Some buildings conduct these frequencies, even magnify them, better than others. Both can be measured using proper instruments. It can be a bother to hear these, or the person can learn to ignore them. As far as I can observe, the HAARP signaling has not stopped in over 50 years since the first one was built--signaling has increased using this system, only profoundly stopping entirely, for about 24 hours when 911 happened--then it resumed--it's a VERY busy conduit for signals.
==The person has mental issues.
BEFORE calling it a mental issue [which might cause more drastic meds to be used, which could cause more problems], or relegating it to dementia effects:
==I'd put some humor-spin on it, whatever that might be for the person affected.
==I'd also check the meds being used, to see if any of those cause tinnitus, for instance, or, that may cause blood discrasias or other conditions that could cause electrical signaling to be a bit haywire in the brain, or otherwise stimming hearing things.
==Check the ears for wax plugs or batteries, & check the hearing aids to make sure those are working right--they can malfunction & cause sounds, too!
==If they are lucid/coherent: try assuring them that aging may cause brain chemistry to work a bit differently, which might seem like hearing sounds that others may not hear--as long as it's not distressing, it should be OK, but may ask the Doc..
==Ask questions to make sure "voices" are not telling the person bad things.
==See if those sounds "go away" by simply shutting off power mains to the home if they are at home--can't really do that in a facility--
--if one is motivated to try it, one could make a simple, portable Faraday Cage using aluminum window screen, wiring it so it can plug into ONLY the ground hole on the wall socket, then fully cloaking the elder from head to toe with that, to see if those sounds go away.
==If someone is into dementias, reassure them; fear is a constant part of their existence- far better to say stuff like "maybe it's angels singing to you a lullaby" than scarier things.
==PLEASE just avoid "gas-lighting" a lucid person, or saying things that might scare them.
We bought the book for dad so he could read for himself that there IS an explanation for this. We wondered if what Dad was hearing was a memory of himself singing, since my dad sang tenor in the church choir for about 50 years. When he heard this man singing, it was always church hymns.
He was so determined to prove us wrong that the next time he heard the singing, he said it was a baritone and he didn't know the song. I just laughed out loud at that one! My mother, who also sang in church choirs from childhood, said she heard a choir singing. She thought it was carolers on the lawn, even though it was the middle of summer. But she heard a choir singing Christmas music.
We finally convinced Dad to wear his hearing aids every day, and these events tapered off. The more he hears and is engaged in what is going on around him, the less he hears these sounds in his head. Once Dad stopped hearing music, Mom did too. Can't really explain that...
From time to time if he hasn't been wearing his hearing aids, he will hear singing or hear a man talking to him. He asks if we hear it too, and we tell him "Sorry, no." We don't argue with him about it, because it is very real to him.
Hope this helps! Buy the book and share it with your mom. Good luck!