By Darren Smith, Weekend Contributor
I found recently a video produced by the Parkinson’s Foundation that I believe offers both the general public and emergency responders an engaging primer toward accepting a beneficial mindset and foundation toward working with patients who experience hallucinations resulting from medication usage or have mental health issues.
The below video was published on YouTube in 2018 by the Parkinson’s Foundation and narrated by Joseph H. Friedman, M.D. Director of the Movement Disorders Program at Butler Hospital and of the Department of Neurology, Alpert Medical School of Brown University. The presentation consists of Parkinson’s patients relating their experience with sensory hallucinations manifesting as the result of side-effects invoked via prescribed medication to treat their movement disorder. Dr. Friedman offers the viewer advice and insight as to why these experiences occur, which is of course valuable information, but in the larger scope of the human condition he provides a way for us to broaden our thinking and be more accepting of these conditions and relating to their challenges.