They see dead people...

December 11, 2007 12:35 PM

I recently read on a website somewhere, one person's account of an elderly relative dying.

They specifically mentioned that the dying person had seen an already deceased relative. That triggered a memory of my own. When my grandfather was dying, he kept saying that he "could see Annie" (his sister, who died in her 20's). I mentioned this to a friend, and she recounted a similar tale. All three situations had people who had already died "being seen".

My query is, is this sort of thing common? Is there a name for this phenomenon?

posted by Rabulah to grab bag (3 comments total)

It is common enough that it is almost a cliche; think of Redd Foxx as Fred Sanford(.) talking to his dead wife as he feigns a heart attack. My wife's grandmother is in failing health and in less lucid moments speaks of family members who died years or even decades ago. Part of the reason for this is that in various types of dementia newer memories are lost and older ones take their place. There probably is a name for it but I don't know it off the top of my head.
posted by TedW at 1:02 PM on December 11, 2007

Not sure about the name or frequency of this, but Ken Burns's The Civil War mentioned Robert E. Lee's apparent travel back to the battlefield from his deathbed.
posted by asuprenant at 2:42 PM on December 11, 2007

Dementia. Never thought of that.
posted by Rabulah at 11:59 AM on December 12, 2007