An elderly person is confined to living in one room in a house. She is scared and lonely because she has given up the home she has always lived in.
Her relatives, who cannot afford a home of their own, have pressurised her into doing something she does not want to do, but she has given in finally.
Now her relatives have taken over her house and she is left in a room, isolated and demoralised.
The problem of younger people who cannot afford escalating property prices has led to this growing new social issue where elderly parents or relatives are experiencing psychological and emotional abuse by being forced to hand over their homes.
Ms Mary Nally, the national co-ordinator of the Senior Citizen Helpline, said property and housing have become the big issues and they were receiving an increasing number of calls about it on a daily basis.
"Younger people see their older relatives sitting there with a large asset. The elderly person is put under pressure and he or she ends up very scared, and confined to one room in the house," she said.
Over 24 per cent of the calls to the helpline are from elderly people who are being abused in some way.
The Report of the Working Group on Elder Abuse lists the signs of abuse.
Elderly people experiencing psychological abuse feel depressed, with hopelessness, tearfulness, excessive fears and ambivalent feelings towards the abuser.
Others are being neglected, as evidenced by deyhydration, malnutrition, unkempt appearance, unattended medical needs, and the absence of required aids, including glasses and dentures.
Financial abuse can be recognised if there is a sudden inability to pay bills, an unexplained or sudden withdrawal of money from accounts, funds being diverted for someone else's use, no funds available for food, clothes or services, and an extraordinary interest by a family member in older people's assets.
Physical abuse can be seen from bruises, lacerations, abrasions, burns, sprains, dislocations, fractures, missing teeth, and eye injuries.
Sexual abuse is the least common form of abuse but can be recognised through injuries.