I was reading the thread about the Dutch village where everyone has dementia, and I was wondering if many here have the experience of caring for an elderly parent with dementia.
I'm not sure how common my own experience is, but for me, taking care of my elderly mother, it's certainly more than just "repeat conversations".
She'd repeat conversations about perceived slights when there were none, imaginary hardships (she'd tell me she ran out of money all the time, what actually happened was she hid the money and then forgot about it. Every single time.), or basically just dunking on people for no reason.
Is this common? Why is it that when the memory is faulty, all the false memories that come up are negative ones? Why is it that she never misremember someone for being extra kind?
I'm curious if anyone else also experience this? How do you manage it? Any advice you could share?
Some days I find it to be very exhausting. It's not the repeat, that repeat I can entertain. It's what's being repeated.
I'm not sure how common my own experience is, but for me, taking care of my elderly mother, it's certainly more than just "repeat conversations".
She'd repeat conversations about perceived slights when there were none, imaginary hardships (she'd tell me she ran out of money all the time, what actually happened was she hid the money and then forgot about it. Every single time.), or basically just dunking on people for no reason.
Is this common? Why is it that when the memory is faulty, all the false memories that come up are negative ones? Why is it that she never misremember someone for being extra kind?
I'm curious if anyone else also experience this? How do you manage it? Any advice you could share?
Some days I find it to be very exhausting. It's not the repeat, that repeat I can entertain. It's what's being repeated.