Creeping Paranoia
The Creeping Paranoia has moved into the house with Mom and Lyn.
One of the symptoms of dementia is paranoia. Lyn is becoming more and more paranoid. She watches Mom constantly. She checks to see if Mom is not only in-sight, but wants to know what Mom is doing. If Mom sits down at the computer, Lyn comes and either stands behind her or pulls up a chair to watch over her shoulder. When Mom opens an email, Lyn wants to know what the email is about, who it is for and why the person wrote to Mom. It does not matter if the email is personal or business related, if it has funny pictures, attached forms or is just a short note from me giving an update on my childrens' health. If the phone rings, Lyn will come and stand so she can obviously listen in and know who is on the phone and what is being discussed.
As I mentioned yesterday, I believe the paranoia has been there for a while. It was just more subtle and directed towards a couple of people at work with whom Lyn had conflict. The paranoia is creeping and getting worse however. This is, honestly, to be expected because of the damage being done to her brain. The paranoia is a result of her short-term memory being damaged. That doesn't make it any easier on Mom. Mom has to respond to Lyn in the moment and the moment is often frustrating.
Mom's privacy and personal space are being eroded because Lyn is constantly seeking to reassure herself that things are OK. So, how should she respond?
Contradicting Lyn is not going to help. Lyn won't be able to reason through the situation. Scolding is not going to help because Lyn won't be able to correct her feelings of suspicion and paranoia. From the two links above, they suggest investigating the suspicion and attempting to distract the person from the topic of their current focus. Mom and Lyn are already maintaining a consistent environment, set of care givers and routine which are some of the other suggestions.
It seems like there's not a lot Mom can do that she's not already doing.
Additional Information Sources:
The Tangled Neuron
Dealing with Dementia
One of the symptoms of dementia is paranoia. Lyn is becoming more and more paranoid. She watches Mom constantly. She checks to see if Mom is not only in-sight, but wants to know what Mom is doing. If Mom sits down at the computer, Lyn comes and either stands behind her or pulls up a chair to watch over her shoulder. When Mom opens an email, Lyn wants to know what the email is about, who it is for and why the person wrote to Mom. It does not matter if the email is personal or business related, if it has funny pictures, attached forms or is just a short note from me giving an update on my childrens' health. If the phone rings, Lyn will come and stand so she can obviously listen in and know who is on the phone and what is being discussed.
As I mentioned yesterday, I believe the paranoia has been there for a while. It was just more subtle and directed towards a couple of people at work with whom Lyn had conflict. The paranoia is creeping and getting worse however. This is, honestly, to be expected because of the damage being done to her brain. The paranoia is a result of her short-term memory being damaged. That doesn't make it any easier on Mom. Mom has to respond to Lyn in the moment and the moment is often frustrating.
Mom's privacy and personal space are being eroded because Lyn is constantly seeking to reassure herself that things are OK. So, how should she respond?
Contradicting Lyn is not going to help. Lyn won't be able to reason through the situation. Scolding is not going to help because Lyn won't be able to correct her feelings of suspicion and paranoia. From the two links above, they suggest investigating the suspicion and attempting to distract the person from the topic of their current focus. Mom and Lyn are already maintaining a consistent environment, set of care givers and routine which are some of the other suggestions.
It seems like there's not a lot Mom can do that she's not already doing.
Additional Information Sources:
The Tangled Neuron
Dealing with Dementia
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