I have a 54 year old mother who constantly believes people are stealing/trying to make life hard on her. At her insistence, we installed cameras and changed house locks but she still claims someone is intruding and stealing from our house. We let her review to video footage to show that no one has entered the house, but she claims someone has hacked the camera and that the camera is not reliable. She believes we are being naive as she has many "reliable" sources who tell her the stealing will continue with more advancements such as hacking. I believe this is an early sign of Alzheimer's/Dementia as I believe the source of this idea that someone is stealing from her is her forgetfulness. However, she refuses to see the doctor saying I am being too naive and that when something gets stolen it will prove that she is right. I am also concerned that if I take her to the doctor, the medication given will have side-effects on her. Can anyone relate to my experience and offer me some guidance/help? Alzheimer's/Dementia or something else?
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Once you've got her in there, the doc can take it from there. Hopefully s(he) will order lab tests, etc. to rule out other physical problems. If he suspects a dementia problem he can order a neurological consult, where she can be tested more in depth.
Accusations of stealing are one of the first signs of moderate dementia. It seems that everyone I've known with dementia has gone through it. I hope it's not the case for your mom. She's so young. God help your family.
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I don't blame you for trying to reason with your mom and "prove" her delusions are wrong. That would be a natural instinct. As you discovered, it doesn't work. Delusions are very very real to the people who have them, and they just make up defenses against your reasoning (camera hacked).
Mom needs to be seen by a doctor. Make it about something other than these delusions -- she'll never agree there is anything wrong with her in that regard. Write out a list of your concerns to give to the doctor ahead of the appointment. Mother is not likely to bring this up herself.
Worrying that there might be side effects to a drug that hasn't even been suggested yet seems to me to be borrowing trouble from the future. If a drug is suggested you can research it and help Mom decide whether to take it or not. But first you need to find out what is wrong.