Mom is 96 with dementia. This past week she has been very paranoid. She thinks someone is coming to take her, my husband and I to jail.

Sad. I hope you find a good solution to her paranoia. Best wishes to and your family.

Well look at the ads on tv, I can see where a person with dementia would believe everyone in the world is dying.. My dad with ALZ watched Walker TX ranger all the time, until we had to stop that. He loved it, but he came to believe he WAS Walker.. 30 YOs old and tough as nails badarse! And she may not want you to go back to work as then you will be home with her all day. I know my Mom wants me home all day, even though hubs is here with her. Mom says she will pay me to stay home but she can't understand that our health insurance is a huge cost.. I agree, get her Dr to take a look at her and see if he can give her something to help

People with dementia often think what they see on TV is real, and can easily become confused & agitated by what they watch, confusing reality & fiction. Dreams can get confused with reality as well, as the disease progresses & continues to destroy the brain. Like Geaton said, perhaps her doctor can prescribe something to calm mom's anxieties.

It may be time to consider placement in Memory Care for your mom before things get even worse. 24/7 care is always a good idea for people suffering from dementia & paranoia in general. The staff is trained to deal with all the various issues and can offer you respite from all you've been dealing with.

Good luck!

Her mind is broken, what you are experiencing is not unusual. Have you considered placing her in MC, where she will have people around 24/7 and can relate to people her own age. Being alone all day is very bad for a person her age, the TV is coaching her, she is believing what she sees there, she can no longer identify fact from fiction.

Take her to the doc this week and describe what's going on. You may have to tell your mom a fib to get her to go. Doc may be able to prescribe something temp or permanent to help her. Have doc check her for UTI as it can create weird behaviors in the elderly. If I were in your situation I would start researching facilities with Memory Care for her. I don't envy you having to do any of this but having her in the house all day (by herself?) does not help her and a LO with worsening cognitive behaviors and caregiving needs will cause you immense stress.