Do lots of people with dementia think there are 2 versions of a person?

Laugh and play along

My boss had an Aunt who would say "Charlotte is not here right now" and she was Charlotte. You r not the only person on this forum who has asked that question so it must be common. My Mom never suffered from it. The brain is a weird thing and so is Dementia.

Mom never asked me about the other K, but she knew I was her daughter only on some days. On the days when she thought she was in high school, I was just a friendly person named K, because she didn't have a daughter when she was 16.

So, in some ways, there were multiple versions of me.

Trying to make sense out of a brain disorder is a waste of time. Every day my mother with dementia says something so outrageous that it leaves me scratching my head. Every time I try to apply logic to one of her questions, I remind myself it's an exercise in futility.

Just go along with whatever your mom thinks is happening; that's your best bet. It's hard, I know.........and I'm right there with you, too. It just seems easier to enter THEIR reality than to argue/question/correct what they think is going on. They tend to forget what they were talking about very quickly, too, so distracting the elders is also a good idea, I've found. Every night lately, my mother calls me from the Memory Care ALF where she lives (4 miles away) asking if we're going to the movies or out for the evening and if she has to come watch the babies. I'm 64 and my DH is 63, so naturally, there are no babies to watch nor are we going anywhere that requires her to be here. It's easier for me to say "Not tonight, thank you Mom" than to say anything else. She lets go of the idea immediately, we say goodnight, and that's that. At least for NOW.

Good luck!

My husband firmly believes there are at least two, maybe more of me. He thinks I have an entire staff of women and men - who all look like me - doing all the yardwork and housework.

If I say something to him in one room, the next time he sees me (in another room) he might tell me what "She" or sometimes "He" or "That young woman" said to him.

Other times he will go around looking for "that woman I'm supposed to meet" or "that man who's supposed to pick me up and take me somewhere, I forget where." Or he will ask for Memory12345, and when I say "I'm right here," he'll say, "No, you're not her."

I only wish I could clone myself. Doing everything, or supervising others when I can hire someone, is stressful.