Why does my mother lie all the time?

trying to negotiate a world that no longer makes sense...telling lies to cope are understandable.

Lying & confabulation is part of dementia. If your mother's 'geriatrician' has no idea that such a thing goes hand in hand with her condition, it's time to find a REAL geriatrician who's familiar with dementia and what it's all about! Memory loss goes with the territory and it will continue to deteriorate as her dementia progresses.

The best thing you can do is to learn all you can about dementia online, and to pick up a copy of The 36 Hour Day which is a reference guide to help you with questions. Also watch some Teepa Snow videos on YouTube to learn how to deal with demented elders in general. Don't take it personally that mother is 'lying'; she's telling you HER version of HER truth, as she sees it.

There's nothing 'normal' about dementia and no, dementia is not part of normal elderly behavior. Dementia is a condition where the brain no longer works properly and continues to deteriorate over time.

Wishing you good luck on your journey to learn all about what's going on with your mom.

Dementia is very individual but lying isn’t uncommon. She may no longer be able to differentiate truth from fiction and truly not understand what’s happening. I hope you won’t argue with her over it, frustrating for you both and solves nothing. She can no longer sign a contract and should be protected from doing so

Do a search for confabulation on this forum. You will see that many elders go through this with dementia. It’s part of the tricks being played on her brain. When she says she doesn’t know why she lies, she is telling you the truth.

Bonding with the caregiver is also common. Asking not to tell you things happens. It’s good that it’s only candy wrappers. I would feel bad that she thought you were the candy police. If she can’t control how much she eats, maybe make it less available.

Confabulation is confusing at first because it is new behavior for YOU and the family and the caregiver to be on the watch for.
Don’t argue with her or try to convince her that what she is saying isn’t true. It will just upset both of you and someone that she trusts trying to tell her something different from what her brain “knows” is crazy making.

And please don’t say she is lying, as that’s hurtful.

It's part of her dementia. She may not even know she's lying. Or she's lamely trying to cover things up? Regardless, I would not worry about it. Realize she's in a different reality at this stage of her life and just doesn't really matter anymore. You just have to adjust your thinking as what you expect from her for information and don't rely on her for accurate info any longer.

My mom is 78 and having lots of memory issues. She lies too. Annoying. But is it a lie if they really can't remember?? I just expect nothing. She tells my sister one thing, me another. I think it's just because she's so confused she just basically confabulates everything.