The past week, Mom has been glued to the TV. She always has the news on every minute she's awake, but this has been worse. She walks around the house with her TV ears on and sleeps with them on so she never misses a minute. She runs to where I am shouting about events, giving me the same details from an hour before. Yesterday, we repeated the same conversation almost word for word 3 hours apart--same responses, same facial expressions. She tells stories to my children with details confused. She accuses me of always trying to prove her wrong, so I don't correct her unless its a current detail that matters. She's been on the internet since 1996, but today she can't remember how to search or use tabs. She has an official diagnosis of Alzheimers/dementia, but has not exhibited this many symptoms before except when she had a UTI and collapsed with heart failure 6 months ago. I might could call her doctor for an antibiotic, but what I really want to know is could this rapidly worsening cognitive behavior be due to the stress of this massive cultural change due to the virus? And secondly, should I point out to her what's she's doing or just suck it up and try to smile?
Think about it when we are stresses we are focusing on what is causing the stress and we forget things. This would be more pronounced in someone with dementia to begin with.
I would contact the doctor and tell them that the same signs she exhibited a while ago with the UTI are occurring again. Would they prescribe an antibiotic without seeing her. I am sure they would not want you bringing her in and I am sure you would not want to expose her to people in a waiting room.
Now try to get mom's focus off the TV. Go for a walk. It is safe as long as you are not close to other people. Make sure she is not touching her face and wash hands when you return home. When you get home watch a movie not the news.
the only things I would allow after noon was coloring books, music, Judge Judy, and dinner. Anything else created stress (even though I thought it was mild) and stress would vastly increase the sundown for the evening,
My FIL, who has mild dementia, went through a 1+ year phase of being glued to the Weather Channel. He fixated on every potential weather disaster around the globe. Any wave off the coast of Africa might become a hurricane and "that would be a disaster". It got so bad we had to turn the TV off just to get his attention or sit down for a meal.
Have you tried to redirect your mother away from the TV with music? Perhaps unplug the TV and put on the music she listened to when she was a young adult. Stream music from the computer. There are literally thousands of radio stations available via online streaming.
In my opinion, nothing good will come from allowing her to follow the news. There's a reason why the TV is called the idiot box.
I am working remotely so monitoring TV watching. She loves John Wayne and all those old movies. Also game shows that are lively but not overbearing for her.
Now that spring is here, she can plant flowers with me. I give her small pots that she can finish quickly and feel a since of accomplishment. She likes to color and roll coins and music.
This is always a day to day thing. Sometimes she wants to do nothing.
Do what you can. We all do.
BTW- my Mom drew me to tears one day straight to her doctor. His advise I use for everything she says and does, "Learn to pick your battles". It has saved me alot of anguish.
Hope this helps. GOD BLESS!
Once he was diagnosed, and in that state where he was cognizant enough to know he was losing it, that caused great fear, trepidation, anxiety, depression et al. (I think he was better the year later when he wasn't aware enough to know he was losing his awareness.
It seemed he progressed more when he was in agitated states.
When he died, my mom was obviously depressed, along with all her normal stuff. Seemed to me she was losing her memory all the time so we feared, oh no, here we go again.
As time passed and she probably got through the grief somewhat, it seemed to me anyway she was not forgetting nearly as much. She is almost 90 so some is inevitable, but I do think the stress does contribute to at least short term memory loss, by that I mean loss that returns later.
It's working out ok, but many of the reasons we had for moving her- more social interactions which she thrives on, outing with me and her grandkids and great grandchildren, not just sitting in her house alone have been negated by the current virus restrictions. They are requiring residents to eat alone in their rooms.
Im really worried about her because she is mostly alone in her apartment watching out the window or a little TV. She has no hobbies, doesn't do much reading doesnt knit or do crossword, or play cards. I'm worried the extra isolation and disruption in schedules will worsen the dementia. Too much time to think and her anxiety skyrockets.
They let them come out and I've been by on good weather days and sit with her and I call her on the phone several times a day. But sometimes in the evening, she calls me and its heartbreaking because she is scared and alone and confused. Doesnt understand where she is and doesnt remember that's she's lived there several weeks. But the next day, doesn't remember that she even called me upset, like a reset button
I've thought about bringing her back home, but it was so hard to get her to go there at all, if I bring her home, I'd never get her to go back. And she lived at home with me for 6 months, prior to this and it just wasnt working.
I own an assisted living facility and I can try to calm your fears about mom, as most new residents need time to adjust to new faces and the environment. It is sad that they seperate the residents.
She should definitely be redirected away from the bad news tv. Can you tell her the tv is broken?
We had very good results with earphones and a ipod mini that you can load with her favorite music "from her olden days".