My mom was diagnosed with the "onset of dementia", she is quite aware in some areas, she is not completely out of it. I have now noticed her hoarding/hiding things she wants for her own. Is this common? Take for instance, she has a fork, she prefers the shape and design, so we all know THAT is her fork, no problem, no one touches. But she now hides her coffee cup. She'll wait for us to leave the kitchen then hides it behind the rest of the cups and when she's ready to use it, she waits for the kitchen to clear and then digs it out. She hides her snacks in her room, along with bathroom items, soap, shampoo. ??? No one messes with her stuff, and I try to reassure her, so I'm not sure if this is part of the dementia or if this is something new we need to address. I don't mind, if she feels better having her stuff where she knows where it is, that's great, but I don't want her living in fear of people stealing from her or something. This is so new and very confusing.....
I am sorry you are going through this. It is generally one of the annoying but not usually serious behaviors of some cases of dementia.
Thank you for submitting this question on our website. We appreciate your involvement in our caregiving community.
There are two great article written by AgingCare.com Editor’s that were already posted in our community. We thought this might answer your caregiving question.
LINK:
“How to Handle an Elderly Parent's Bad Behavior
Page 7: Hoarding Behavior in the Elderly”
https://www.agingcare.com/articles/deal-with-hoarding-behavior-seniors-elderly-138673.htm
and
“Hoarding Behaviors Worsen With Age”
https://www.agingcare.com/News/Scientists-Discover-That-Hoarding-Behavior-Becomes-More-Severe-With-Age-146409.htm
We hope this helps. Please let us know if you need anything else and we look forward to seeing more questions and discussions from you.
Thank you,
Karie H.
The AgingCare.com Team
Thank you for submitting this question on our website. We appreciate your involvement in our caregiving community.
There are two great article written by AgingCare.com Editor’s that were already posted in our community. We thought this might answer your caregiving question.
LINK:
“How to Handle an Elderly Parent's Bad Behavior
Page 7: Hoarding Behavior in the Elderly”
www.agingcare.com/articles/deal-with-hoarding-behavior-seniors-elderly-138673.htm
and
“Hoarding Behaviors Worsen With Age”
www.agingcare.com/News/Scientists-Discover-That-Hoarding-Behavior-Becomes-More-Severe-With-Age-146409.htm
We hope this helps. Please let us know if you need anything else and we look forward to seeing more questions and discussions from you.
Thank you,
Karie H.
The AgingCare.com Team
I will warn you that at some point my mother did something with all her jewelry. I haven't been able to find where she sold it, hid it or anything else. Seeing as I was never the time to nose around in her stuff, I certainly didn't watch to make sure her jewelry was not where she said it was. She stopped wearing her wedding rings because she said they were tight on her fingers. They are gone. A list remains of all the things she owned, their value and who she wanted them to go to, but the objects are gone. :(
Good luck with your Mom.