I’m |
we got my mom a phone that can only dial 10 people a few years ago . She can no longer figure out how to answer a call. She also now hallucinates. |
yelling at the TV accusing the person in the commercial of coming to her house to scam her |
I do this all the time, and have my whole life, but it increases when stressed/overwhelmed/tired (and when I was pregnant). That said, it absolutely can also be a symptom of more insidious cognitive issues. My mom did it a lot when she had a brain tumor. Sometimes she could spell the word but not say it. |
My mom did this, too. I even posted about it here. I was so befuddled and heartbroken. We didn’t talk for almost a year afterwards, what she said was so vicious and mean to me. I’m an only child and she has no husband. 2 years later, vascular dementia dx and assisted living |
OP back and thank you. Thank you so much for this information. FIL and family are a stubborn bunch. |
I think denial implies willfully ignoring the signs -- but sometimes it is more subtle than that and sometimes it is partly about not understanding the disease. In retrospect my mom had some early symptoms before she was diagnosed -- things like being less friendly and more quiet when meeting new people, telling me the same stories over and over (I thought she was just getting more self-involved), getting really bad at Words with Friends. I noticed changes but was not worried since she was still able to basically function and would go out for the day and never get lost (I think from the trailer to that movie Still Alice I thought one of the first signs of Alzheimer's was getting lost). |
A lot of these claimed initial signs are standard mild cognitive issues people can have any time in life and aren’t necessarily signs of age-related dementia. For example I’ve had aphasia for proper names for decades (in my 50s now), occasionally forget some of my numerous computer passwords, and don’t like dealing with new tech. Suspect lots of people are like this. |
May I suggest he stops driving and get help with his taxes? |