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[quote=Anonymous]We brought my elderly parent to live with us. The one thing that is most difficult is that she has zero interest in doing anything social so she can interact with someone except me and my DH. She won’t go to a senior center, or take a glass, hear a book reading, nothing. On one hand I get it. She is depressed about moving here and leaving her home. She does has some memory issues but not enough right now where someone other than family could tell. But I think only interacting with us is making her more depressed even though she says she does not have any desire to do anything with anyone else.

It is really starting to weigh on me. It is a lot of pressure to be her only social network member in town. She does have some cousins left but they are far away and most everyone else around her age is gone. I have no siblings. We have no children so there are not grandkids to entertain her.

I am an introvert and it just gets to be too much. I just wish I could think of something. It’s not like she was super social before but there were people in her building she would chat with when passing them in the hall or at the mailboxes. And that was enough for her. But I feel smothered.

I can’t force her to take part in group activities outside the home. She can’t go anywhere herself because of her memory and such.

I don’t know what to do - she has no hobbies that keep her busy and I have tried to think of something to engage her but all my ideas are shut down.

She isn’t interested in taking depression medication. She just wants to be left alone (except for me). I was going to hire a companion a few times a week to give me a break, but she says she doesn’t want a babysitter. I could get one anyhow, but then I think it is kind of weird to literally pay someone to sit there with my mom in my own house.

Has anyone else successfully dealt with a similar situation?[/quote]

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