I need some support some advice I am dying inside.
My mother has been alone for the past 8 years, she lost my Father, my youngest Brother and his Children all of whom she adored was her life and basically has been alone except for me.
She has been so negative the past 2 years. I noticed some disturbing signs of dementia ,paranoia not bathing, not eating, saying very strange things being very angry at me being very nasty and hateful to me. I am wondering if this behavior is dementia based? Well here's the kicker, my Older Brother...he has the power of attorney over her I called him and asked if he could come and get her because of her frail condition I did not want her alone....she smokes in the house and { been there done that no more smoke for me} well anyway I was thinking to get her temporary so we can figure something out eventually he said to me he was not coming out to get her but turned that he did come and he did it behind my back .So now she is in another State and says she hates me and will talk to me when she is dead .I have not talked with her for 7 months
I was here with her helping her with anything and everything for 10 years
I am numb and still in shock I can not believe this.
Has anyone had anything like this happen .Is there a condition within the dementia that can cause her to focus the fear the hate all of it on me? I am hoping someone has an answer here.. I am going insane with guilt, everyone says get over it, it is not that easy to get the hook out and I struggle everyday with it.
I provide housing, health care, companionship, entertainment, administration of his affairs, transportation, etc. etc. If he needs to scream at someone, he can scream at the wall. I'm not the bad guy. In fact, if it wasn't for me he'd be on the street or dead already. I hope one of my children takes as good care of me at 87. I also hope I'm thankful for it. If not, I hope I'm dead.
This has been already asked before, but do you and your brother get along and are you talking to one another?
I find that guys are often really different about these things, they decide to do something and just do it, and because you already asked him to come out and get her, he decided to and you had already, in his mind, given permission to do so.
Again, not that all men are like this, but I've observed through personal experience and others experiences that men just don't communicate well to begin with, at least not in the manner that we can understand or that supports our emotional needs in a given situation.
My thought is that he probably thought he was helping you out and probably does not understand why you are upset about it.
As far as feeling guilty about it. Are you feeling guilty because you could not take care of her anymore? Are you feeling your should have been able too? Are you feeling you let your mother down?
I think we all at some point need to or have looked deeper into ourselves to answer these questions and to come to some kind of peace within about the situations we are faced with.
Guilt is a reaction to a perception that you have done something wrong. In the case of caring for an elderly parent whom may have dementia, or at the very least has been lost in a deep depression, unless you are a health care professional that works with patients in this area, how could you have done something wrong?
We caregivers are generally speaking, not professionals in this field (some are) and are literally winging it! Especially if we don't know that our parent or loved one has dementia or something of similar extremes. How the heck do we know until it gets really bad or a Dr suggests this is what is going on?
As an example, my mom was finally diagnosed 5-6 years into Alzheimer's and Frontal Lobe Dementia. So she was actually well into it before we knew what was really going on.
We thought she was in a deep depression, which as mentioned prier has some very similar results.
As an example, my mom was a Sociopath, so life wasn't exactly pristine for my brother and I and my mom and I have had a rocky relationship throughout my life. Still we had been getting along well for a few years and then something happened that was so much like when I was younger and i totally went off.
I was so angry with her, and just basically wrote her off for a few months.
Then my brother who lived next door to my mom and I got together and started comparing notes about how she had been acting the past few years, and realized that something was wrong.
While it took another year before we were able to get her into a Dr. we knew something was off, and as I live in USA and she and my brother lived in Canada, I didn't have the advantage to see her on a day to day level.
The long and the short of it is, I felt some guilt once I realized what the situation was and finally understood that she had dementia and what that meant, however I didn't know at the time and because of her disposition in general it was just to me a part of her personality.
So I realized that I really wasn't guilty of anything, I didn't know her position and had I known I would have treated the whole thing differently.
Basically...there is nothing to feel guilty about in the end.
Love yourself and know that you have done the best you could and can with what you have and there is nothing wrong with that, and no you could not have done better...none of us could.
Also, it is true that while at the moment your mom is disrespecting you and being mean, if it's dementia, your brother will understand very well what the deal is very soon.
Try to find some peace within yourself that your mom is being cared for and if you feel the need to be a part of it, offer the respite when mom has settled down, and yes go and visit with them...that would be a good idea.
Don't feel guilty. Call him and ask him how it is going. Be sympathetic. Ask him if he understands now how you felt when you called him. Let him vent.
Send mom a card and some flowers, visit when you can, but not for long.
After an hour the dark side comes out, anger emerges. That's when you kiss her goodbye and tell her you'll be back.
See All Answers