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When I go into visit my mom or to take her out for a while, we spend a half an hour unpacking everything that she has packed up. I removed all boxes and bags from her room and she gets creative and uses a pillowcase the trash bag out of the bathroom receptacle. Ugh! When she packs her stuff up, she makes it easier for someone to take almost everything she owns. Staff seems too busy to deal with it so it just continues on and on and on. I don’t wanna lose my patience with her, but it’s getting old.

This is keeping her busy. I would say she has tripped into a bit of a compulsion. If this is truly worrying to those caring for her, not only to you, it could be worth discussing with MD. Sometimes very low dose anti-depressants, low dose gummies can work to break the compulsion a bit. Otherwise just allow her to pack and unback. Supply few boxes, and perhaps give her one suitcase that is hers and she can arrange and rearrange. It's a bit of a zen for patients with dementia to keep their hands busy. We at the hospital used to give ladies who were so distressed they were in the chairs with eating trays over them which worked as a sort of holding device and we would give them a pile of washclothes. We would plead that we were so overwhelmed, couldn't find the time, and could they possibly help. I swear it worked over and over again with women sitting and folding things over and over. Their hand busy relieved their minds. Unfortunately didn't work as well with the men and couldn't supply a work station for building, or would bet that it would.
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Reply to AlvaDeer
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My great grandmother had Alzheimer’s before the term existed, the family knows it now by the symptoms she displayed. My mom used to talk about her folding the same basket of towels and washcloths over and over with great determination and pride, it never got old for her
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Reply to Daughterof1930
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You don't put an end to this. Packing and "rummaging" is a common behavior of dementia and not something you're going to change in a single minded elder who wants to pack! Normally, this is a stage they "outgrow" and replace with another OCD type of behavior. It likely stems from a desire to have some control in their lives.

Who, exactly, is "going to take almost everything she owns" because she's packed it up? If nobody's stolen moms belongings as yet, they're unlikely to be stolen simply because they are packed in bags.

If mom seems agitated while packing, ask her doctor for mild calming meds to help. My mother did very well with Ativan.

If the behavior wasn't disruptive or unsafe, the staff would just let it be. It's just some of the bizarre behaviors dementia presents. Your mom's obsession is a benign behavior that she feels she needs to do. You might even give her a hand and pack together rather than fight it. Enter HER world rather than ask her to enter YOURS.

When I worked at a Memory Care Assisted Living residence, we had a resident who packed to "go home" every day. She'd sit in a chair by the locked lobby door with her suitcase, with her coat on, wait I g for "My son to come pick me up." She was not upset at all. The caregivers did nothing to stop her, why should they? They'd just come get her for dinner and place her coat and luggage back in her room until the next day.

Unless an elder with dementia is upset or screaming about something, don't be upset for them at their behavior. Learn all you can about dementia so you're not as apt to lose your patience with mom. Pick up a copy of the book Understanding the Dementia Experience by Jennifer Ghent-Fuller on Amazon so you can do just that.

When my mother started insisting I was hiding her (deceased) loved ones in the closets in Memory Care, and getting very agitated over it, that's when I got Ativan on board to relax her some.

Good luck to you.
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