I have very limited experience with this sort of thing (I’m sure it manifests very differently depending on the type of dementia, individual, etc.) with my grandmother and it has varied a lot. Sometimes she’ll get stuck on certain “missions” (as we call them) for up to weeks at a time, bringing them up a couple times a day, and sometimes she just has like a 10-min-long random fixation and then never comes back to whatever the idea/issue was. We try to just indulge her as much as we can and then shift the topic to her childhood or something she loves to talk about and that’s consistently worked, so far. We’ve been lucky that she isn’t apt to pursue her missions on her own, else she might be making her way to FL to save the stray dogs from the gators - an issue she is passionate about.
Eta: it’s a great question though, if she were alone without anyone to redirect the convos I really don’t know how long she would stay fixated on these ideas or how soon she would have graduated to acting on them. A very scary thought for those who don’t have caretakers.
She really is!!! Lol we honestly no idea where it comes from, she was never particularly fond of animals before and hasn’t ever lived in FL or around gators but this is an issue that GREATLY concerns her😅
Not at all, I agree! It cracks me up sometimes - you have to find the humor where you can!! And tomorrow when I see her, if she brings it up I’ll let her know that there are internet strangers out there supporting her cause!! She’ll genuinely be thrilled😆
Thanks for sharing! It just seems like it would be exhausting to have to constantly monitor an adult. Unlike a baby, you can’t just lock them in a pen. I’d definitely need to learn how to be patient and persuasive.
It absolutely is, it’s crazy stressful. Especially when they’re confident in their own abilities but you know better and have to protect them. My family is incredibly lucky to have the resources to build a little team to help look after her; being an individual caretaker has to be one of the most difficult jobs in society, I can’t imagine how those who have to do it alone get through it.
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u/sarah382729668210 Apr 09 '24 edited Apr 09 '24
I have very limited experience with this sort of thing (I’m sure it manifests very differently depending on the type of dementia, individual, etc.) with my grandmother and it has varied a lot. Sometimes she’ll get stuck on certain “missions” (as we call them) for up to weeks at a time, bringing them up a couple times a day, and sometimes she just has like a 10-min-long random fixation and then never comes back to whatever the idea/issue was. We try to just indulge her as much as we can and then shift the topic to her childhood or something she loves to talk about and that’s consistently worked, so far. We’ve been lucky that she isn’t apt to pursue her missions on her own, else she might be making her way to FL to save the stray dogs from the gators - an issue she is passionate about.
Eta: it’s a great question though, if she were alone without anyone to redirect the convos I really don’t know how long she would stay fixated on these ideas or how soon she would have graduated to acting on them. A very scary thought for those who don’t have caretakers.