"Nightmares" While Awake?

[Long-Suffering]

Dad's periods of confusion used to be limited to the evenings and the middle of the night. Then he started to have them in the morning too for an hour or so after he got up. In these moods he gets angry and quite aggressive.Throughout the day, he gets upset when mum leaves the room. This has been going on for a while, so we are used to it now.

Today there was a new development - she told me she had spied on him to see what he did when she wasn't in the room and it looked to her like he was "having a nightmare while he was awake". I don't know what to make of this, as I wasn't there myself, and mum's interpretation of things is sometimes quite different to other people's.

Any views, anyone?

LS

 

[lin1]

I'm wondering if it could be hallucinations. Or fearful about being alone.
Sorry not much help.

 

[Long-Suffering]

I'm wondering if it could be hallucinations. Or fearful about being alone.
Sorry not much help.

Hi Lin,

I was wondering about hallucinations. Dad still doesn't have an official diagnosis for his type of dementia. Are hallucinations a feature of all types or a certain type?

Mind you, I have to be really careful about anything mum says b/c she often misinforms me about things dad says or does. One reason is she is quite deaf but refuses to get a hearing aid. I've recently noticed that dad will say something perfectly rational, she mishears it/misunderstands it, and then reacts to him as if he is talking gibberish. Another reason is she may well be suffering from dementia too. It's very hard to know what's really going on. I've come to think a lot of what my mum tells me about dad's behaviour is distorted by her own mental problems.

LS