My undiagnosed 82 yrs old husband got up during the night. All dressed up and ready to go out. Asked me to come and locked the doors behind him. I sleep in another room. He thinks he is going to his child hood home, that’s abroad and asked me for direction which way to go and asked for his home phone number to ring and let them know he was on his way. I tried to persuade him not to go out, he was getting agitated and verbal. He did frighten but if I remained calm he will go back to bed. Anybody has any advice how to deal with this situation? My son told me if I feel threaten to call the police, but could I the outburst does not last long and by the time the police comes he will be calm. He seems to have temporary amnesia, no recollection of incident. Am also concerned he can hurt me during one of his outburst and has no recollection . Am having a phone appointment on Tuesday with his GP. Have got the impression GP will not do anything until he is seen by memory clinic and that could be months. Currently he is having tests for liver disease non drinker and this is priority. He is ok during the day and does not need help from me. I do go with him with all his hospital appointments. Thanks
Dressed and ready to go out middle of the night
- Thread starter Jan48
- Start date
it is hard to 'go along' with his delusions as advised, isn't it? what about showing him how dark it is outside , and promise you will help him in the morning to find his home/contsct number, agreeing, then distraction tactic, for as many times as it needs to do? then offer to have a nice cuppa and distract him? it feels silly and (in my case I feel angry) but needs must. Hopefully it works. Good luck, thinking of you, and oll carers out there...what a life we lead
Im afraid that you have got two problems here @Jan48 which have combined to produce this problem.
One is that he is sundowning - a period of increased confusion, usually in late afternoon/evening, but can continue through the night. My mum used to be up all night worried about "noises in the kitchen" (there were none) and then in the morning had no recollection of any of it.
The second problem is that he has lost his internal clock so that he is no longer able to recognise what time of day it is. This usually happens at about the same stage as when they lose the ability to understand time. They are no longer able to pick up cues around them and do not realise that darkness means that it is still night. Their "logic" seems to consist of - Ive just woken up, therefore it must be morning. This seems to apply whether its 2 am or even if theyve just woken up after a brief afternoon nap.
Do try the distraction techniques as suggested by @leny connery
The GP will not prescribe strong drugs for dementia symptoms, but may be willing to give more regular anti-anxiety meds (like mirtazapine) to help the sundowning
One is that he is sundowning - a period of increased confusion, usually in late afternoon/evening, but can continue through the night. My mum used to be up all night worried about "noises in the kitchen" (there were none) and then in the morning had no recollection of any of it.
The second problem is that he has lost his internal clock so that he is no longer able to recognise what time of day it is. This usually happens at about the same stage as when they lose the ability to understand time. They are no longer able to pick up cues around them and do not realise that darkness means that it is still night. Their "logic" seems to consist of - Ive just woken up, therefore it must be morning. This seems to apply whether its 2 am or even if theyve just woken up after a brief afternoon nap.
Do try the distraction techniques as suggested by @leny connery
The GP will not prescribe strong drugs for dementia symptoms, but may be willing to give more regular anti-anxiety meds (like mirtazapine) to help the sundowning
