Hi, I'm new to this.
I am in my late twenties and live alone with my father, who is 76. My father's mental health has been deteriorating steadily over the last eighteen months, but he will not seek help for it. Having read up on the signs of dementia, I am certain that he has it, he has displayed all of the symptoms over the last couple of years, but I feel completely unable to help him.
My grandmother died from Alzheimer's, living out the last of her life in a care home barely knowing who anybody was. Shortly after she died my grandfather followed, seemingly having just given up without her. My father spent much of his early life in hospital, having contracted tuberculosis at the age of eight, and from the sound of it, did not always have an easy time of it. All of these factors seem to have combined to make my father wary of seeking any help now. Instead he has come to rely wholly on me. He is now at the point where he cannot get money out of a cash machine without me directing him how to, and he has difficulty holding conversations without losing the thread of what he's saying, forgetting words or getting things mixed up. He also gets very confused about who people are amongst his friends and family.
I've found myself trapped in this place where I have become his full time carer, but cannot seek any help for it. I have siblings, who are aware that he has become 'a little forgetful', but see it as natural signs of his age, not living with him, and as I am the only person he will talk to about it I am unable to change their minds. They are of the opinion that if he doesn't want to seek help, that is his decision. In the meantime I find my own health suffering from caring for him while holding down a full time job, and the constant worries I have when I'm away from home.
Our relationship is complicated by the fact that my mother had mental health problems, and there's this whole other history underneath what's going on right now. It means the atmosphere at home is very tense, and one or the other of us frequently becomes angry and aggressive at the smallest things. I am now getting to the point where I am worried about what will happen next, not to mention financial worries for the future when things do get worse.
Does anyone know where I can get support in a way that doesn't upset him, or have any suggestions about what I can do next?
I am in my late twenties and live alone with my father, who is 76. My father's mental health has been deteriorating steadily over the last eighteen months, but he will not seek help for it. Having read up on the signs of dementia, I am certain that he has it, he has displayed all of the symptoms over the last couple of years, but I feel completely unable to help him.
My grandmother died from Alzheimer's, living out the last of her life in a care home barely knowing who anybody was. Shortly after she died my grandfather followed, seemingly having just given up without her. My father spent much of his early life in hospital, having contracted tuberculosis at the age of eight, and from the sound of it, did not always have an easy time of it. All of these factors seem to have combined to make my father wary of seeking any help now. Instead he has come to rely wholly on me. He is now at the point where he cannot get money out of a cash machine without me directing him how to, and he has difficulty holding conversations without losing the thread of what he's saying, forgetting words or getting things mixed up. He also gets very confused about who people are amongst his friends and family.
I've found myself trapped in this place where I have become his full time carer, but cannot seek any help for it. I have siblings, who are aware that he has become 'a little forgetful', but see it as natural signs of his age, not living with him, and as I am the only person he will talk to about it I am unable to change their minds. They are of the opinion that if he doesn't want to seek help, that is his decision. In the meantime I find my own health suffering from caring for him while holding down a full time job, and the constant worries I have when I'm away from home.
Our relationship is complicated by the fact that my mother had mental health problems, and there's this whole other history underneath what's going on right now. It means the atmosphere at home is very tense, and one or the other of us frequently becomes angry and aggressive at the smallest things. I am now getting to the point where I am worried about what will happen next, not to mention financial worries for the future when things do get worse.
Does anyone know where I can get support in a way that doesn't upset him, or have any suggestions about what I can do next?