numerous phone calls from Mum

[pachypach]

I live in France, my Mum is in the UK, so is my brother.
We have just got Mum assessed and are in the process of her seeing the doc and getting further tests etc.
My brother is saying Mum rings him numerous times every day (today it is 16 times).
He is at his wits end with it all.
What can he do (bar block her number)?
Mum just rang me to tell me my brother is lying. I have told her to write down on a notebook by the phone, who rings and who she rings every day & the times.
Trouble is I know she won't!!!
My brother doesn't know what to do.... plus it will only get worse
help!!!

 

[Sarasa]

Hi @pachypach, I guess your mother doesn't remember calling your brother, hence the multiple phone calls. My mother didn't call me quite as often as that, but I found the whole thing stressful as I never knew which version of mum I was going to get, the nice one that wanted a chat or the cross one that thought I'd done various horrible things to her.. What your brother could do is decided on the times he will answer the phone to his mum and either put his phone on silent or just ignore it. Tricky I know as you are always worried the call you don't pick up is the one where there really is a problem.
I hope when all the test have done you'll have an idea of the way forward. Are you considering your mother having help coming in or maybe a move to a care home. When things start to open up a little more, maybe she could go to a day centre a couple of times a week which might distract her from making so many calls.
I'm sure others will be along very shortly with their suggestions.

 

[Linsac]

Your brother has my sympathy, I have been going through this with my mum and it is truly awful. I would dread the phone ringing, sometimes it was 10 times in an hour and once 35 voice mails overnight. It is a common complaint unfortunately and usually down to fear of being alone, anxiety and boredom.

My mum is in respite care now and the calls have all but stopped as she is being looked after. Not sure if she will be going back home or not but if she does, I would imagine they will restart. Others advised me to block her number at certain hours of the day or get a cheap phone with a different number and just answer that periodically. The thing is, she won't remember she is calling repeatedly so it's impossible to pull her up on it. I would recommend getting some care at home initially and maybe some companion care so she is not on her own so much.