Talking rubbish

[crybaby]

Does anyone have any tips about how to handle my husband when he starts talking rubbish eg How do we get this (his penis) connected to the internet and who pays for the radio signal etc etc.

He is quite serious about this - he has recently had to have a catheter for a few weeks (gone now, thank goodness) and is obsessed with going to the loo, which due to his PCA and arthritis, he can't do by himself. He wears incontinence pants and keeps on about how they are to be connected to the tubes. The trouble is, the questions are unanswerable and he demands answers.

What am I supposed to say to stop the constant rubbish?

crybaby

 

[marionq]

You can divert, distract or ignore. I tend to just move on changing the subject or blunt answers to "What time is the plane, train, bus to .........". He constantly imagines we are somewhere else or on our way to somewhere else.

My husband's short term memory is zero so he starts a sentence and it becomes another topic by the end of it. However he can still crack a joke.

This morning at the bus stop two overweight, track suited losers came shambling along towards us and John said "Here are two of our crack troops". So in his head he still saw the humour of the image.

I haven't got any solutions just take the laughs on the rare occasions they turn up.

 

[Grannie G]

Hello crybaby

Does anyone have any tips about how to handle my husband when he starts talking rubbish

When my husband asked questions which seemed impossible to answer I seemed to satisfy him with stock replies.

e.g..

How do we get this (his penis) connected to the internet

“ I`ll phone the man when I finish this”

who pays for the radio signal

“ it comes with the television licence”

or words to that effect.

I hope this helps.

 

[Casbow]

My husband was always saying things that I couldn,t understand or that I understood but had no answer. So my stock reply was 'Sorry love. I really don't know.' And it was always left til the next time. Try not to let it wind you up. He can't help it and you can't stop it. But I promise it will pass one day and he will concentrate on something else. Good luckxx

 

[Zana]

Thing is quite often the things they want to say mean sense when formulated but just dont come out right..

Yesterday as I walked up to our office OH said ' are you putting the tabloids on the table'?

(translation are you puttng the photos onto the pc.) or 'shall I shut the letterboxes'? the window blinds, and if you take a good look they do appear like a series of letterboxes stacked up..

If I understand what he means as in these two examples I answer as if he has used the right words..
If not I will say Im sorry I didnt catch that...What did you say?

Most of the time we can work it out but there are times he gets very frustrated..

As others have said if possible distract or divert attention to avoid conflict.

 

[Amethyst59]

I find this one hard, because I feel that if I answer the 'rubbish' I enter his mad world and we don't communicate at all. I guess (Ha!) I am not accepting that I have lost him. If I can make sense of what he means, that is how I answer ...but when it is complete rubbish, as it was at five this morning, then I don't know how to answer either. I can report that it doesn't help to try to get them to see it is nonsense. It leads to a row. Learn from my mistake.

 

[Grannie G]

I had a phone call with a friends` husband who had lost all his `understood` language but his intonation showed us he was still talking in sentences. I answered `yes` `no`` really`, any words which seemed appropriate and they were accepted.

I wouldn`t dismiss this babble as rubbish if you can help it but relate it to a baby using pre talk language.

This experience gave my friend an absolute dread of being so ill she wouldn`t be able to make herself or her needs understood.

 

[Amethyst59]

Ah, Grannie, you are right. If it is complete rubbish, i.e. babble, then it would be cruel to point it out. Maybe my way was cruel too...my husband was accusing me of dressing him in 'ridiculous clothes', and I tried to explain that most men his age wear light trousers, check shirts and navy jumpers, and that he had, in fact, chosen and bought all of his own clothes. Waste of time and counter productive.

 

[PC128]

Does anyone have any tips about how to handle my husband when he starts talking rubbish eg How do we get this (his penis) connected to the internet and who pays for the radio signal etc etc.

He is quite serious about this - he has recently had to have a catheter for a few weeks (gone now, thank goodness) and is obsessed with going to the loo, which due to his PCA and arthritis, he can't do by himself. He wears incontinence pants and keeps on about how they are to be connected to the tubes. The trouble is, the questions are unanswerable and he demands answers.

What am I supposed to say to stop the constant rubbish?

crybaby

I am so sorry yo hear that your husband talks rubbish ...for 90% of the time my husband has no comprehension & speaks "gobbledegook"... I sometimes wonder if there is a bit of Latin thrown in.....maybe trying to speak Welsh...who knows...I just say yes & no..."I don't know ", "oh dear" whatever I say seems appropriate & acceptable st the time.....all the best...C