Vascular Dementia & Agression

[Boddies7]

I'm new to this and don't know where to start but would be grateful for advice.

My uncle has Vascular Dementia and having never married or had children his nieces and nephews are looking after him though he's been in a care home for 10 months. He's 78 and a lovely sweet man however has been having outbursts of sporadic violent behaviour over the past few months.
Nothing too sinister but pulling hair, throwing a glass of water and now the care home is worried, rightly so. It is completely out of character and he's an able strong man so hard to restrain him. Everytime he gets angry its because he believes that children are being hurt. We don't understand where this comes from but assume its part of his mind and this disease.

He's been on Quetiapine for 4 years now and I'm wondering if we should change this medication? We are in talks with the GP but it seems to take a long time for things to happen.

Many thanks in advance

 

[lin1]

Hello welcome to TP

Oh how your post brought back memories.
My mum used to worry about the children
who lived over there.....? mum was not
aggressive just so worried.

we used lots of reassurance that they were ok now
it took us a while to realise that it was what was
on the tv at the time their were lots of adverts
for money to help starving children abroad

Their are a few now, so could this be causing
aggression?

We did end up having to monitor the tv carefully
no war films,westerns,shooting noise ect

it may be wise to speak to his doctor as well

 

[Onlyme]

Hi and welcome.

You say that your Uncle has been in a home for 10 months. Can he hear worse off people that are calling out? I have been in a few homes were the residents are calling out for their mother. This is particularly obvious in the evening when some residents are 'sundowning' and just want to go home to a safe place where their mother is. Often when they call out they do sound like children.

Just a thought.

 

[Boddies7]

It's not easy

Thanks Lin1, we are trying to get an appointment with his GP through the care home but sometimes communication isn't great. I don't think he watches a lot of TV but I will bear that in mind. Thank you for responding.

Onlyme,
Yes there are a few ladies at the care home that make noises so I will look at that though I'm not sure we can change that as they all sit in 1 communal room.

The care home has now told me that they don't think they can cope with my uncle and we're devastated as it took us 3 months to get him into that home. Its so awful to observe someone you love change and become someone he's not. I think medication adjustment is needed. Thank you for responding too. This is a great resource

 

[sunny]

Watching TV

I am sad to hear this for your Dad, but I just wonder sometimes if watching television brings this on. My mother had Vascular Dementia and in the end she was unable to enjoy the TV, because she used to experience it in quite a different way to others.
She thought the TV was actually real and got quite upset at some people's faces so I think it is worth a thought for people to realise that people with dementia may experience the TV or the radio or both in quite a different way due to the brain not operating properly and sometimes do not like loud or constant noises which is something the staff in care homes should be made aware of. Perhaps something on the TV about children influenced this aggressive behaviour or it could be childhood memories re-surfacing now.

Mum could get quite aggressive sometimes and very irritable because I suppose the brain is being irritated which was quite unlike her true personality which was very gentle.

Anyway it is sad it so bad that the home think they cannot cope. I hope the GP is able to help.

 

[Boddies7]

Change of medication

Good news. My uncle has been weaned off Quetiapine and he's no longer aggressive. He gets a little bit more confused but is hallucinating less and is easler to deal with. For now anyway. Thanks to you all for advice. Be careful with quetiapine!

 

[wildrose]

support

my husband who is in a home cannot deferentiate between real people and those on the T V. and can get distressed if 'bad' things happen to those on the screen.

 

[jenniferpa]

Hi wildrose and welcome to Talking Point.

I think what is happening with your husband is very common. There comes a point in time when you really have to be careful about what is on the TV. It may be a temporary problem, or it may not, but from what I have read (and I don't know - my mother stopped be able to make sense of anything on the TV) there is little you can do about this except turn the TV off, and/or make sure that the only things that are on are not going to upset him.

It's very hard, particularly if you are relying of the TV for entertainment.

Is this TV in the care home in his room, or in the public areas?