Mum sits there in a coat, saying she's waiting to go home. I tell her she is home, and she says "I know that". I ask her if she knows who I am and where she is, and she says yes and gets defensive, almost offended by the question. She seems utterly confused, and so am I. She goes to day care twice a week, so maybe she gets home and that place mixed up. Yet she seems to know where she is, even though she quite clearly doesn't.
It's all very well health-care professionals, people with years of training, telling us how we should behave and act around dementia, but it's easier said than done. She's not a patient; she's my mother. I'm her son; I'm not a clinician, or psychotherapist. Sometimes it's almost like I'm supposed to feel bad for the fact I yell and shout at her in shear frustration. Well sorry, but I'm only human. I've been lumbered with looking after someone with zero preparation or training. So if once in a while I absolutely lose my head, then so be it. I feel bad for just saying that, but that's how I feel.
PS: Please do not think for one moment that I would physically hurt her in any way. I love her to bits, and that's why this hurts so much.
It's all very well health-care professionals, people with years of training, telling us how we should behave and act around dementia, but it's easier said than done. She's not a patient; she's my mother. I'm her son; I'm not a clinician, or psychotherapist. Sometimes it's almost like I'm supposed to feel bad for the fact I yell and shout at her in shear frustration. Well sorry, but I'm only human. I've been lumbered with looking after someone with zero preparation or training. So if once in a while I absolutely lose my head, then so be it. I feel bad for just saying that, but that's how I feel.
PS: Please do not think for one moment that I would physically hurt her in any way. I love her to bits, and that's why this hurts so much.