Follow-Ups to Answer from Expert Michalene Peticca

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Mary G. (Alzheimers, Allexperts wrote at 2009-05-23 16:41:22
Hi Janice. What is happening to your mother has a name - it's called anosognosia - or unawareness of her own deficits. What is screamingly obvious to you, she cannot see. It has both a neurological and an emotional component - emotional based denial and a disrupted cognitive function. No amount of discussion, logic, reasoning, arguing, or persuasion will work, because she just isn't capable of recognizing her own problems.



In this instance, dementia works in your favor in certain ways. Stop waiting for her approval, permission or agreement - you won't ever get that. I wouldn't even discuss it with her - you'll just get her upset. Make whatever arrangements you need to make to keep her safe and healthy. She is very unlikely to be able to do much about whatever you have to set in motion.  Just as a for instance, when my mother in law was in assisted living and at stage 5 or 6, she wanted to leave andget an apartment with her sister (who also had dementia). We didn't worry or argue about it because we knew she was completely incapable of initiating and organizing any such move, and we certainly weren't about to help her. If your mom went into a secure dementia ward, she won't be able to organize an escape. Her cognitive issues and memory problems are likely to preclude any coordinated efforts to formulate a rational plan and act on it. Safety has to be the bottom line. She can't live alone !



Mary G.

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