I'm desperate for some guidance on how to deal with my mother.
She is 70, lives alone, and is quite hard up financially. The latter point gets her down, unsurprisingly.
She raised me and my two siblings by herself and really struggled to make ends meet, but always gave us a lot of love and was one of those rare mums that everyone loved and wanted to be around - even when we were teenagers. She is incredibly well regarded by all who know her for doing so well when we were young, and for being a very caring friend. We all adore her, but things have really switched in the last 10 years and she is now very hardwork to be around.
It is like she has had a complete personality change. She used to be calm and never saw the bad in anyone. Now she is always on edge, she bitches about everyone, is quite snarky about family members and her friends, and is generally quite negative. She started only sharing this with me and my siblings, but increasingly she has melt downs at any family occassion when our partners are there, and has ruined a few by shouting and yelling if something very minor and irrelevant isn't exactly the way she wants it to be. She made my sister cry on Christmas day because of a toy she bought that wasnt' exactly like one she would have purchased.
She is also incredibly emotional and has big outburts on the phone. I can tell when one is coming the second i pick up the phone. It can be over anything - I left without saying a proper goodbye, I didn't give her enough attention at my wedding, I should have gone to see one of her friends when I was visiting. The worst ones were when she used to call me to tell me she wanted to die and then hang up. I used to lose it thinking she was suicidal, for her to then finally pick the phone up hours later being all bright and breezy. Over the years, I've come to see it as very attention seeking and my patience has waned.
I love her and would do anything for her, but I'm exhausted by always having to tred on eggshells and never quite knowing how to react.
I have tried to put up boundaries i.e. I don't answer the phone every time she calls (she can call up to 8 times a day) and I redivert conversations when I'm turning into her therapist (I've had numerous conversations with her when I say she I am her daughter, not her therapist).
I have tried to get her to see a therapist but she is adament she does not need one. My sister has even called and written to her GP but that was over ridden, and my mum went completely nuts, ranting and raging for hours on end, and still hasn't forgiven my sister.
I want to support her emotionally and financially (which I do) but I'm getting exhausted with it all and just can't ever see it changing.
I think I'm struggling now as I've had 2 failed rounds of IVF in the past year, 2 miscariages, work is hectic, we have 4 children, and I'm just desperate for a normal conversation with my mum. (My mum knows nothing about the IVF or miscarriages as I can't cope with handling her emotions on top of my own).
Phew that was long! :)
Do I just need to accept that this is life now?
Elderly parents
70 year old mother depressed and needy
RoseWrites · 18/04/2023 08:59
Viviennemary · 19/04/2023 09:29
I am not a medical person but the early signs of dementia are repeating the same story over again several times within the space of say 40 minutes. And asking the same question again after only a minute or so. And some days better than others. She is obviously a very unhappy a lot of the time. But I agree 8 phone calls day is too much. You can't force her to have therapy. You could try calling Age UK and see what they suggest.
RoseWrites · 19/04/2023 09:15
Thanks so much for everyone's responses :)
Oh no, I hadn't even thought about dementia. I had hoped that it was just anxiety/depression. Well, not hoped it was that, but at least something less dramatic than dementia, if you see what I mean...
For all those with experience of dealing with something with dementia, are people able to switch their symptoms on and off/do the symptons come and go? The reason I ask is that my mum can still "hold it together" at times i.e. she was upset and a bit strung out on the phone to me but then 10 minutes later went out on a day trip with her friend and was all sweetness, light and happy go lucky. Is it possible to have dementia and manage it?
I might be clutching at straws here but keen to hear this isn't dementia, or if this just sounds like the early stages before it takes hold?
IthinkIsawahairbrushbackthere · 20/04/2023 10:53
the early signs of dementia are repeating the same story over again several times within the space of say 40 minutes
It's perhaps more accurate to say that doing those things can be a sign of dementia but not all forms of dementia start the same way.
DahliaMacNamara · 20/04/2023 13:41
@Iwasafool Yes, it was hard in the beginning to get help for MIL because her hostess mode was very much like her old hosting style, ie all superficial phrases and interactions, in line with what she perceived as their expectations. She clearly found it very tiring, however, and after a while we realised that if we could get medical or social work staff to wait unseen around the side of the house for a very short time, ie under a minute, they'd hear her slip out of it and go back to shrieking and throwing both objects and accusations.
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