My dad is 69 years old. I don’t have a great relationship with him and have not spent any time with him since before COVID (long story!!) but he retired from a demanding job in Covid and has pretty much sat in chair and watched tv ever since. Apart from trips out and holidays he has no hobbies, doesn’t read and is very physically inactive.
my kids still go over to visit and have commented a few times that his short memory is quite bad. He repeats himself a lot and forgets minor things. I didn’t think much of it, but my brother recently came back from a holiday with my parents and called me concerned about his memory. He apparently was losing things and repeating himself.
i texted my mum to ask her if they were ok as we have a strained difficult relationship too and she agreed he is forgetful but isn’t worried. She says he is good with numbers as that was part of his job and she has no concerns with him driving. My brother echoed this and said he was fine driving.
My mum reassured me she was keeping an eye on things and would take dad to the gp and let me know if she got concerned but something is just niggling me..
Has anyone else have experience of their parent deteriorating cognitively post retirement? If so was this the beginning of dementia? He is a belligerent man and always been the head of the household so I worry my mum may be downplaying things… although usually when there’s an issue, I'm the first to be contacted as she likes me to take over and solve things so I would expect her to tell me in that case..
could it be just that he has stopped using his brain and so it’s having a detrimental effect on his memory? Any insights would be really helpful