Difficult relative- is it early dementia? MH issues?

[MarxBrosEyebrows]

This person is in her early 60s, always was hard work but recently (over the last few months) has got very irritable and verbally aggressive. Constantly starts rows. Hardly sees her grandkids anymore as most of the family have told her to eff off.

She constantly makes ridiculous statements like 'everybody knows the moon is made of cheese' and will not budge from it. A week later she'll come out with sometging completely contradictory with no memory of saying the first thing.

She will tell you an oliver twist story about how hard her life is, dragging up imagined greviances from decades ago to justify it, though she is wealthy and successful.

She has become quite unhappy, hates everybody and everything. Any time her sibling visits, she'll say "oh I was just going out/coming in/going to bed, I'm far too busy to talk to you".

Recently she started raving on about how one toddler grandchild (who broke her glasses for a laugh) was "evil"!!!! And she meant it!

That's what made me think there's something more going on. She just seems really unstable and angry of a sudden. I'll have to visit in a few weeks (I've been abroad) and I'm dreading it.

Any experience of similar behaviour?

I would not visit, you should not feel at all obligated to visit such a difficult person anyway. Family are not binding.

You state that she has always been hard work so this is not a recent issue at all. She may well have some form of personality disorder; you do not know but you do not have to put yourself in front of her all the same.
She has always been like this and has become more difficult with age. Other family members have cut her off and this is never at all done lightly or without much thought given.

There's clearly something going on if the behaviour is fairly new. Do you know who her gp is?

Why do you have to visit? I don't think you or her would get any pleasure from the visit so why bother?

Well we live near each other so it's inevitable really. Maybe I'll wait for her to come (or not) as she sees fit.
I do know the GP but it would feel a bit invasive unless things get really out of hand.

My Grandmother turned very nasty and negative a few years back,
it turned out she had a very bad water infection I didn't know until the doctor explained that older people can be affected like that and that it's quite common.
Would you be able to get them to see their GP?

Doesn't sound like a dementia. I'm thinking possible confusion from UTI or psychotic depression?