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Wornout19 Asked October 2017

Tearing up the house

jeannegibbs Oct 2017
Well, gee, she is looking for her cat. That seems like a good reason to empty the silverware drawer, doesn't it?

Sigh.

Does she/did she have a cat?

This behavior would probably seem more logical if you could only get into her mind.

I once asked my husband why he kept taking the switch cord off the lamp. "I thought you like that."
"Oh yes! I love it. You bought it, didn't you?"
"Yes, I bought it, and I'm glad you like it. But why are you removing it?"
"Well, if we own it I'm not going to leave it in this hotel."

Perfectly logical reasoning, except for the fact we weren't in a hotel.

Sigh.

Your poor dear loved one is driven to do this by some logic that makes sense to her. She probably would prefer to relax and not be compelled to take the house apart, too.

Can you distract her? "You've been working at that a long time. I'll bet you could use a break. Let's have a cup of tea and a slice of pie."

coralmae Oct 2017
Wornout, before I had to place my mom in a MC unit, every night she would go through her house. She would move pictures, the garage door opener, her phone and clothes. She would also hide things so nobody could "steal them", including cat food! Needless to say, the garage door opener was never found, and we found the phone underneath her recliner when we moved it to the MC unit.

Now that she is in the MC unit, she has lost a throw blanket, her slippers and misplaces the TV remote every day.

I understand what you are going through and I wish you the best!

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JessieBelle Oct 2017
Wornout, my mother goes on tangents, too. One thing that bothers me is sometimes she empties her drawers of clothes on the floor. Clean clothes are thrown with dirty clothes, so I have trouble sorting which is which. Some that I know are clean (still folded) I put back into the drawers. I wash the others. She'll say she was looking for something when I ask her why, so in her mind it was reasonable behavior.

I don't know what I would do if she started doing this all over the house -- maybe put a For Sale sign out front and say all contents are included, including people. :-) You have my sympathy. People with dementia can do many strange things that make sense only to them.

Hugemom Oct 2017
Worn out, we really need more information about what is going on. Who is “she”? How old. Mental issues? Health concerns?Your house or her’s? Have you spoken to a doctor? More details, please.

Wornout19 Oct 2017
Sorry didn’t mean for it to post, but since it did... it is a constant tearing everything apart, top to bottom. Almost on a daily basis... has anyone else dealt with this type of behavior? Most of the time her reason is she is looking for her cat...

jjariz Oct 2017
So what's your question?

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