My mother has dementia and is exhibiting looping dementia behavior that's definitely accompanied with sundown syndrome. Most behavior can be mitigated, but we have lost several doctors and veterinarians due to her constantly calling them several times a day, every day.
Is there a way to block her from calling certain phone numbers? All of them call me multiple times a week; several have openly asked to stop her from calling.
We can't lose anymore doctors in our area. The ones we have now are not refusing service, but they are losing patience with her. I am also losing my sanity, as well, and nothing I say or that my family says can convince her to stop.
We do not have guardianship over her, and we cannot be with her 24/7 because we have to work as well. We spend every spare moment taking care of her, and she is exhibiting no physically dangerous behavior to herself or to others and she is fully aware of where she is living. Any suggestions of outside assistance is met with temper tantrums, and then the shouting begins. So, rational explanations fall on deaf ears.
If there is a way to limit her ability to call certain numbers, it would alleviate some tension in dealing with this horrible disease.
As far as the temper tantrums, do what you need to and let her have a temper tantrum. If it gets to outta hand, call 911 to get her transported to the hospital, a psuch ward if needed, to get medicated for her behaviors.
So Everytime I change a contact in her phone she looks them up and finds their number again. Funny but frustrating.
It's crazy how in some aspects they are very resourceful, but in just as many ways regressed to toddler lever of understanding and behavior.
She kept calling my brother & I, it was driving us nuts.
Future Call Picture Phone with Speakerphone FC-1007SP
We finally had to take my mother's phone out of her room because her Alzheimer's has progressed, and certain family members were having inappropriate conversations with her, but we were very thankful to have TeleCalm available when we needed it!
of your mother has dementia I’m presuming she doesn’t know the phone numbers by memory
so change the listed numbers to a non existent telephone number
test it first like 0800 0002109
and when she says it’s not working you say they’re phones broken but you’ll pop round to them
im not familiar with dementia so just a thought
but in answer to your question
you can block numbers- sometimes it used to be via phone company others via actual phone facilities
speak to your telephone company for advice
your mother sounds like she may need an emergency facility tho
are you sure she’s safe living alone now?
Now, my landline is another story. If I get a call in the middle of the night, it is an emergency or someone has died.
Your landline is your resort for emergencies only.
When you want to Talk with Her, call the staff where she lives and get Yourself Connected with Mom. Explain your mother's situation that her phone is blocked and removed from her possession for her disruptive behavior.
If she insists keeping her phone, You can block her calls to own phone during Unwanted Hours because you work and require rest and peace. The last resort is to change some digits on her phone so they so her calls cannot reach her professionals since they have other patients to see. Just leave yours, some relatives and friends correct numbers on her phone. For God's Sake, what about 911??
Talk with her doctor's and other professionals about your mother's behavior. Mother cannot interrupt. What can a social worker do to control your mom besides explain what she is doing? It sounds like toddler behavior!
If it is a cellphone she is using, you can try removing the contacts from her phone. Good luck! <3
When my mom had a UTI, was hospitalized for two weeks, and was delirious, she would call me 20+ times a day because even though she didn't know where she was, what day of the week it was, etc. she knew my cell number. I couldn't block the hospital's number or her room phone because docs would call me from her room while they were rounding. But, after she called 911 twice in the same night to report she was being held captive in the basement of an abandoned farm house, the hospital removed the phone from her room.
When she went to rehab, it was the same thing all over again for weeks. I started silencing my phone overnight, and I'd wake up to see she had called 15 times overnight, and left 15 hysterical messages.
When she had meningitis and was delusional later that same year, it was the same thing all over again.
Eventually she got better and went back home. Mom had a lot of medical crises and hospitalizations, and because she insisted on keeping every single discharge summary (I mean there were stacks), she could always find the office number for docs and then hysterically call them when her anxiety was spiking. Fortunately none ever dropped her as a patient.
I don't have an answer for you, but trust me: I feel your pain.
Call her phone company.
Get another / new phone if necessary.
Why does she have a phone if this is happening - to the point she is losing MDs and vets?
No, of course, you cannot convince her to stop. As you say, she has 'dementia.'
Look at Teepa Snow's webinars and You Tubes on how to manage / deal with a person doing these behaviors.
Gena / Touch Matters
He sometimes still asks why I take his phone at night and I just tell him why.
He Still denies he does or did it.
Good luck. Sounds like a lot of good advice on here.
Sorry, I don’t mean disrespect, but enough is enough and it is too much.
Your mother cannot be live alone or be left alone anymore. You having to work does not mitigate this fact.
She needs to be placed in supervised living (AL) or live-in caregivers have to be moved in to watch her 24/7.
As for her tantrums and shouting. Here's how you handle that. She's not in charge anymore. So either she accepts whatever help you and the rest of the family come up with, or you do nothing for her. Then you tell her that if the phone calls don't stop, and she doesn't stop with the stubbornness about outside help, the state will put her in a home against her will. I have seen this happen many, many times over the years.
Show her this comment. It comes from a person who was a homecare worker for 25 years and who now has a business of it.
Nothing will get a senior a one-way ticket to a nursing home faster than being stubborn.
Call all of these doctors, vets, and businesses and tell them what's going on. Ask them to call APS because you are at a loss as what to do for your mother who is refuses all help. Ask them to call APS.