Why is my Dad disrobing?

He may be uncomfortable and is seeking a solution to it. Try to think about it from his point of view as he can't tell you right now what is wrong. Is he too warm? He may not be running a temp, but he may feel too warm. Try less blankets, lighter clothing. Is the clothing uncomfortable for some reason? Too tight? Bunching up? Scratchy on his delicate skin?

It is possible that he may believe he is just waking up and needs to get his pajamas off and redress for work. Have someone tell him it is Sunday, or whatever day might work, and he can sleep in - or some other comment that based on his past might work.

Is he in pain? The signs of pain can be difficult to determine. Have someone take his BP after he disrobes. If it is higher than his known norm - it is an indication of pain.

Is he content to lie down with just a sheet on him after he is naked? There is nothing wrong with letting him stay like this.

I hope this is helpful. I believe he is trying to communicate something - we just have to figure it out.

If he is in hospice, what does it matter that he is disrobing? Remember, you are the loving, caring, non-judgmental family member who should allow him to do whatever he wants in his last days. Don't try to explain it, just put the covers back on if he has a roommate in the same room, and if staff is that uncomfortable, don't have them in his room. We are born naked, and we return naked. He probably knows when his time is up. My condolences to your family.

PS - his other behaviors - does he have a urinary tract infection? It can cause all these symptoms and more. Refusing to eat/drink is common in the last days before death. The main thing now is to keep him comfortable.

Taking some or all of their clothes off is not uncommon in facilities where there are dementia/Alzheimers patients. Also not uncommon that they can't tell you why they are doing it. Just like they often times can't tell you why they do or don't do other things like eating, bathroom, think someone is stealing from them etc.. It's related to their declining logic, part of the brain disease.

Might I ask is does your dad have Dementia? When mom lived with me she would sometime start to take her clothes off near the end. The disconnect in her brain would make her pick out her clothing and bedding. Wanting to pull things off. I am sure it's all part of the process. With Dementia they have hallucinations too. Bugs are a big one. Maybe he thinks bugs are crawling on him and in his clothes. I know it a frustrating situation, and one that no one can really know what goes on in their little minds. Especially if the mind is slowly fading away. I'm sorry for you and your dad. God Bless.

My father did that too...he had frontal lobe dementia.
Never figured out why, it was just one of the many strange
behaviors he had because of dementia. It is not uncommon.
Special clothing is made that they can't take off...openings in
the back. We tried those, but he'd just rip them off, tear them
apart at the seams. That lasted 2 days till they were all in shreds and
we were out $200 dollars worth of clothes.

He's obviously an exhibitionist. Seriously, why try to figure out in a rational way such obviously crazy behaviors. The only thing you'll do is drive yourself crazy. Dementia is not rational. Period. Trying to rationally understand such crazy behavior makes no sense. There is NO reason to it.

I googled "disrobing dimentia" and found several articles. On the Alzheimer's site they called it one of the disruptive behaviors in later stage dimentia.

My dad also disrobed when he was on hospice last stage of cancer. It was Dec very cold month and he would take all of his clothes off and when I saw that he did I would go to him to recover him and his body put off such a coldness. I could feel it like a cold wave. It was crazy because when I would cover him he would take it off again. He was like an iceberg literally. He later passed that day and I wonder if since we come into this life naked, so we should leave that way. I guess in his case it was but it truly did make sense at the time for me.

My Dad never had dementia he passed young. There was a large round light on the wall in the hospital and he kept walking towards it not saying a word and disrobing it went on for several hours before he passed. It was the strangest thing I had ever seen even the nurses could not explain it.