She repeats the same story. Any advice?

You are just a neighbor. The family is now involved, so what or who is giving you insight into all these things you are putting out here in public?

Repetition is part of dementia. It's not just 'memory loss' that constitutes dementia; it's a wide variety of behaviors and issues that affect the person who is suffering from the condition.

Refer your friend to the ALZ.org website for information about dementia, and to this 33 page booklet which is a free download:

Understanding the Dementia Experience, by Jennifer Ghent-Fuller 
https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/210580

Neighbor1
I am so sorry your neighbor is having these issues. For a condition you describe to come on suddenly it is often a urinary tract infection. If the condition is long standing it sounds more like a mental illness although some dementias cause hallucinations as well.
it sounds like “the daughter” is seeking medical help and that is the best she can do.
I know many neighbors look out for one another and that’s a good thing.
I hope she gets help soon.

Beware, the "No good deed goes unpunished" is not just a quirky phrase.
If the daughter has refused the doctor's recommendations for her mother, she will shortly learn that constant calls to the police will earn a visit from APS, and requirement for treatment and placement, on a 5150 hold possibly.

It won't be much longer now, so back away, do not interfere. Stop listening to this very ill neighbor. Unless you see your neighbor fall outside and need to call 911 on her behalf, stay out of it. (BTW, do not pick her up).

Your input into the neighbor's issues will only delay her treatment. imo from experience.

You cared, now stay out of it.

What is this meant to say? Can you correct it?

[ Saying she is being eat( ]

If you haven't yet discovered it the "bubble" topics under your question will lead you to links on this site about those topics, paranoia and delusions seem to me to be pretty apt.

Changes in routine or environment cause anxiety and stress. Her mind tries to come to logical (?) conclusions of why there is the difference. Thus, the wild stories because pieces of those memories are missing. Ask doctor for mild antianxiety medications and sleeping medications to help her relax during the day and sleep at night. It might be best to keep her focus occupied on other tasks and topics for awhile until she gets used to the lack of trees.

Advice...
If you are not family. I mean actual DNA, marriage linked family
If you do not have POA
If you are not this persons Guardian
Back off.
What this person does and or says is the families business.
You have given them some information about this site that is as far as you personally should go.
If you think the person is being abused or neglected you can contact APS give information you think is relevant then BACK OFF.

Oh, what causes this...Dementia it can be one or more types of dementia. There can be other underlying medical conditions but...
Since you are not family, you are not POA, you are not a legal Guardian you have no right to this information.

This is a paranoid psychosis caused by her dementia. Nothing you can done about it. Perhaps her doctor could prescribe some antipsychotic medicine.

Your neighbor should be checked for a urinary tract infection.

They can cause hallucinations and delirium, they can also increase dementia behavior in seniors. They DO NOT have the same symptoms as young people do when they have one.

Such a difficult situation for everyone involved. Hopefully, you can be a help to the daughter during this time. Friends are so very important for the caregiver.

There isn’t anything you can do. If the woman is calling the police and they are going to show up at the door, they will tell the family what the consequences will be if the situation continues.

The daughter + family are in a bit of a pickle. It would be a lot easier if they still lived in their own home wherever it was and convinced the mother to move into a dementia unit. She does need to be checked for a UTI, but if it isn’t that, she may need anxiety medication and to have her access to a phone eliminated.

The delusions the poor lady is suffering from are part of dementia. My MIL has this, but she had them before the dementia really set in due to mental illness. At a certain point, it may become necessary for the police to take her in for an evaluation. They should let it happen and ask for help.

You can do nothing.

Well for my wife she was irritated and wake at all times before I couldn’t handle her walking out, angry and just darn hard to care for. Meds helped but not to the extent I needed. I had to put her in a care facility. But there were preventive measures I took before that, like taking her phone, disconnected the battery on her car, and interior child safety door handles.
it seems it maybe time to take her out to dinner, and then to a facility. There’s no excellent facility out there BTW; but some are better. They all make this sound good but the reality of these care facilities is they are there to care for your loved one with a profit right in their face.
after three years of my wife in two facilities, I have brought her home now and have caregivers in my house for 9 hours a day while I work.
I found two caregivers who are excellent in their field. It’s hard to care for so many people in those facilities for one person, though they wish they could.
Hope this helps

Neighbor, If I understood correctly, you were sitting on the porch with the elder lady while “people” were cutting/removing the wood, and in her delusioned memory, you took the wood. The elder lady is angry and looking for someone to blame and punish, and you, Neighbor, are the only familiar face attached to her memory.

In my own personal experience, caring neighbors are few and far between, especially when there’s an elder person with dementia involved whose delusions are wreaking havoc to not just family, but everyone within their reach. In my case, neighbors who “stayed out of it” didn’t let me know about their interactions with my mother, key info that could have helped me get the help and diagnosis she needed sooner.

Neighbor, don’t stop caring, just check in with the elder lady’s family that you’re not overreaching and keep your lines of communication open with them. This situation will have to play out at their speed. However, if you witness elder abuse, call your state’s APS division.

You are just a neighbor, so this is her family's responsibility. I do hope she gets help before anything becomes dire. If it appears worse, check in with APS.

Our mom had a bad seizure in 2014 that badly affected her memory. At first, we knew she shouldn't stay in her home, but we didn't realize the scope of the memory impairment. So we helped her move into an independent living apartment. Less than a month in she got sick, had a high fever, called me and when I got there she was incoherent. I took her to the ER. They checked her out then released her. I brought her to my house and it was a terrible night. The next day my sisters and I brought her back to the ER where she was hospitalized for three days. Her doctors told her she could not live alone so we moved her back to her home (thankfully we hadn't gotten it ready to sell yet). One of my younger sisters moved in to care for her. That was eight years ago. To this day, she still, from time to time, reminds me I gave her things away, and it's my fault she an no longer drive, and she wants to get her license back. It's hurtful, but I know it's not reality. It's just how mixed up things got after the seizure. Things have progressed now to the point my sister living with her can no longer care for our mom and we're looking for assisted living. It's so hard knowing our mom wants to stay in her home. :(

My mom is doing the exact same thing! It is so hard to understand and deal with. I am 3 hours away and she lives with my brother who has basically thrown up his hands on what to do. He does not want to put her in a home, but she is so accusative and sticks with the story forever! She saw her 30-year-old grandson coming in the back door as he was pulling up his shirt to take it off. He ran into her by accident and then her story is that he pulled up his shirt and rammed her trying to knock. her down. She has told this story for 2 years now...over and over! Then her 42-year-old granddaughter (which did not happen) comes into her room and started juggling her face creams and then ran with them. Now, she describes photo albums that she says she gave me and wants them back so she can look at her memories. She gave me some photo albums to hold to divide up when she is gone between the 5 of us. Now she will not talk to me and accuses me of holding her albums hostage. She leaves threatening messages on my VM. Her latest says (in the evilest voice) You better call me or I am going to own your house! She does not answer when I do try to call, so I have given up. She was never like this until about 3 years ago when we started noticing her making up stories and repeating them over and over again. Now it is constant. She stopped taking all of her medications about a year ago. It's part of dementia, I guess.
I am so sorry you are having to experience this too! It is so hard!

Divert, deflect and distract. That's my motto with my mother. You simply have to change the subject even if it feels like you're being rude. Take a deep breath and say, oh goodness where has the time gone, we forgot to call Aunt Helen back...

Question: Do Psychiatric hospitals take Dementia patients? I believe the accusations could cause a lot of legal issues for the accused and could be prevented if she can get medications that help her. Perhaps Adult Protective Services, in your area, could advise on how to get her help and prevent her from becoming a public nuisance with her phone calls and accusations.

Somewhere on this forum, I read that if she is left at the hospital, then they will be responsible for getting her placed appropriately. Anyone out there who has actually done this successfully?????

There is not much of anything that you can do except support the daughter as much as you can. You need to be careful about how much you get involved to avoid making yourself vulnerable.She should talk with the police about what is going on. She should probably talk with elder care attorney to look into developing POA [financial and health], talk with local Dept. of aging, consider counseling for herself to assist in addressing the issue. She also should talk with mother's doctors[s]. {NOTE: they will need release from mother to talk in any meaningful way.] She probably needs to look into at least assisted living and steps needed to get in. Are there any other family members [siblings, etc.]

Neighbor1: The diseased mindset of purchasing a gun by an individual with dementia is a scary ideology.

Unfortunately, some dementia is like that. Give the police and emergency workers a lot of kudos for being to sort though the calls they get.

Thankfully, these people are not driving. Hopefully, they do not have access to weapons of destruction either.

The mother needs to be admitted to somewhere where she cannot potentially harm others, verbally or physically. She already harming those around her with her emotional outbursts. Tough, tough times for the family and those around them. Prayers...

Sounds like your grandmother is exhibiting something called "confabulation". It is a symptom, not a disease. It's not uncommon in the elderly, especially those with Alzheimer's disease which affects the memory.

It's not intentional lying. If, for some reason, the details of a memory are incomplete, a person may unconsciously fill in missing details with incorrect information. For example, it IS true that trees were cut down. But it is NOT true that there was theft involved. However, since grandma doesn't remember the entire incident accurately, she fills in imagined details that seem to complete the story. And, as far as she is aware, her account is correct.

Consequently, it is not helpful to contradict her, or try to provide facts that she honestly doesn't remember. She'll only feel threatened because she's thoroughly convinced she's correct.

I've encountered this a few times but I'm no expert. (You might want to consult someone in the mental health field). It's probably best to just redirect her when she speaks of this, change the subject, get her talking about something else. She's not likely to remember much of the conversation afterward, especially if you don't let her dwell on it. That's not to say she won't repeat her account again at another time and place. She probably will. Perhaps you'll get a chance to warn others, beforehand, that she may not have all her facts right due to brain damage in her past.

To clarify an earlier post, I did not mean to imply that these delusions should be "indulged" or that other people should be allowed to believe the false memories, especially if harm to them could result. Anyone who is threatened should be able to get protection. I never meant to imply that her false beliefs should be accepted.

But I can, and do, say that openly correcting this woman is an exercise in futility and will only cause her further agitation. She suffers from an organic disease. She has not consciously manufactured a lie. Often a skillful change of subject proves a good temporary diversion.