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Originally Posted by KC911
A longtime friend's mom has recently been diagnosed. Do any of you have suggestions for family members/friends? Books, movies, organizations, etc. to help prepare them for this journey? Thanks in advance...
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I'll have to do some research. I had some stuff the local elder care center provided when we went through the early to mid stages with my father beginning 5 years ago. You might stop at an alzheimers care place to see if they have any books. The common picture of an alzheimers victim is that they forget things, but that is only the very early stages and it's the easiest. Expect a year or two of really bizarre behavior that is worse around sunset. Irrational anger, paranoia, running away from home, & increased libido are common. They get really scared of the craziest things. My dad kept thinking my mom was going to sell the house behind his back and move to California. She didn't get it, she just kept arguing with him and telling him it wasn't so and it escalated almost to violence. I would go get him and take him in the car to go see the police to make sure she couldn't sell the house. Of course, before we got to the police station I changed the subject, got him talking about something else, and he forgot all about it. They are like two year olds - they throw fits that go away if you distract them and get worse if you fight them. We'd end up eating ice cream and talking about WW II. His long term memory was great.
I handled Dad better than anyone because I gave up the idea that he was rational long before anyone else in the family did. He would get upset about something and everyone else would try to calm him down and he'd just get worse. I'd get pissed off right along with him and say, "By God I'm going to go take care of that!" He'd be happy that whatever was worrying him was going to be settled.
He is in the later stages now and it's a bit easier. No more running away, no more irrational ideas. Sometimes I think he knows I'm someone he's supposed to know, but I'm never sure. He for sure can't remember my name. It's actually easier now because the irrational behavior is gone.