My mother, who has some dementia, in the last year or so, has had periodic rages... the like I have never seen! Her eyes bulge, she is completely paranoid, calling her aide and me "witches". When she was in rehab she actually called police to come out there because of terrible crimes. She curses, throws things, spits pills out clear across the room and is unmanageable and a danger to herself. I worry she will have a stroke or heart attack because of the level of fury. Many times, she bursts blood vessels in her eyes from this. After she calms...she has no recollection of the rages at all. Sometimes these rages are coupled with UTIs or dehydration but not always. I am at a loss trying to figure this out and what to do when they happen.
My mother used to rage when she was in her 60s--I think it was due to her personality disorders and finally stopped visiting becaue it was unbearable. She's in her 90s--haven't seen her rage lately but she's just mean in general so I've gone back to staying away.
I hope you find the help you need very soon. Wishing the best for you.
Human behavior can be described as a bell curve. In this case, being calm is at the low end of the curve to rage on the high end and then back to calm on the other side of the curve. That's why ritalin works as a ADHD med. You would think that further stimulating someone who's already hyper would just make it worse. It doesn't. It pushes them over the hump in the curve back down the other side. The same with wellbutrin or what I think of it as, baby ritalin.
Mom has mellowed through the years. She still has her moments, but it's like a 5 minute affair. So it's easy to walk away and come back in 5 minutes and then all is well.
The people that he is talking to on the phone dont realize that he is in one of his fits and then call us and ask “Hey whats going on? Dad just called me” Here we go again!
He also has Dementia. Its not really bad but bad enough to make me crazy! He got his eyes fixed and now he rages on that we let his license expire and he wont pass the driving test. Hes 86 and wants to buy a car.
I am a nursing assistant and I know its hard but they revert back to being like a child when they get older and have Dementia. Knowing that they wont have consequences they tend to do it more. I also know they cant communicate what is bothering them. For example: If they have a headache they might get mad because your not doing anything about it because you dont even know.
Or throw a plate across the room because they took a bite and they got a toothache. Not your fault but they cant communicate “Hey my tooth hurts, I need to go to the dentist.”
My advice to you is to see if you can get her in to a place where they watch her. If she is that bad you might want to call her doctor and see if they can do a cognitive test on her to see where her level is? Maybe the doctor can prescribe something for her?
From what you are saying she does, I think testing is needed. Cognitive levels, brain scan for advanced dementia and taking the next step to get her into a secure environment.
Meanwhile, if she has pills to take, the drugstore sells a crusher that will crush the pill so you can put it in jello or pudding. The same with capsules, open the capsule crush it and put it in something. That way mentally she thinks she is just getting a treat.
You really need to talk to her doctor first, find a social worker that can help you get in touch with people to help, and get some help.
Good Luck and Gods Blessings to you and your mom.
It sounds like to me that she may have some psychosis with psychotic episodes going on? You can have her evaluated for that through her primary doctor or he may refer her out for that for a mental eval. I would also look into getting her on some thropic medications for her outburst. Has she been diagnosed with dementia? I hope you will seek some medical advice very soon. I wish you all of the luck.