My mother has mild/moderate Alzheimer’s. She won’t watch any television except 24/7 cable news, and then becomes obsessed with the catastrophes that happen every day. I am tempted to put parental controls on her television to block all of the 24/7 new channels, but I am afraid that will send her into a tailspin. Have any of you found effective ways to deal with this? I know this is a common problem. Thanks!
Fortunately, there are good programs, especially the Masterpiece concerts, as well as documentaries and craft programs, that do offer worthwhile entertainment and education. I really, truly wish that Norm Abram's workshop series would be resurrected. He is and was a master craftsman, and was very good at explaining how he chose and constructed his masterpieces.
The real challenge will be finding something to replace this habit.
My brother (now 63) was a Popeye addict at three years old, and he liked to emulate the big swinging slugs that Popeye would do to knock out the bad guys. As my folks were going to be welcoming me into the world soon, they didn't want my brother to knock out his new baby sister. The TV mysteriously "broke," and Popeye was history. The TV remained unrepaired for a year, and my brother calmed down immensely.
I have no issues with you turning on the parental controls. I wish some of those stations would disappear completely, because they're getting lots of people of all ages wound up unnecessarily and they aren't news stations -- they're commentary stations at best.
My own MIL doesn't watch it all day, but one of those channels has convinced her not to be vaccinated, and I have a real problem with that. It's her life, but she has based her opinion on no actual facts.