October 22, 2022

There are some common Alzheimer's behaviors that John does frequently. One is speaking in a word salad. That refers to nonsensical words. He uses real words, but they don't make a lot of sense when he puts them together. He uses a lot of pronouns and often uses a tone that sounds like he's adding something significant to the conversation - but then it doesn't make any sense. Another common behavior is sundowning. That describes episodes of behavior and psychological symptoms of dementia occurring late in the day. I've noticed he gets more agitated in the late afternoon or early evening. Often I pick him up from EasterSeals and he's happy. Then we get home and he's angry. One thing that happens most days is that we pull into the driveway and John gets out of the car so I can pull into the garage (there's not enough room to open his door once we're inside the garage). He gets out of the car, and then asks what he should do. I tell him to shut the door so I can pull into the garage. Instead he tries to get back into the car and then shut the door. We might run through this scenario 4-5 times. By then he's piping mad (so am I to be honest) and yelling at me for not giving him the information he needs. Edna also commented that she's noticed that he gets frustrated each day around 3pm. The behavior that really drives me nuts is called shadowing. Shadowing is when someone with dementia follows their caregiver around. I've read that this behavior may be due to anxiety. He may be disoriented to where he is, but knows that I am a safe person. It's possible that being unable to see me is scary to him. So being around me probably reassures him and brings him comfort. Another theory is that the behavior is grounded in a lack of purpose. John doesn't know what to do, and I look busy and productive, so being near me helps him to figure out what is happening next. But shadowing is exhausting for caregivers. It drives me crazy that I can't get a task completed without him getting in the way. I might walk to the next room to grab my phone, then turn around to head back to what I was doing - but I run into John because he's following me, and I can't get around him to finish my task, and he's walking slowly. This happens so many times each day. I holler at him 'don't follow me, I'm grabbing my glass and I'll be right back!' Then I grab my glass, turn around, and then almost run into him. He's with me almost constantly until he falls asleep. No breaks, little privacy, and so many questions repeated again and again.