when it rains, it pours

[dragonyphoenix]

I'm worried about my Dad. He's fallen, twice I believe, in his house and had a "can't get up" moment. I mean, he did eventually but he couldn't move for a bit. The second time was something with his meds. He has paranoid delusions. He's blocked up his house so a ninja couldn't get in but still thinks his last tenant's daughter, and her friends apparently, are lying in wait for the least chance to get in and mess with his stuff. By mess with he means they'll take things and then months later return them. I saw this in action a year ago. He opened a drawer to find some paperwork he'd been missing. It had been on top of the old fridge before it had gone missing. Instead of thinking he'd tossed it in the drawer, which was in the kitchen, when he'd had the fridge moved out, he's convinced people broke / snuck in, took it, and months later returned it.

My roommate, Kat, is a social worker and has convinced me I need to talk to social services to get a senior assessment. I'd planned to talk with my therapist first. I'm not sure if I should tell Dad I'm doing that or not and, if I do, what to tell him and what not to. I'd been hoping Carol could help me sort that out. Unfortunately we're states apart now so I'd have to Skype her, which she's willing to do. However, Kat and I ran a test run of my Skype. I can hear her but she can't hear me. Unless I use a headset with a microphone; then she can hear me but I can't hear her.

So, I may have to call social services and just wing what I say to Dad without any help sorting that through.

Comments

[rahirah]

:( I'm sorry your Dad's having problems. I've always heard that kind of paranoia is very common among the elderly, but it's very disconcerting when it's your own parent doing it. It does sound as if he needs more help and supervision, and I hope you can convince him to accept it.

[dragonyphoenix]

Thanks. The delusions have been coming on a long time so it was hard to see how bad they'd become. I'm thinking I'll take my laptop to the Apple store tomorrow to see if they can figure out the Skype problem. I'd really like to discuss this with my therapist. ;-(

[rahirah]

That sounds like a good idea. My mom has been convinced for years that her caretakers, housekeepers, etc. are just waiting to steal her things. Whenever she loses something and accuses them, I just make sympathetic noises, and then look for the thing that's disappeared. Nine times out of ten I find it, tell her "By the way, I found that thing you were looking for," and that usually satisfies her. (Except for the occasions when the Missing Thing is a broken piece of junk that her housekeepers probably did throw away, sigh.)

[dragonyphoenix]

Ouch! *hugs*

[wolfinthewood]

Difficult situation. Wish you the best.

[dragonyphoenix]

Thanks.

[baronjanus]

I'm sorry to hear all that. We had similar problems with my mother-in-law. He might just need adjustment of medication, though.

[dragonyphoenix]

That would be nice. I had a session with my therapist this evening and she's given me a number of options starting with get contact info for his neighbors so I can get a better picture of what's actually going on. I feel much better!

[baronjanus]

It's good to have options :)

[dragonyphoenix]

Yeah. My roommie, who is a social worker, had very specific ideas of how I should handle it, ideas that I wasn't comfortable with. My therapist's suggestions are much more to my liking.