Are your loved ones diagnosed with dementia and would falsely accuse you of mistakes you did not commit? In such cases, we understand that you might be angry, hurt, and even confused at these allegations made by your loved ones. However, there’s a need for you to sympathize with your loved ones, as dementia and other memory loss-related illnesses can negatively affect your loved ones’ thinking and opinion due to declining cognitive health. As such, in this article, we have listed a few common false dementia accusations and how you can safely handle them.
Stolen Money
Considering that patients with dementia have to give up their freedom to control their own financial management, they aren’t aware of where their money is and how it’s being handled. The lack of knowledge leads to them feeling scared, which can result in paranoia over time. If your loved ones accuse you or a caregiver of stealing their money, you or the caregiver can simply show where the money is located, regardless of whether it’s cash in a savings box or on a bank account. The reason for doing so is to put them at ease without any hesitation. Another way is to distract them by saying that the bank has closed and to redirect the conversation to another topic.
In order to prevent accusations of stolen money, you can allow loved ones to be in a possession of a fake or expired checkbook. You can also place files of old bank transactions and statements and let your loved ones review them at the end of the month. All these gestures will enable your loved ones to feel more in control of their own finances, which can help to lessen the likelihood of false dementia accusations.
Stolen Objects
When loved ones with dementia aren’t able to locate an item, they tend to accuse you of stealing them. They are not doing this to point fingers, but they have genuinely forgotten where they have misplaced these items. As such, be calm and help them to locate the items. Accusations of stolen objects can be easily put to a stop by constantly ensuring their favorite objects are placed in familiar spots around the living space. If the item isn’t too expensive, we also recommend purchasing these items in multiple amounts in order to cut short of the time of finding them.
Accusations of Poisoning
Mealtimes are particularly challenging for loved ones suffering from dementia. Aside from being easily distracted and unmotivated to finish their meals, loved ones may even accuse you or a caregiver of poisoning. This accusation stems from the fact that loved ones do not have much control over the planning and preparation of their meals, especially if they enjoy cooking when they were younger. Therefore, you can avoid such situations by encouraging your loved ones to partake in the cooking process with you, as long as it does not involve them carrying dangerous objects like knives and staying near to the fire.
