Why is my mother-in-law striking out against the only people in her life that care for her? She has driven everyone away.

The answer is simple: because she had dementia.

Simple, but not particularly helpful.

You have involved social services. You have seen counselors. What else can you do?

Um, ignore her? Refuse to participate in her dramas? She accuses you of taking money out of her account. "Sorry, Mom, we don't even have access to your account. Do you want to talk about something else? Otherwise I'm hanging up now." She wants to call the police over a missing can opener? "That is fine, Mother, but don't be surprised if they are not overly concerned." She wants to sue you? "Do you need help finding a lawyer, Mom?"

It is a sad answer, but it might be your best option. Just stay out of the drama. If that means limiting contact with your mother, so be it. Try to set some boundaries. You will talk to her, but only about topics acceptable to you. No drama. If that is not possible, you will not talk to her.

The harder question (I think) is how hubby can deal with his feelings of guilt. He did not cause the problem. He tried in rational ways to fix the problem. He may feel disappointed. He may feel grief. He may feel bad. People who don't feel bad when bad things happen are a little scary, don't you think? But guilt? I just don't see it. He didn't make his brother the way he is. He didn't give his mother dementia. He didn't abandon her -- she kicked him out of her life.

This is a very, very sad situation. Disengaging from the drama wouldn't make it any happier, but it may save your sanity.

There is NO being logical with her anymore, you gotta give that up all together I'm afraid. Because of that I'm afraid that your husband is going to have to step up and protect her from herself. If that means becoming co-owner of her house with her, that's what he's going to have to do. If he doesn't, then you might be free from the drama she inflicts on your family, but she'll be ready prey for the pervert brother. You and your husband have to make the decision on this one. You tell your husband that his mother's problem is no different than someone developing diabetes after their whole life of NOT being a diabetic. Those people can't help it, and neither can she. Sad but true.

If the other son is taking advantage of her perhaps she should be placed where she can be cared for... either assisted living or nursing home. She is not reasoning well and not making good choices. I know this is hard I do not mean to sound uncaring. take care...

I agree, it sounds like there is no being logical with her. My mom was always nice to everyone - drs., neighbors, nurses, salespeople, etc., but to me her only child (and my husband) she was very vindictive in her last few years - she would yell, accuse us of things and would sarcastically complain to others "see what I have to put up with" if I even asked her how she was feeling - and I would be standing right there with her but she complained about me to whoever was around us at the time. The others couldn't understand why she was doing it because they heard what I said and knew I was being nice. The psychologist at the rehab finally told me that she is being nasty to me (the one closest to her and the one doing everything for her - I was handling all her affairs (by her choice) making sure that the drs. and nurses were taking care of her and this was the way she was treating me. The psychologist stated that "she knew she could be nasty to me because she knew I would always be there for her". If she was nasty to drs., nurses, salespeople, neighbors they would get disgusted with her and wouldn't come back - me on the other hand she knew would come back. Basically he said "she had me wrapped around her finger". Just a thought of what might be going on here. Good luck!

This situation is very delicate, your mum is sick but she does not know it.It is your responsibility to step in and do the right thing.If she has no health care proxy the court can appoint a guardian to help save her from herself. Good luck.

I can relate. My Mom is so conviced that people, including me, are stealing money from her she acusses me. I take care of all of her bills but haven't taken advantage of my POA. She's terminal and her mind is not there. I feel for you.

The wonderful folks from VNA have told me that although they may be sweet to helpers, they usually take all their anger and frustrations out on the ones who are closest to them. I get this on a daily basis. And I agree with Evelyn, my spouse and I, who do the most for her are are always the "evil ones". Hope you can work things out and all gets better. God bless you all.

I appreciate every response. I wish we could have the court appoint a guardian, but unfortunately in our state we would have little if any chance of that happening. I did speak to Adult Protective Services-(APS) again and they stated the same thing..."Just because she has dementia doesn't mean that she doesn't have the right to make poor decisions". Until her decisions or her other son's actions physically impact her, there is nothing that can be done-(if he takes so much money that she can't buy food, etc.). At that time, they can look at appointing a limited guardian-(one appointed by the court; we don't want to be in that position) who can protect her interests and ensure that her needs are taken care of. Perhaps if that happens, we can once again become involved, but until then we are "disengaging" for our own sanity.

You mother -in- law is sick and scared. The more she fusses the more frightened she is. She is like a child lashing out. This is a cry for help. Do not desert her. My mother would lash out at me in her last year . I would just answer back" I know you are frustrated from being sick and hurting. I will do my best to help you and be here for you." They say you go through two times of childhood and it is true. My mother acted like a fussy child. I had to be the parent and try to soothe her. It was not easy but I would do it in a heart beat over again because that was my mother who put up with me for 18 years. I only paid back 8 years. I did the same for my mother-in-law too. Trade off with your siblings if you can get them to help you. No one said getting old and being mentally frail was going to be easy. In my family we have a history of hanging tough and looking out for each other. I hope you can try this for your mother-in-laws sake. If you need to get professional help to handle her, then at least try to answer this cry of help. You will thank yourselves for the rest of your life.

Obviously, you did not read my initial post. The only sibling to "trade-off" care to is a convicted sexual molester who is taking financial advantage of her illness. Yes, she is sick; yes, she is probably scared. BUT, just like you would treat a child, sometimes you have to say enough is enough. I would never allow our children to treat either my husband or myself the way that she has treated us.

I am glad your experience was one that you can look back on with fond memories. This women did not give her son (my husband) 18 years. She adopted him and he lived with his grandmother. My mother in law has always told us that she adopted my husband for her mother.

I, too, come from a family that hangs tough, but this is not representative of my husbands family and certainly not representative of his mother.

I agree, lenzeme. Pltrickey has some really good advice -- it just doesn't happen to apply to your situation.

Lenzeme I am so sorry for you. My husband was abusive to me and I was the only one to put up with him-he had no friends to speak of who would bother with him-when my health was impacted greatly by caring for him I had to make the decision to have him placed-I did not deserve to be treated like he was treating me-he died before the paperwork was done. While he was home I had to leave his space and just not engage him in conversation-I know what you are going through and if you can when she starts ranting go into another room if you can. Social service in your county should be helping you-I would see an elder lawyer and seek his or her advice. since the house is back in her name if she is placed the facility will consider that an asset for her.

This subject is very common general speaking. I had experience for many years as a hairstylist with customers who were showing signs of dementia, although I did not know why or what dementia was all I knew was... in order to get through the time as a proffesional I needed to go with the flow. This experience at the job prepared me mentally like a crash course for dealing with my Mom when she got dementia. I am in no way saying that a 1or 2 hour client/hairdresser relationship was equal to parent/child caregiver relationship. As I am naturally a "people person personality" I had to do whatever it took to get the job done. This is NOT easy for alot of personalities to cope with. You basically have to let what is said go in one ear and out the next, a demented personality is ever changing as well, so what works today may not work tommorrow. With all that said... I came to realize that if you are a loved child before dementia and your care is good.... it is to the demented person a threat of losing independance. It's all a fight to test your love and security. Look at it this way if you were to yell at a person who was really robbing you, would he stand there and dispute, no he'd just run off with the goods. Not giving a SH--!! So it's pointless to argue with the robber. On one hand they know you care cause you don't give up and on the other hand they know deep inside your the one that will take whatever nasty words they can dish out because no matter what they do or say your still giving them attention. "Your being played so to speak." A parent/child bond is much deeper than vocal. They feel they are the parent. This role is comfortable, normal. Put yourself in the parent role and your child comes to you and starts digging into your business takes over your daily needs and bosses you around. How would you react, if in your mind you are the one in charge of all of this than in a mass confusion you no longer have control your child does. I am not saying you should not take care of your parent with dementia you need to react differently maybe to do what it takes to get results. Take it as a compliment if your the bad guy... this means you care to them. It's hard but the more you smile and act like you don't care the more they want you to help. Or just agree with whatever the criminal act is. I stole all my Mom's clothes (she thinks). So I say now when she says this, OMG I did! I will return them and when I bring her new clothes, I tell her here are the clothes I stole, the police made me return them. She says OH OK than you didn't have to do that I don't need clothes. I can't understand but that logic works. Act helpless like you need a parent not that they need a caregiver. Once you get that communication going, trusting you may get easier. If diagnosis hasn't been resolved yet. Diagnosis is a must so they can be properly treated. In a dementia case the meds are not to be trusted to be taken by them. A trusted careiver needs to be on that job. Then still they have to be closely whatched while taking them ditching is an issue. They can be very sneaky and clever! They may not remember lunch but will remember how to trick you. After this is in order it maybe alot easier to deal with paper work and other issues. If going to the doctor is still a struggle seek a behavioral health hospital. Danger is an issue if someone is not mentally stable. If a person is mentally unstable and dosen't agree to seeking help this a reason for involantary inpatient behavioral health notify police in most cases if they don't trust anyone the will tust police and they should know what to do. Let me aware you not every hospital has a facilty as this. Regular hospitals do not know how to hand it or cannot. Good Luck!!!

Iam glad that as a hairstylist you took the time to work with the person and not just refuse to do their hair-you may have seen red flags before the family-these elders are very good at hiding things.

Lenzeme - I've been in the same situation in which my mother who has dementia but is also mentally ill (bipolar disorder, narcissistic personality disorder) has said horrible things about me to caregivers, neighbors, medical staff, etc. I mean HORRIBLE - accused me of stealing her medication, pushing her down, and other lies and it has been extremely challenging, to say the least. My situation with her is fairly recent since she was managing fairly well until she went into the hospital for an infection, and upon release from the hospital she refused to go to the nursing center. So we've had a rough past month but I've learned alot on this site and here is how I'm handling it now - I LIMIT CONTACT. I have caregivers in place and I call her each day, usually twice to check in and since I've backed off, she is treating me more respectfully. If/when she becomes hostile or agitated and lashes out at me, I simply change the subject and if she continues, I either get up to leave or tell her I have to go - have another call coming in. In other words, I'm in control, not her. I experienced the guilt, etc. and then realized for what? Why feel guilty for doing everything and more to help her? The other side of your issue related to your brother-in-law is more difficult since he is manipulating her and it doesn't seem there is much you can do other than monitor the situation as best as possible and then report him to law enforcement if he is stealing from her. I would expect he'd be on probation so you could also contact his probation officer if this is the case. But recognizing my limitations was what has helped me the most. We can't control everything going on but we can certainly control how we react or don't react to it by not allowing the toxic effects of these people's personalities and illnesses to infect our souls.

Givingup Your screen name should be revised to "Givingupisnotanoption"
After my Mom's diagnosis My focus became her wellbeing. I was told you can't do it repetedly by my family. Who for the record, had no other solution but to hinder my actions to deal with the problem. Noone wanted the job but, only had useless answers and negative complaints instead of helpful constructive actions or words. I found out the hard way, but I did find out...Actions speak louder than words with family and my Mom. A pure soul cannot be weakened or overruled by harsh words or ill intent. Food for thought!

wuvs - I agree with you that positive overcomes negative and I'd add that I love my mother and have made numerous sacrifices to take care of her, to include paying for caregivers, her food, cable, etc. and foregoing time with friends and my spouse, However, I realized after getting physically ill from devoting my every minute to my mother's care was not healthy and that I had to set some limits on how much I could do because regardless of how much I did, she was verbally and emotionally abusive and putting myself in her path was self-destructive. It's amazing to me how once I set some limits on her behavior, similarly to how a mother would set limits on a teenager who yells and screams, I was able to change the dynamic despite her dementia. In other words, she realized I wasn't going to tolerate it. I expect that like many of the experiences mentioned on this site that my situation is very different than yours and others and what works for me wouldn't work for you, and that we each have our own path and must determine our own direction for how to best deal with all the challenges we are confronting in this journey. But I am a Christian and I am following God's leading down this rocky road. I commend your dedication and determination to care for your mom despite the naysayers and hindrances you have encountered.

Lenzeme, sounds like you have researched all your options and are limited in what you can do without your mother-in-law's cooperation for the time being. You may want to check on her a couple of times weekly, let adult protective services know about her other son's criminal background and his desire to get money from her. That may change the sense of urgency for APS to step in. They should have a hotline you can call to report your concerns even anonymously. If nothing else, they can also keep an eye on the situation. Your husband was smart to transfer her home back to her name when she started complaining. I wouldn't worry about her accusing you of taking $3,000 from her account because you will easily be able to prove that you do not have access to her bank account. Don't abandon her completely, but take a step back for your husband's sanity and yours. Good luck in a no-win situation, Lezeme.

Pardon me for misspelling your name, Lenzeme.