In the past 15 months there's been a BIG change in my Dad's behavior. He quit bowling (3 days a week - M,W,F), going to the gym (3 days a week - T, TH, S), and playing card games with the family; he no longer does his daily sudoku puzzles or reads (he was an avid reader of novels); and he quit as the church treasurer. He has basically disengaged himself from all activity and now sits or sleeps most of the day in his recliner. He is also suffering from memory loss and confusion and has difficulty engaging in conversation. Our family is so saddened by these changes and how quickly the decline has occurred. The doctor says he's showing signs of mental decline, but we also think there's depression. We love my Dad and are struggling with how to help him re-engage with us and life activities. Any ideas?
Depression could be at the top of the list
Prior to this change and looking back over the past 2, 3 or 4 years can you recall a number of events that you or a family member brushed off as oh, he is tired, he did not really do that, or has he been late for anything?, or has he started writing things down that he might not have before? or has he made banking errors? or if he talked on the phone did he curtail that? Any little thing that can come to your mind. If you put all those incidents together you might find that it has not been just this past year but for the past 2, 3 4 years there have been changes.
Often we "see" changes, signs of decline but we explain it away as a way of denial.
First thing would be a visit to a Neurologist or a Neuropsychologist for an exam.
I am not liking your dad's doctor saying he is showing signs of mental decline and leaving it at that. His doctor should be referring him to a Neuropsychologist or a Neurologist for testing.
If everything checks out then a therapist to evaluate for depression.
By the way when was the last time he had both hearing and eyes checked. Problems hearing and vision problems can result in someone pulling back from the very activities that you mention. AND can be mistaken for mental decline as well as depression.
It sounds like he's suffering from depression, as he is probably more than aware that his memory is failing and he's coming to the realization that things are not the same, and won't ever be. Probably wouldn't hurt to get his Dr involved and see if they can't put him on some type of antidepressant. Hopefully that will help at least some.
His eye sight might have changed as well, thus the reason he can't see to do his puzzles or read. I would have that checked out, along with perhaps his hearing too. Bless you for being so concerned for your father. I wish you the best.
Yes, it sounds like it could be, if he's aware of the cognitive changes.
A lot of times it depends on where they are with their memory loss. I had my Mom labeling old photos and that let her share stories about our family. She can still use her ipad and likes to play solitaire on it. She really perks up with music from the big band era-it's always been her favorite. Since he sounds like he was active how about something more basic that has less structure to get him up and out, like walking, or are you concerned he might be at the point where he's not recognizing the neighborhood? Perhaps start walking together? Amazon does sell pocket GPS's that come with a subscription service if you think he's shaky on his sense of direction. It gave my Mom some autonomy, and I could work during the day and know where she was. A big factor for my mom, that we discovered when everyone was masking, was that her hearing was not very good, and it actually did seem to fluctuate and match how foggy she was day to day. Apparently she was lip-reading quite a lot.
As others have said, it's a different level of activity--As well, he may be thinking that he's still doing some of his activities if these are things he's always done.
Best of luck,
Good luck!