Anger issues

Arrowhead

Anger has not been an issue with my wife, but I have a friend whose wife does. She gets angry, shouting and making accusations. Then she isolates herself in her room and refuses to talk to anyone. She resists doctors and medication, so he may not be able to get her any treatment. My wife had a three-year obsession with going “home” that eventually subsided. I was wondering, is it possible that his wife could reach a point where these issues go away on their own?

SusanB-dil

Hi Arrowhead - I would say… 'you never know', because each person can be so different. The anger could possibly resolve as she gets farther along.

Would your friend be open to telling his wife she needs to go to the doc for insurance purposes? Let doc know what's up beforehand, and then maybe he can get meds for the agitation. (possibly something that can be crushed, put into pudding, or applesauce, or juice)

dancsfo

Until your friend can see a doc, perhaps one can see if there's anything that seems to trigger it. Maybe it's frustration from not being able to do something, and one lashes out as a result. Or it can be anything else such as missing "home" as it was for your PWD. If you can try to find a pattern, perhaps your friend can prevent it from happening often. I've seen something trivial, such as an inability to locate some sharp instrument (which was hidden for safety) and that resulted in anger that built up until it boiled over.

terei

They could go away, or they could escalate. IMO her isolating herself out of anger is not necessarily bad. If she does escalate, he should be prepared to video her acting out + call to have her transported to ER(+ then to geri psych to be medicated. Caregivers should not accept being verbally or physically abused.