Dad gets aggressive

jvinarcik

My dad has a bandage over his wound per his dr and wound clinic. It gets changed by the wound clinic as well as my sister and I every 3 days. The dr. Said it needs to stay on to help it heal. He forgets it needs to stay on and keeps trying to take it off; gets mad at us for not taking it off when he asks. He feels he doesn’t need it and forgets why it is on. Any advice on how to help us when he gets mad or any ideas with how to tell him it must stay on. He won’t listen to us when he becomes agitated about this. And he gets really mean.

harshedbuzz

@jvinarcik

Hi and welcome. I am sorry for your reason to be here but pleased you found this place.

This is pretty common behavior. Explaining the whys and consequences is futile at this point. The first rule of Dementia Fight Club is never reason with a person who has a broken reasoner.

PWD have short memories and aren't always aware of their own conditions (anosognosia). If the dressing is in a part of the body that can be covered with clothing, that might remove the visual trigger and prevent access to the dressing.

I suspect this is behavior is going to need a constant supervision/redirection along with psychoactive medication. I had an aunt who broke a hip and needed a 24/7 sitter to prevent her getting up without assistance as she could recall her injury. If he's a harm to himself or others, he could be transported to the ED for a geripsych admission. If it's not that bad, you could speak to his doctor about something to calm him down. It might be helpful to have a video recording so the doctor can see what's going on.

HB