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Dislikes Sister and an old friend

My wife has recently gone through some changes with her sister and an old friend. My wife was never close with her sister and this old friend growing up, but we've had a great relationship with both in the past 20+ years. A recent visit from her sister however sparked a memory of long ago when she didn't care for her sister. She really seems to dislike her now and I can't change her mind. My wife has accused her of wanting to move in with us and me falling in love with her. It's very frustrating and no manner of explanation has worked. I found myself getting angry and snapped at her a few times since she wouldn't let the conversation end. Same thing happened with an old friend. Disliking her now and accusing her of wanting to steal me from her.

My current idea of handling this is just to explain it to her sister and our friend and not to have further contact with them, which is unfortunate, but I don't see any other solution. The current confrontation about her sister was when I mentioned that she called and wanted to say hi. Her sister lives far away so it would have just been a phone conversation and not a visit.

Just wondering if anyone else has had this issue and what they proposed as a solution.

Comments

  • SusanB-dil
    SusanB-dil Member Posts: 1,149
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    Member

    Not sure what stage DW is at, but yes, unfortunately, this is a common occurrence.

    You may have to tell them not to contact at the moment, and don't bring up either name for a while. Maybe bring up one of the names, just casually, in a few months (or more) and see where she stands.

  • M1
    M1 Member Posts: 6,788
    1,500 Care Reactions 1,500 Likes 5000 Comments 1,000 Insightfuls Reactions
    Member

    Welcome to the forum. Two thoughts: first, withdrawal from old friends and even family happens with dementia. However it also sounds like your wife is experiencing paranoia and delusional thinking. That may respond to medication and i would certainly bring it up with her doctors.

  • Al_Butch
    Al_Butch Member Posts: 7
    5 Care Reactions First Comment
    Member

    Thanks for the welcome. This started a few months ago before her current medication, so I'm not sure if there's a correlation.

  • Iris L.
    Iris L. Member Posts: 4,414
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    Member

    Paranoia and delusion may not be related to the individuals' past histories. In other words, these delusions are related to brain damage, not to family history. So it's not useful to go into who liked or didn't like whom in the past.

    Iris

  • Al_Butch
    Al_Butch Member Posts: 7
    5 Care Reactions First Comment
    Member

    Dr indicated it's the disease and not the medication, but thanks for the tip.

Commonly Used Abbreviations


DH = Dear Husband
DW= Dear Wife, Darling Wife
LO = Loved One
ES = Early Stage
EO = Early Onset
FTD = Frontotemporal Dementia
VD = Vascular Dementia
MC = Memory Care
AL = Assisted Living
POA = Power of Attorney
Read more