DH says he feels worthless

My husband does this frequently…calls himself worthless and even worse, stupid or an idiot. He knows he has something wrong with his brain, and him being aware of this has made it worse. Someone wrote a while back that they wished for just a little bit of anosognosia sometimes, and I have to agree. Once in a while, he can be very lucid on a few topics; this morning he told me God had foresaken him because why else would he have so many things wrong with him? He cried and so did I. ☹️

Elaine2, I'm so sorry. This is hard for both of you. My DH is in MC but he still rubs his hand across his forehead at times and says sadly that he can't do anything anymore. My usual reply is to acknowledge his sadness and worry and try to redirect him to something we can do together such as singing familiar songs or playing rummy.

yes it’s heartbreaking to hear them say that. I found my husband did that when he was anxious. I would tell him how much I loved him and that I would always be there for him. It seemed to calm him. When he was in memory care and not communicating very much, one day he looked at me and said “we’ll get through this” and I said yes honey we will. By then he didn’t know what “this” was but he knew I loved him.

DW says she's "worthless" too, and says it isn't fair that I have to do all the work. I ask her to do little things for me and it helps a little, but she's very aware that I am the caretaker and she is the person cared for. When we came home this evening I asked her to carry the takeout box with a little dab of leftover chicken while I carried a wad of used Kleenex and something else. I tossed the Kleenex into the trash bin when we passed it, and she did the same with the chicken. Of course, I just left it there and went into the house. At least she got to help.