← Return to Dealing with a Spouse with a “Mild Cognitive Impairment”

Discussion
Comment receiving replies
Profile picture for steilacoomcaregiver @steilacoomcaregiver

One close relative with a sharp mind is an alcoholic. She moved further away to keep some behaviors secret. Her heavy drinking increased after caregiving for her spouse until his death from COPD. Out of kindness people look the other way and/or pick up the pieces. I wish family and friends would have intervened years ago as it is painful to watch the inevitable decline. Even her doctors look the other way. With dementia the mood swings can come out of nowhere. I imagine you are dealing with a double whammy.

Jump to this post


Replies to "One close relative with a sharp mind is an alcoholic. She moved further away to keep..."

It is painful to watch the harm she is doing to herself, and more painful to be the object of her anger and unhappiness when she is under the influence. She is quite resentful of me when drunk and fairly loving when she is sober (though volatile and easily triggered even then). She sounds lucid when she is ranting at me, but is likely in a blackout and has no memory of anything the next day (or sometimes even an hour or two after she sobers a bit). Drinking and dementia are a terrible combination. I quit drinking about 4 years ago, partly to be better able to handle her and mostly to protect my own brain.