When Delusional Morphs into Delirium - I Miss My Dad's Gentler Delusions

Dad doesn’t know where he is, why he’s there, or why we’ve left him.

Or the big one, why we’ve abandoned him. 

Of course, we haven’t done any of these things, but he doesn’t see that. All he can focus on is his mounting anxiety and frustration. 

A lot of older adults suffer from a condition called sundowning—a state of confusion occurring in the late afternoon and spanning into the night. Sundowning can cause a variety of behaviors, such as confusion and anxiety. 

We often say that dad is delusional. We’ve actually said it for years, somewhat joking as he’s so unrealistic about his age, his abilities, his manly factor. 

The frantic call just now though broke my heart. He’s lost and confused. It took me 30 minutes to calm him down and reassure him that he needs to stay put.

Dad has pneumonia and can’t really breathe on his own right now. When his anxiety spikes that just makes his breathing harder, it’s a vicious cycle. 

Tonight, his delusional state morphed into sundowning and then delirium and that’s so scary. The nurse has been called, he’s now noted as a flight risk, with a bed alarm and his door propped open. 

I’ll see him tomorrow, my hope is that the delirium is gone, replaced by a much gentler, albeit unrealistic, delusional state.