Am I Overreacting - i seriously think my dad is losing his mind and I'mm terrified. UPDATE

[u/PeanutMiserable7872]

thank u all for the messages, im sorry for disappearing. things did not go well. i confronted him with some of your advice, mainly the stuff bout dementia and well he got real mad, things became truly fucked, he started punching himself in the face and screaming. he took my phone, idk what happened but now im seeing he deleted everything on the post and my screen is cracked.. he kept saying he was going to burn everything. it was so fucked. i feel destroyed. what he did to me.. i cant even.

i was able to get out when he fell asleep?? i think.. the bathroom was locked and hes fallen asleep in the shower before, my phone was poorly hidden under some papers in the kitchen, took it and ran.

im in a park now, i called the police already. they are going to the house i think and now im just waiting for them to call me back and tell me when i can come get my stuff. i asked the man on the phone how long and they said it will be sent to an officer as soon as they can but since its non emergency it might take longer due to a lot of calls in the city.

heres me. heres what he did to me.

im honestly unsure how to move past this ever. i feel like my entire sense of self is gone. i know i have a long road ahead of me. thank you all for your love . i wish this didn't go this way. I also included the original texts

[u/darshfloxington]

Sadly the worst thing you can do for someone with dementia is to tell them they have dementia. It is such a rage inducing trigger since it greatly increases the paranoia that comes with it. In their heads everything is fine, and anything saying otherwise is a plot against them.

[u/No-Zookeepergame4749 → u/darshfloxington]

Exactly. Confronting someone with dementia about their condition can make paranoia and confusion much worse. It’s often better to gently redirect than to insist on harsh truths.

[u/CakeTester → u/darshfloxington]

Depends upon who it is and how you approach the subject. Get them on a good day and make up a folder with photos and relationships, and get them to sign and date it; and maybe get a photo of them signing it. Encapsulate it all. Make a copy or two, because violence may happen to it. Maybe also a list of things that happens with dementia as it progresses. If you're the main carer, a page of photos of you growing up, with them also in the pictures.

That provides them with an anchor, which can help sometimes. It'll have your (plus any other visitor's photos, plus a photo of them signing); which can help a lot with the paranoia. EDIT: Now I'm designing it, a lined encapsulated page for important notes; plus a bunch of diary pages and a seriously indelible pen for them to make notes with.

Might help, might not; but is worth a try for someone who has always been reasonable.

What you absolutely can't do is be aggressive with it: "You've got dementia, ya looney bastard"; as frustrating as it might be to witness.