Your loved one with Dementia may begin rummaging through closets, cabinets, drawers, the kitchen, and other storage areas. They may also hide objects in the house. This conduct might be annoying or even unsafe for the caregiver or family members. However, if you become furious, remember that this is just a symptom of the condition.
This manifestation permits a loved one to preserve a sense of security in the present while holding on to the past. They may feel safer if they hide more. However, if the space is cluttered with too much stuff, it may become unhealthy and dirty. If essential objects like keys or medicines are taken and hidden away, it can be very challenging for family members and caregivers.
People may experience feelings of loss from time to time and react by looking for items. Their befuddled efforts might be a sign of emotional distress. In an attempt to keep their old stuff secure, your loved one may hoard or hide their belongings. Unfulfilled needs can lead to these behaviors, so figuring out the reason might help you handle the problem.
When they hide stuff, it’s possible that they don’t recognize what they’re hiding or that the stuff belongs to others. They are not attempting to conceal an essential item on purpose. People simply don’t comprehend because of the condition. Boredom may motivate your loved one to rummage through closets and drawers.
Possible Reasons People Living with Dementia Hide Things
People living with dementia are likely to develop a habit of hoarding or hiding objects because of these specific reasons. Let’s discuss this further.
1. Maintain Their Identity
Personal belongings help us keep our identity to some level. And for a person living with dementia, the loss of reasoning, increasing confusion, and cognitive impairment can all have significant consequences. The impact could be so overwhelming that your loved one may consider a simple bill an essential document, a pebble as a valuable item, and a stranger as family.
2. To Secure Their Belongings
Dementia can also cause symptoms of paranoia. Some individuals with dementia grow suspicious and hide items they feel have been taken by family members or burglars. This might make it harder to get rid of trash and aggravate an already tough situation.
3. Desire for Possessions
The failure to identify what must be tossed out might pose issues, yet there is still a desire for belongings and the capacity to keep them secure.
4. Boredom
Those living with dementia often have very little activity to do, and this becomes the cause of their boredom. So, getting bored can also make them hoard or hide things.
5. Memory Loss
Sometimes your loved one does not intend to hide or hoard things. They want to keep them in a safe place but then they tend to forget the ‘safe place.’
6. A Coping Mechanism
Hiding, hoarding, and rummaging could be ways of coping with the loss of memories and the inability to accomplish things they used to.
10 Things To Do When People with Dementia Hide Things
When hiding things, those living with dementia are often trying to fulfill a need or reassure themselves that their belongings are safe. So, it would be unfair and disturbing for caregivers to remove things that are hoarded or hidden since they usually provide the individual a sense of security or safety.
Trying to stop them might make them anxious, nervous, and more eager to execute their plan. Therefore, it is safe to manage these behaviors in the following ways without disturbing them.
When a loved one with dementia starts hoarding or hiding items, here are ten things you can do:
1. Keep Unused Rooms Locked
If a room in the house isn’t in use, keep the doors shut and doors locked to restrict the potential hiding spots for your loved one. A closed room may offer you a secure location to keep some of your most valuable possessions.
2. Offer Them A Dedicated Space
Giving your loved one with dementia a box or drawer to store all of their valuables is a great idea. This accomplishes two goals: first, it provides a sense of safety by providing a secure location for their belongings. Second, if the keys go missing, it might help you focus on your search area. Furthermore, people with dementia usually like rummaging, and having a separate drawer will provide them with something to look through.
3. Keep An Eye Out For Their Hiding Spots
Try and remain informed on all of your loved one’s distinct hiding spots. This can assist you in guiding them in searching for a misplaced item. It may also be handy for recovering goods that belong to others or food that your loved one may have taken from the fridge. However, because they are special hiding places, use tact and discretion when exploring them.
To keep their personal stuff or even other people’s belongings “safe,” many people living with dementia hide them. Conduct a periodic scan of these hiding locations. Be aware that they perceive trash cans to be ideal hiding places for items, so double-check the trash before throwing anything out or start locking bins throughout the house.
4. Make Extra Copies Of Important Items
A person living with dementia may throw away objects that should not be thrown away, or they may hide certain items in unusual places. It can be good to stock up on extra copies of important items like keys. You won’t have to worry if something crucial goes missing this way. Some seniors aren’t comfortable until they know where a certain thing is. Consider purchasing multiple sets of the same item or something identical in such situations.
5. Assign Interesting Activities To Make Them Feel Productive
What seems to us as hiding or rummaging could be a means for your senior to feel productive.
In such situations, providing alternative activities that make them feel active and contribute to the home is beneficial.
You might ask them to assist you with basic activities that they are capable of doing. Folding laundry, chopping vegetables, arranging a closet, and sorting documents are just a few examples.
These activities should allow them to refocus their attention away from hoarding and hiding. Spending time with a loved one can help you develop lasting memories that will support you while you walk together.
6. Steer Clear Of Toxic Products
If harmful things are readily accessible, individuals with dementia may mistake them for harmless ones and injure themselves.
They may not perceive knives as dangerous things and may injure themselves. Alternatively, people may mistake toxic substances such as cleaning chemicals for regular drinks.
Remove potentially harmful objects and store them in protected, locked rooms where they are not visible to them while rummaging.
7. Check The Food Regularly
Food with spoiled or uncooked meat in the fridge or cupboards is potentially a hazard. Seniors could be searching for a snack but are unable to identify when something is risky to consume.
Food should be disposed of when it expires. For raw foods, cook them immediately or keep them out of reach.
8. Secure Your Valuables And Important Documents
When a loved one hoards goods indiscriminately, valuable possessions are inevitably misplaced, sometimes temporarily and sometimes permanently. The easiest solution is to take everything of worth or significance and safeguard it.
Some examples are jewelry, financial and legal papers, credit cards, and keys. You may even make up fakes for some things, so your loved ones will not realize they’re missing. This way, they can continue to enjoy their belongings and maintain some control without risking losing the actual thing. It’s also good to lock up some rooms to prevent your loved ones from moving or contributing to their possessions.
9. Try And Identify The Triggers
When a person living with dementia is confronted with a triggering event, they may begin rummaging or hiding things. Perhaps they do it at a particular time every day when they’re bored or upset.
Adhering to a consistent everyday routine may be beneficial since it provides a flow to your day. In addition, this eliminates the fear and anxiety that might lead to such behaviors.
Identify patterns in their actions to see whether you can find out what’s prompting them to hide things.
You might employ diversion techniques such as involving them in a fun activity or providing their favorite food or beverage.
10. Be Kind And Reassure Them
It’s almost certain that a valuable item may go missing at some point. Your loved one may have misplaced it or forgotten since they last used it. If they are concerned as a result of this, put in your best efforts to reassure them. Avoid using harsh words, maintain a cheerful tone, and exercise patience.
Keep in mind that your loved one is not acting in this manner on purpose. Their acts are a result of their brain’s impaired functioning. Try to comprehend their need to have some control over their lives and to find stability. If their hiding is bothersome but harmless, such as hiding newspapers, it may be preferable to let it go. Like many other dementia behaviors, this drive to hide items may fade with time.
Bottom Line
To cope with the aging process and the prospect of outliving their resources, a previously prone to worry person may begin to gather and hide objects. These compulsions may get more intense as their capabilities deteriorate.
These behaviors frequently reflect a need for comfort and stability in the face of intense worries and stress that many people with Alzheimer’s disease and other forms of dementia feel.
A perfect example to demonstrate this would be an older woman living with dementia, who may begin gathering tissue papers as they are soft and provide comfort. Her caregiver may end up finding tissues in her handbags, drawers, bathroom, pockets, and even at the bedside.
While collecting and hiding might be aggravating, this is a very common thing that I’ve seen happen. There could be an underlying factor why your loved one is searching through items in some cases.
Try your best to determine whether or not they have such a reason for their actions, and then respond appropriately. If all else fails, responding with kindness and compassion may go a long way toward reassuring dementia patients that they are secure and loved.
Understanding what’s triggering this behavior allows you to react without escalating the situation. This reduces disagreements, making life easier and stress-free for you both.
References
- https://blog.thealzheimerssite.greatergood.com/cs-dementia-hoarding/
- https://dailycaring.com/9-ways-to-manage-dementia-rummaging-behavior/
- https://www.agingcare.com/articles/how-to-handle-hoarding-behaviors-in-dementia-patients-133679.htm
- https://www.healthcentral.com/article/hoarding-and-hiding-behaviors-in-dementia
