Fear and anxiety seem to go hand in hand. Is it because one feeds the other? Anxiety can escalate into an acute fear response (like a panic attack) when anticipating something happening.
Mom has always liked being outdoors, even if its just sitting on the patio. When I visit her, I try to take her outside, avoid a little cabin fever.
But recently, she has started to have anxiety attacks if we go outside to sit, even for 10 minutes. We get back inside, she starts removing layers. (Why she wears 3 shirts every day is beyond me!) But what fear is she having by going outside? Fear of the heat? Fear of being away from what's familiar?
At first, I just thought she was overheated. But taking off layers to cool off doesn't change the anxiety. And once it starts, it moves through stages, sometimes lasting for hours. There's nausea, and fidgeting, shallow breathing that leads to belly aches and burping because she swallows air.
Once her mind is in this mode, you can't talk to her. I've tried often, speaking slow and soft. I use "smell the flowers, blow out the candles". She always insists she can't.
A constant source of frustration. Every single time.
Yesterday, she asked if we could play a game. *blink* I can't imagine what kind of game that would be. We don't often like the same things. We watch TV together; yesterday she wanted to try Blue Bloods, but nope, too gory, violent and noisy. I hooked her up with Heartland on Netflix. We'll see if she sticks with it.
Someone gave her a list of authors to read. I wonder if she could learn to read on a kindle?? She would definitely need help with downloads. She still has trouble turning on her TV at times. *sigh*
Elder care isn't easy. Add in fear, and a boatload of anxiety, and it's that much harder. And exhausting.
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