Does Alzheimer's disease cause my mother's rummaging behavior?
Yes, it's probably related to the Alzheimer's. Rummaging behavior is very common. She may be looking for something she can't quite remember, or for something real. She may be trying to organize, or just attempting to stay busy.
First, evaluate her environment for things that could be dangerous, and put them away. For example, put safety locks on the knife drawer in the kitchen.
Next, let her mood guide your response. If she's just casually looking through things, and she seems calm or even seems to be enjoying it, then it's probably a good activity for her (even if it's getting on your nerves a bit). I'd leave it alone, or give her items she enjoys sorting through -- socks, for example, or other clothing. Someone with Alzheimer's often wants to contribute to the household. As long as your mom's behavior isn't hurting her or putting her at risk, it's OK.
However, if she seems upset or anxious while she's rummaging, you have to play detective to figure out what's really going on. As is true for each of us, the behaviors of people with Alzheimer's are their way of communicating. Could she actually be looking for something? Or is she bored and looking for something to do? People with Alzheimer's have trouble structuring their day. Is she left to herself too much? Maybe she could benefit from adult daycare or from a visitor who'll keep her engaged and occupied.
It may be tricky to discover what motivates your mom's behavior, and there may be more than one answer. But if her rummaging seems fretful, it's worth trying to interpret the message behind it.
My MIL is a master at the rummaging. She seems to do most of hers doing the evenings and during the night when she is in her room alone. In the evenings, it seems like vague attempts at helping us or trying to look busy. She will come out of her room and say she is looking for something and will know it when she finds it. She spends this time talking to us and all of a sudden, she finds "just what she was looking for" whether it was a piece of chalk, a plastic spoon, or a kleenex." During the nights, she rummages thru her drawers, old boxes of photos, her clothes closet. I have already been thru her room and removed anything that could hurt her like scissors, letter openers, guns, and anything else I just did not feel safe leaving with her. Some of these times, she sits up a lot of the night and looks thru old pictures. Sometimes the next morning, she is in a good mood and has questions and comments about what she 'found'. There are other times that these sessions bring back memories that hurt, bring to face the facts that she has memory problems and she realizes what she is loosing. She can't put into words what she really feels, but every now and then, she makes a very lucid comment that tells me she knows she is not the person she use to be and that something is wrong with her and she doesn't know how to get the memories put back in her head.
I leave her alone during these rummaging times. She has progressed in her deteriorated memories to a time of about 25-30 years ago and I was not even a member of the family. I have little to offer to be able to sit and reminise and these times help her remember. I try and have family and friends that I call to come over for a 'visit' during these times she needs to talk the past. It gives her a break from me and a chance to talk about old times. She needs the stimulation of conversation and remembering, and if this is what it looks like, then that is how it will be. I am here for her. They can't remember, so we, the family, are her legacy.
My mother exhibits this 'rummaging' behavior, usually with her personal belongings so I think it is an effort to verify her sense of self and reassure that she has the little things she needs (like the contents of her purse....her glasses, lipstick, tissues, etc). One day I asked if I could help her find something and she said she was looking for a phone number to call her mother. I gently reminded her that her mother passed away years ago and that led to questions about her father and brother (all deceased long ago too). She seemed fine with the explanation until an hour later when I found her weeping. When I asked what was wrong, she said her entire family was dead and no one had told her. It was as though she had just found out and launched into the grieving process. I tried to reassure her that our section of the family are all still here and that the departed ones loved her very much and wouldn't want her to feel sad that they had to leave. Thankfully, that seemed to satisfy her for the moment. Then I sat down with her and we went through our photo album. Looking at early pictures of her family and on to present day seemed to help her see the progression of time and the passing of these people made more sense. My heart breaks for her.....when her sense of time and chronology is out of sync, I know it makes her feel so adrift and overwhelmed. When we started on this dreadful journey, my first reaction was always to try to make things normal again, to correct things, to put life back on its familiar track. I'm still learning to let go, to accept how things are, and to stop trying to 'fix' it all. By focusing on 'fixing' everything, I was adding to her sense of being overwhelmed and making a bad situation worse for both of us. When things feel like they are getting to be too much, I reflect on how she so willingly put everything aside and tended to her children with such remarkable patience and love. Now the situation is reversed with us caring for our parents.....but I cannot think of a greater privilege in which to participate.
