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One never knows what will show up next when it comes to dementia.



Capgras syndrome arrives.
Guardianship approved.
MIL was placed in a Memory Care facility.
Capgras syndrome leaves.
Every day is a new way of trying to leave memory care.
3 months later Capgras syndrome returns.



The only consistent theme has been MIL trying to come up with a reason to leave memory care -- everything from "taking a leave of absence" to "my home becoming a **** hole without me there" to "the bugs here are eating me" to the 50,000+ other reasons she has to go back to "her" (really hubby's) house.



Twist -- Latest call to son/imposter:



MIL: You can't make me stay. I'm leaving and going home because my son didn't leave me here, you did. I'm going to call the judge because your not my son. Blah, blah, blah...



...20 minutes later...



Son/imposter: [silence]...I'm busy mom. Bye. [click]

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AinOrlando, everything about dementia is hard. I'm so sorry for this distress in both of your lives. May you receive rest and peace in your heart.

For the benefit of others who have seen this disorder mentioned on this site:

"Capgras delusion is a psychiatric disorder in which a person holds a delusion that a friend, spouse, parent, or other close family member (or pet) has been replaced by an identical impostor. It is named after Joseph Capgras (1873–1950), the French psychiatrist who first described the disorder.

The Capgras delusion is classified as a delusional misidentification syndrome, a class of delusional beliefs that involves the misidentification of people, places, or objects. It can occur in acute, transient, or chronic forms. Cases in which patients hold the belief that time has been "warped" or "substituted" have also been reported.

The delusion most commonly occurs in individuals diagnosed with schizophrenia but has also been seen in brain injury, dementia with Lewy bodies, and other dementia. It presents often in individuals with a neurodegenerative disease, particularly at an older age. It has also been reported as occurring in association with diabetes, hypothyroidism, and migraine attacks. In one isolated case, the Capgras delusion was temporarily induced in a healthy subject by the drug ketamine. It occurs more frequently in females, with a female to male ratio of approximately 3 to 2."

Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capgras_delusion
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