My LO (mom) has episodes where her husband, is not there and she wants to call him or find him. In reality he is right there with her, but the man with her is someone else with the same name. When this happens she gets very worked up. She wants us to call him, find him and make him come home. Most times she is fine with the other Bill being there, sometimes she is not.
I usually tell her he went to help my brother and is staying the night, as it normally happens in the evening.
I don't know what to tell her anymore. Especially when it happens in the morning. Like today. She will not accept any answer I've come up with.
I met a woman who was a permanent resident in the facility where my mom did rehab. She thought she was only 32 years old and that her son was 9 years old. It was very sad. She had no idea who her son was when he went to see her.
https://www.webmd.com/mental-health/impostor-syndrome-capgras
and
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34033319/#:~:text=Capgras%20syndrome%20(CS)%2C%20or,inanimate%20object%20or%20an%20animal.
regarding it.
Then continue on searching out even more. Gain as much knowledge as you can to help cope with this. We experienced it and it is a nightmare from the deepest pits of a broken mind.
We were prepared for just about anything to keep MIL in her house until she died. Then the Capgras hit. Because of the suspected LBD component, they wouldn't prescribe medications until she was in a 24/7 facility. Guardianship was required (by Oregon -- POA wasn't enough) to do that. That was done and eventually we got her placed in MC. We absolutely HAD to as Capgras was THAT bad.
For your safety and hers, place her now before she gets worse. The best way to help her is to medicate her in a controlled location.
Good luck.
OP and mom need to educate themselves on this for sure.
Good luck to you.
Thank you!!
Or you might try telling her that husband called and said he'd be late. Keep telling her that. If you want to get into deceptive techniques, and I don't see anything wrong with that, you could have her husband call voicemail and leave a message that he's on the way or has to spend another night at brother's. Then play the same voicemail for her every time she asks about him. You could even have a variety of voicemails to play.
Good luck!
Thank you!