I am.35 and have been a carer for my 96 year old grandma for about 10 years. She suffers from low mood fpr which shes on sertraline, arthritis and cannot walk due to a fall 2.5 years ago.i believe she also has skin picking disorder as about a year ago she started scratching her arms and.legs causing wounds but could stop whej she wantwd to. After the antidepressant was prescribed and also when i started having take a break she started severely scratching her ears tp the extent we were visiting hospitals weekly getting them glued or stitched eventually ending up i hospital for 3 months due to extent of wounds which resulted in investigation in case anyone was harming her. She didnt scratch in hospital but started as soon as she returned home. We havw tried various types of gloves, fidget toys, games, etc tp keep her hands busy but she either doesn’t want to do then or pulls glvoes etc off. Just wondered if anyone has come across this disorder and has any suggestion. Seen doctor who dismisses my suggestion that antidepressant might have made ir worse or that she has this disorder. Additonally she throws food and drink on the floor and in her bed at night, throws things at me and my cat and is verbally and physically abusive to me, scratching me and wishing me dead, have cancer etc. Any suggestions how to deal with this behaviour would be greatly appreciated
Google “dementia scratching”. I’ve just done this, lots of interesting information about our skin as we get older.
Hi @Sparklequeen , welcome to the forum.
You have been caring for your Grandmother a long time. She doesn’t sound easy to care for, these days.
Since your Grandmother stopped the scratching and skin picking in hospital, I’m wondering if it was the stimulation and bustle of everything happening around her that kept her distracted. It might be that a care /nursing home environment would have the same positive effect. Of course it would need to be one where residents weren’t left in their rooms all day. Just a thought.