Does anyone on here have experience with Alcohol Related Brain Injury?

[Rachelb94]

My mother has Korsakoffs syndrome caused by alcohol and I would like to connect with other carers that have experiences this.

[samanthaash1993]

Wow. Never heard of it. I shall go and look it up later. Is it rare?

[Pairofboots]

Hi, as an RN(MH) I came across a few people with korsakoffs syndrome. I am now retired due to my own BI. From memory it was harder for carer's than the patient, although they could be confrontational when faced with situations that had moved on from their reality.

People get stuck in like a loop of memory that is constantly set to replay. I suppose it is similar to some dementias, but unlike dementia, that strips memory like layers of an onion, leaving the early memories to the last to be erased. Korsakoffs is more like a peeled and cored apple. Memory is stuck in a certain range of memories, the early memories are erased, and the ability to move forward is missing, so you are left with the bit in the middle.

I'm not sure how much you already know, or what you are seeking, but I am happy to try to help where I can.

[Rachelb94 in reply to Pairofboots]

Thanks for your reply. My mum isn't coping well at home at the minute. She has struggled for well over a year to be honest and I have lived with her for several years since she was diagnosed. I'm only 26 and my long term plan was to move out and get a place with my boyfriend. Due to the isolation my mum couldn't go to her day centre as usual and her anxiety at home has become worse. A few weeks ago I had to go to my boyfriends parents house for restbite as I couldn't cope. My mum has now declined so much that she has had to go into a home. I don't know what is best for her long term... She is fully aware that the people in the home she's in now have got old age dementia and are not the same as her cognitively. She might be safe but she can't bond with anyone and also she's only 61 so very young to be in a care home. I don't know whether sheltered housing would be an appropriate option for her........ She really wants to come home but I've been in this situation many times over the years but these last few weeks have given me a glimpse of what she may be like without me long term.

[Pairofboots in reply to Rachelb94]

Your mother's placement may not be the most appropriate, but if it was an emergency then it may have been needs must.

I am presuming that under the current situation services are going to be stretched. That said if your mother's social worker etc were only may not have planned beyond the short term.

You need to look at your own needs, there is no guilt to be held on your side. Your mother's condition is self imposed. If you that your mother need's a more permanent placement, you need to express your needs.

Sheltered housing, maybe an option, other options could be live in carer's, or a group home that has a better age mix.

You may feel a duty to your mother, but if that impacts on your quality of life then you will end up potentially feeling resentment, and that isn't right for you, your mother, or your boyfriend.

I'm sure you have discussed this with your boyfriend, has he got any thoughts of how to move forward?

Other considerations would be, does your mother own her home, as any assets would be calculated in future funding, do you or someone else have power of attorney over your mother's finance's.

The social worker will be able to help you to a point through the options, but if possible if there is property and item's of value, then you may want to involve a solicitor that specialise in mental health, but this would involve a cost, but this maybe included in the estimation of value, or your mother may qualify for legal aid.

I can't say what is the solution, every person, and every situation is different. I hope this gives you some ideas, and feel free to bounce any thoughts off me.

These situations are never easy, and they always evoke conflicts of emotions.

[HungryHufflepuff]

My aunt has this. But she's in a care home in England so I don't know about her care in detail. The care home is only for dementia and they're specialise in alcohol related dementia. My grandmother had Alzheimer's which is totally different. My aunt's memory has recently rapidly deteriorated. She has no memory other than the immediate moment. She seems happy enough most of the time in her immediate world. I'm sorry you're going through this with your mum. She might need specialist care. Sending you good wishes.

[Hidden]

My Dad had this, there seems very little info out there about it, people just pass them off as an alcoholic. Which he was, until he forgot to drink and had seizures. I did find some care homes specific to Korsakoffs, Korcare was one of them, but my Dad still wouldn’t admit he had a problem and they still said he had capacity to decide which I found shocking. The outcome wasn’t good for my Dad I’m sad to say, but I really hope you find some support on this. It’s a terrible situation as I knew my Dad had done this to himself and we had all the issues around dealing with an alcoholic, but once the Korsakoffs kicks in it’s a different story.