Understanding yourself
Caring for a parent with dementia
“Ammu doesn’t know me some days. I still have to be there.”
Dementia care falls mostly on families. Support for carers can protect their health and improve care at home.
Sumaiya runs a pharmacy chain and runs her mother’s life too. Some days her mother knows her; some days she calls her by the name of her own dead sister. Nights are the hardest: wandering, fear, accusations. This Eid, Sumaiya bathed and dressed her mother in a new sari before the relatives came, then sat in the bathroom and cried.
An illustration drawn from common experience. The people are invented; the pattern is not.
Understanding caring for a parent with dementia
Worldwide, about half of the cost of dementia comes from care by family and close friends, who give on average 5 hours a day, WHO reports. In Bangladesh that care is often given at home, by daughters, sons and spouses. The work is physical, emotional and endless, and it changes as the illness progresses: from reminders to supervision to personal care. It takes a toll on the carer’s body and mind, and behaviours such as agitation, wandering or suspicion are among the hardest parts.
How common it is
In 2021, 57 million people worldwide were living with dementia, WHO estimates, more than 60% of them in low and middle-income countries.
Signs worth noticing
- Exhaustion, broken sleep, and no time of your own
- Guilt, irritability or tearfulness
- Not knowing how to handle agitation, wandering or night-time confusion
- Your own health and work slipping
How care helps
A consultation can support both the person with dementia and the carer: managing difficult behaviours, sleep and mood, reviewing medicines, and planning ahead. Carers’ own depression or anxiety is assessed and treated. Practical help, shared care and simple routines reduce strain for everyone.
What getting better can look like
A good week for Sumaiya might be a night-time routine that calms her mother, a cousin who takes Fridays, and the Eid photograph she can look at without crying.
Common questions about caring for a parent with dementia
How do I cope when my mother with dementia doesn’t recognise me?
It is one of the most painful parts of caring for someone with dementia, and it comes from the illness, not from any change in love. Caring takes a physical and psychological toll, so your own health matters as much as hers. Support for carers, shared care and simple routines can make the days more bearable.
Can a psychiatrist help with agitation and wandering in dementia?
Yes. A consultation can help manage difficult behaviours, sleep and mood, review the medicines the person already takes, and plan ahead as the illness changes. The carer’s own depression or anxiety can be assessed and treated at the same time.
When to see a psychiatrist
If caring for a parent with dementia is taking everything you have, support is available, for them and for you.
Care here is personal: built around your history, your health and what you want to change, and reviewed with you as it goes.
If you or someone else is in immediate danger, call 999 or go to the nearest hospital emergency department.
If some of this sounds familiar, a first conversation is a good place to start. You do not need the right words, or to be certain.
Dr. Tajreen is consulting in Uttar Badda now, until 8:00 pm. Call +880 1847-331010Every address and its hours
Sources
- World Health Organization, “Dementia” fact sheet, October 2026
You do not need to have everything figured out before you begin.
