Hi, Rachael, Please help me with suggestions to defuse (besides "redirection") angry, screaming parents. They never used to yell at me and now I still jump when they shriek at the top of their lungs for really silly things, somethings "missing" things that are right in front of them. The next day, it's like nothing happened and I've even heard them recapping the "exchange of conversation" as a pleasant one to their visiting siblings.

Do both of your parents have dementia? And they both get mad and yell for things? Honestly, there’s not much you can do to prevent an occasional outburst, but what are they looking for? I feel like I need a little more detail to give you the best advice.

I would say you need to figure out why they are getting so frustrated so quickly. What are they upset about and what meds are they on?

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Rachael Wonderlin is an internationally-recognized dementia care expert and consultant. She has a Master’s in Gerontology and is the author of three published books with Johns Hopkins University Press. Rachael owns Dementia By Day, a dementia care consulting and education company.

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