What You Need To Know

What You Need to Know

Signs of Wandering

Be alert to signs that a person may begin to wander or become lost.

For example, a person:

Takes longer than usual to return from a routine walk or drive
Tries to go to a job they no longer have
Talks about wanting to go home when they are at home
Has trouble finding familiar places, like their bathroom or bedroom
Follows their loved one around or always needs to know where they are
Acts as if they are working on something, but nothing gets done
Appears lost in a new or changed environment
Becomes easily upset when in a new or changed environment
Expresses a feeling of uselessness, so they just want to “get away”

Causes for Wandering

Wandering may be a symptom of a disease causing moderate dementia, a progressive change in the ability of the brain to think and reason. If someone shows signs of wandering, they must be evaluated by their doctor. This is very important if they have not already been diagnosed with a disease that causes dementia (e.g. Alzheimer’s Disease, multi-infarct or vascular dementia, and Pick’s Disease).

Watch for changes in their behavior. If wandering begins, increases, or decreases it may be due to a number of causes that need to be checked and possibly treated.

These include:

Illness or infection
A side effect from a medicine
Hunger or thirst
Needing to use the bathroom
Pain or constipation
Being too warm or cold
Boredom, feeling useless
Too much going on around them
A new home or different daily routine (e.g. starting adult day care)
A change in their regular routine that causes further confusion, such as a hospital stay

Brain disease causes other problems that may cause people to wander:

Confusion related to time or trouble telling night from day
Inability to recognize familiar people, places, and things
Forgetting they no longer have the same responsibilities (e.g. going to work, taking care of a child)
Fear or anxiety when they do not understand a situation or they are in an unfamiliar place
Disorientation to where they are, making them feel lost
Inability to tell the difference between dreams or television and reality

If wandering is simply a part of a person’s new “normal” behavior, it may actually help him or her to relieve stress.

In this case, allow the person to wander, with supervision in a place you have made safe for them. Otherwise, a different and more troubling behavior might begin if you do not let the person wander. This is just another reason why it is important to talk with their doctor about wandering.