Chella: 

 

My mother feels the same way about being thought of as "stupid" and she was angry and frustrated a lot of the time.  As I posted a while ago, after 3 years my mother had a sort of "awakening" at the beginning of this year.  She became more animated, happier, engaged, and interested in life.  Believe it or not, we are attributing it to the bridge games they now have.  My mother played bridge for years in her younger days and loved it.  Her doctor said the brain cells required to play the game may have triggered other cells.  Pretty amazing.  Now she participates in a lot of the activities in her facility whereas before, all she did was stay in her room and go to meals.  If I had known that a bridge game would do it, we could have avoided 3 years of depression. There is no way of knowing what it will be but I guess I offer this as hope of finding activities your mother can enjoy that will avoid the feelings of inadequacy she may feel.  Good Luck and take care, kathy