urine hoarding

I think my brother may have some sort of dementia or alzheimers. He has been saving and storing his urine in containers in his room for several years. I find it and chastize him about it but he continues to do it. Is it part of some disorder? He used to drink a lot of alcohol, maybe that has something to do with it.

How old is your brother? Yah, it's a bit disturbing. Have you talked to the rest of the family about it?

The famous aviator Howard Hughes had the same disorder of storing urine in empty milk bottles. He had OCD.

It could be due to Alzheimer's disease, since Alzheimer's affects the rational decision-making centers of the brain as well as memory and speech. People with Alzheimer's disease misplace things and put things in weird or unusual places.

may i ask, is your brother's mind okay? what does the doctor's finding about this? Anyway, if he has dementia then i think you must get your brother a medication immediately to at least prevent it further. actually, when we aged, that disease is impossible to prevent.

krisp991 wrote:I think my brother may have some sort of dementia or alzheimers. He has been saving and storing his urine in containers in his room for several years. I find it and chastize him about it but he continues to do it. Is it part of some disorder? He used to drink a lot of alcohol, maybe that has something to do with it.

No, this is seen with many, many disorders, from OCD to schizophrenia and many more. Just from this one thing, there is no way to decide what condition your brother has.

We had a young man with schizophrenia in our house for many months who did this - when he got on medication he stopped. But it can be caused by many other conditions, too.

If he has been drinking VERY heavily, he may have damaged his brain and that may be permanent, and that can cause symptoms like dementia and also Korsakoff's Syndrome - almost immediately, forgetting what just happened, or making up stories about what happened - the stories ramble and don't make complete sense. Alcohol alone can damage the brain. This can happen due to drinking every day, or even, from 'binge drinking' once a week or once every few weeks. Many people think 'binge drinking' is not harmful - that is wrong. It does incredible harm.

Sometimes, if the person is young, vitamin supplements can help reverse some of the damage of alcohol. But this must be started so quickly and the drinking stopped immediately. Alcohol blocks some vitamins from being absorbed. This can actually kill a person.

Many people drink alcohol BECAUSE they have a mental illness. so your brother could have mental illness.

The alcohol use then, when it happens with mental illness, is called 'Self Medicating'(it is of course, also alcoholism, because they can not stop or control their drinking). Instead of getting proper treatment from a psychiatrist, many, many people do this. About 50% of schizophrenics have an alcohol or drug problem, and generally, it is because they are 'Self Medicating' - trying to deal with the symptoms of mental illness. It makes them feel a little better for a few minutes, kind of numbs a person to the symptoms, so it becomes a habit. And it causes incredible damage. When a person with mental illness drinks alcohol, they do a lot of damage to an already fragile brain tissue. Not a good mix.

I would try to guess what is wrong, based on your brother's age (over 65-70, dementia more possible, 17-25 and this is just starting, schizophrenia is possible), years of drinking (many years, alcoholic dementia possible), but many older people have alcohol brain damage AND dementia AND mental illness.

It is a matter for a doctor. Unfortunately, many of these people refuse to get any help. In most cases, you have no legal ability to force them to accept help. Contact your local Adult Protective Services and if he is older, county geriatric services. See what can be done. Sometimes you can get them to accept help by kind of 'baby stepping' them towards it and moving gradually.

I'd guess he is so comfortable in his room, and maybe fearfull of the thought of leaving that comfort that collecting urine in the room is a more viable option.

Could be something as simple as convenience. You mentioned alcohol. My Grandfather preferred urinating in the sink since it was easier and he was a heavy drinker.