Chapter 15 - THE COGNITIVE EVALUATIONEvelyn underwent repeat neuropsychological testing.
The conclusion complicated everyone.
Her memory impairment had progressed slightly.
Still within mild cognitive impairment.
Not major neurocognitive disorder.
She remained capable of understanding:
Housing choices.
Medical treatment.
Basic finances with safeguards.
Legal decisions.
She showed weaknesses in delayed recall and divided attention.
But no evidence she was globally unable to plan or understand consequences.
The evaluator reviewed selected video clips.
His conclusion:
Nothing about MCI prevented deliberate conduct of the type recorded.
Could cognitive changes worsen irritability?
Yes.
Could anxiety about loss of independence increase controlling behavior?
Yes.
Could Evelyn intentionally stage incidents and later partially forget details?
Also yes.
The medical evidence did not absolve her.
It also did not let us call her diagnosis fake.
The title our extended family eventually used—
she faked dementia—
was emotionally satisfying.
Medically inaccurate.
May you like
She exaggerated and weaponized genuine impairment.
That was worse in a different way.
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