Sh believes her husband is in trouble and she can't find him. She calls me from her nursing home phone every 10 minutes pleading for help. Nothing seems to console her. She wants the phone numbers of friends who have been deceased for years so that she can call them for help. She is upset and frightened and I don't know what to do. Should I tell her the truth or play along?
What is her diagnosis? His her doctor aware of these delusions? Is this something new?
What if ... you offered to look up the friends' numbers and take care of it for her? And then an hour later you call her with the good news that her husband is not in trouble. He is off fishing on a remote lake in Canada, or he is on a sensitive assignment for his employer, or his flight back from the convention has been delayed by bad weather but he is safe and warm -- whatever would fit with his past activities. Perhaps this would help her be less upset and frightened. And maybe the delusion would pass. (Maybe the next one would be about a childhood friend.) And maybe she would keep calling asking when he'll be home. ("It won't be yet today, but you can go to sleep knowing that he is not in trouble. Tomorrow will be a better day.")
How is the nursing home handling this?