I am sorry to hear about your dad, Jeromedawg. It cannot be easy seeing a parent in that state. I empathize as I have been in your Dad's state for the past year or so. I am 29 years old. Also on Lexapro and Wellbutrin. I periodically will experience states of panic, euphoria, and the feeling like I am literally losing my mind. Mornings are also bad.
Like your dad, I focused on things I could control (since everything seemed so out of control) - finances. It got to the point where I had to ask friends and my parents to take possession of all finance-related passwords so I wouldn't do anything rash. Thankfully that has passed (for now).
Was your dad under an immense amount of stress before you noticed the symptoms you outline in the original post? I believe my symptoms are a result of acute work stress along with the lack of a formal schedule the pandemic had brought to my personal life. Perhaps these two variables could also impact your dad.
My suggestion is to try and implement a rigid schedule for you dad - i.e. every day take a walk at the same time, around the same neighborhood, or setting side specific time to watch television. A schedule is what bumpers are to a bowling lane: they keep you in the lane to knock down pins (life). A schedule may also help with any anxiety / stress he may be experiencing. A formal schedule has tremendously helped my grandmother who suffers from dementia. Something to think about.
Like others have mentioned in this thread - diet is huge. Minimize caffeine. Try to cut down nicotine (if he uses it).
I sincerely hope this helps. I normally don't get this personal on forums but fuck it.
Thanks for going out on a limb and sharing your experience. Even though it sucks in reality, it's helpful to know directly from someone in the same boat that he's not the only one out there going through this.
In terms of stress, I don't know if it was pent-up stress or what. He said there are a lot of things he didn't tell my mom though. There were a number of things going last year leading into this year but the biggest trigger I think was my dad's physical health - he had constant recurring abdominal pains and had to go through a near full battery of examinations and tests to rule out lots of things. I think it was determined that he was diabetic (runs in the family) amidst all this. Prior to that, I don't think there were any huge traumatic instances. It may have been a serious of things that just piled up over the years. There are a lot of things he has talked about regretting/resenting like being all over the place with finances, and not being on top of other various things (they kind of hoarded a lot and he would buy tons of electronics and crap), etc. They also had multiple deferred maintenance issues with one of their rental homes, which prompted my mom to sell this year.
Good to know about the schedule - one of my brothers suggested this but it was largely ignored. However, I think he does try to go out for walks and such. The doctor actually ordered him to do that. He lays down A LOT - says it's "comfortable" for him. Psychologist says it's important to define or figure out what he really means when he says he's "comfortable" - like is he comfortable because he's not in physical pain when he lays down? Is he comfortable because he doesn't have to deal with something he knows he should be doing but doesn't want to do?
He cut out coffee and has never smoked so those aren't current factors. He's just paranoid about anything that is put on the plate that he has to think about eating... or was... he was given 'permission to eat anything' just to gain the weight back (hence the mukbang fests with In and Out, Pizza, Burritos, etc). In fact, after first getting word of the doctor's orders to eat, he went to town on an entire footlong burrito. Ate half of it w/ some soda, laid down for an hour, got back up and ate the other half w/ sparkling water, then proceeded to throw it all up...smh
The guy has no sense of moderation and never has, so I think that's something that has stuck with him... anyway, my mom wants to feed him quinoa and unsalted chicken w/ broccoli every night, so it's not a surprise that he's losing weight. I'm probably overstating the facts but I know for a fact that he doesn't like her cooking and she hates cooking (esp for him) so it kind of just doesn't work out and is forced. They're too cheap to hire a personal chef (even though they can afford it) so the next logical route is to convince them to get more takeout or delivery. My brothers and I are meeting tonight to discuss this. My brother who lives behind them has already offered to bring food over for him more frequently. And he stated that when he does my dad devours it. So there's something here that my mom is missing...