... of documentary
Honour Thy Father and Thy Mother
' Every day, every week you re less and less able to cope and you wonder where it's going to end You feel sure that one day something s going to happen and you will snap.' Only five per cent of the elderly are looked after by the state Cathy is one of the many thousands coping with ageing parents on her own.
The frustrations of caring for a demanding, incontinent and senile person build up. Eventually a loving relationship deteriorates into one where verbal, emotional and physical abuse are commonplace. , ,
Joyce-admits that she forced her mother to drink by throwing water on her.
Ann-the mother of five teenage children was driven finally to strike her mother.
Dennis and his mother were filmed within hours of her being taken for her own safety into residential care.
The abuse of the elderly by children at the end of their tether has only recently begun to surface. Now social workers and mutual-aid groups are beginning to talk openly of the old people who are the victims of torture and violence at the hands of their nearest and dearest.
Film cameramen DAVID COX. FINTAN SHEEHAN Film recordist RON PEGLER Film editor KEN PEARCE
Executive producer ROCER MILLS Producer CLAIRE. WALMSLEY