I used to work in an assisted living center, so I can tell you that old folks in those circumstances have all the same coping mechanisms and acting out behaviors as young people in the same condition.
The only difference is that they are snapping at nurses, weeping as they shuffle down the hallway, etc.
We had a retired doctor who would sneak off campus and cross a busy highway to buy whiskey to sip in his room.
The most sane lonely old lady was an avid reader, who always had a book in her hands.
She was happy to lay it down in favor of pleasant conversation, but the rest of the time, she just lived in the world of her books.
