Keen to learn more about inclusive workplaces? Want to be inclusive of the LGBTQ+ community? Learn more & request an invitation for a very special 2-hour session here!
Alzheimer's may strike you or your family member any time and will definitely wreak havoc in your life. Here are a few FAQs to help you deal with
Alzheimer’s may strike you or your family member any time and will definitely wreak havoc in your life. Here are a few FAQs to help you deal with a family member with Alzheimer’s.
Alzheimer’s is a kind of dementia that causes memory loss and an inability to perform daily life activities. The symptoms occur slowly in a person and worsen over time.
To get an Alzheimer’s diagnosis within the family can be an overwhelming thing. Plus to see the disease slowly progress and deteriorate a family member or friend can be difficult.
However, it is very important to remember certain points while communicating with an Alzheimer’s patient. The following FAQs and their answers from the experts will give you a better picture as to how to go about it:
Q. When an Alzheimer’s patient is wrong, do you correct them or do you continue to live in their reality?
A. Let’s take an example. Say your grandfather does not know how to cook, but he says that he can’t remember where he has kept his personally written cookbook. What do you do then?
What do experts say?
Don’t correct them. Go with their version of reality, that gives them comfort and happiness. Correcting them and trying to introduce them to the truth might leave them feeling embarrassed and irritated.
Q. What to do in a situation where an Alzheimer’s patient cannot remember someone very close to him or her? Like a family member?
A. As this disease slowly removes the memories from the patient’s brain, there might be a stage when the person might also forget you. What to do then?
What do the experts say?
The first thing is to re-introduce yourself. That might help them remember you.
However, there is a chance they might not remember you at all. Do not feel disheartened. Just be patient.
Q. Is it alright to speak about the Alzheimer’s patient to someone, while the patient himself or herself is right in that room with you as well as other?
A. One should always treat each and everyone with some mental illness with utter dignity and respect.
It is highly discouraged to do so. Avoid talking down to them or as if he or she isn’t present there in the room. Never ever do it and try every possible way to avoid such discussions in front of them.
In conclusion, visiting can be a frustrating affair for both the patient as well as you. You should never stop visiting your loved ones.
Communication with a person with Alzheimer’s needs a lot of patience, good listening skills and the utmost level of understanding.
The above question-answers can help you and the patient with Alzheimer’s to understand each other better.
Picture credits: Unsplash
Pursuing Diploma in Community Mental Health, NIMHANS Former Forensic Psychologist Intern. Former content writer. Double Masters in Computer Applications & in Psychology. B.A in Hindustani Classical Music. read more...
Women's Web is an open platform that publishes a diversity of views, indivisual posts do not necessarily represent the platofrom's views and opinions at all times.
Stay updated with our Weekly Newsletter or Daily Summary - or both!
Mothers do things for you out of love, so please treat them with respect and dignity at your home, especially in front of your in laws, and ask your in laws to share responsibilities.
Motherhood isn’t just a word. It’s a world in itself…of love, labor and commitment that goes beyond a lifetime, when we don’t really have a concept of flying the nest and mothers are required to be battle ready to shoulder every responsibility at any age.
As a new mom I too had my share of struggles like every woman, and reached out to my mom for help. Sadly, since she had health issues of her own she agreed reluctantly and was uneasy throughout her stay, which disappointed me. Only later did I know that she had suffered from serious menopausal problems that made her edgy and nervous in difficult situations, and it left me with a sense of regret of not taking the effort of understanding her troubles.
Neelu might have outwardly forgiven Ramesh, but in her mind, which once was filled with unconditional love for Ramesh, there was now a seed of resentment.
Ramesh’s footsteps paused at the entrance of the hotel’s ballroom. Inside, his school’s reunion party was going in full swing. The air was heavy, as expensive perfumes and the aroma of food from the buffet table, mingled. There were low murmurs, tinkling laughs and clinks of cutlery.
Ramesh had not wanted to come, knowing that she would be there. She, Neelu, who once had been the love of his life. Taking a deep breath, Ramesh entered the room. His eyes found Neelu almost immediately. She still looked the same. Maybe there was now grey in her hair and a few wrinkles on her face. But her vivacity, her mannerisms were still the same. Things, that had first attracted him.
The Gendered Nature of Alzheimer's.
Alzheimer’s disease affects women in different and often worse ways than men. In a society where women are often considered dispensable wombs, the commitment required for sustained care of a woman who is affected, without any hope of recovery, is often absent.
Alzheimer’s is a progressive, unforgiving, and relentless disease that has no possibility of a recovery, or cure, as yet. It not only destroys the life of the affected person, but also of those close to them. It is a complex set of symptoms that are unpredictable in their appearance, which include confusion, loss of memory, loss of cognitive functions, severe agitation and anxiety often close to paranoia, personality changes, impaired judgement, inappropriate behaviour that can often be baffling, a progressive inability to do even familiar tasks, a lack of normal orientation of time and place, loss of language ability, a loss of self-awareness, forgetting familiar names and faces, even those of family members, a disregard for grooming and self-care in any form, and a progressive loss of control over motor skills and bodily functions. The patient soon becomes completely bedridden, and is lost as a person.
Women have always been second in the pecking order between the genders. They often do not get adequate nutrition and health care right from childhood, and that continues into adulthood. The very basic of rights are often denied to them, and they are often financially and socially dependent on men.
What We Carry by Maya Shanbagh Lang is a memoir about mothers and daughters, lies and truths, receiving and giving care, and how we cannot grow up until we fully understand the people who raised us.
My mother is my best friend, although, our friendship really blossomed only after I got married and moved away from her. I guess the distance made the heart grow fonder! But, it’s only in my forties, that I feel like I really started to understand her better; understand the person within her that I wasn’t well-acquainted with earlier.
What We Carry by Maya Shanbagh Lang felt special for precisely this reason. It’s a story about a mother and a daughter, their life together, their history, the equation they share with each other, and how the dynamics of their relationship change after the author comes to understand the person her mother really is. A person vastly different from the image she has carried in her mind all her life.