Alzheimer’s. Everyone knows about it and likely knows someone who has it. There are movies and books about how people have taken this event in their lives and made it such a beautiful and wonderful experience.
I want to talk about the portion of Alzheimer’s that is real and likely one that more people can relate to than the idolized stories that people talk about. The story of denial and cover up.
Our family has a history of Alzheimer’s and we grew up listening to mom’s stories about HER Grandparents and how MY Grandparents cared for them. We loved listening to the stories mom told because they were funny. They were funny because they didn’t involve us. I don’t really know how mom felt about the stories. I think they were just her history. …show more content…
Other people wouldn’t likely say much to my Grandparents because it was not unheard of, it was the norm for many people. I have heard other people from past generations speak about those unfortunate people who had no family to care for them ending up in the “poor house”.
I don’t know for sure whether the stages of grief are applied to diseases. I certainly feel that there are stages. How do we process the feelings that come with a diagnosis. I believe that so much of the fear of the disease; other than the obvious health conditions, are attributed to acceptable practices of how to share the information with our friends and family. As well, how do friends and family approach the diagnosis with …show more content…
Would my mother have had more peace in her last days of memory if she could have talked with people like she might have if she was dying of cancer? Leaving us with words of wisdom and care. My mother was a giving person who spent her life helping others and I think in her right mind she would have said a goodbye to her own family in ways that she never got the chance to do. Would we feel less inadequate when we visit because we know we didn’t let her down? I don’t know that everyone thinks of Alzheimer’s as mental illness on the same scale of how we discuss mental illnesses like schizophrenia, bipolar, and all the other forms. We see it as it’s own disease but we treat it with fear because it is a disease of the brain. I think diseases of the brain because they rob us of our own choice and ability are feared the most and I for one want to discuss these issues openly and often so that the love that is needed for these people we love so much isn’t denied them. Denying them at this point just adds to their fear and loneliness when they need their families more than ever. If we were diagnosed with cancer and put away in a tent, not allowed to get help and or treatment, simply out of fear of what will people think, the world would see that as barbaric and yet here we are treating our loved ones, symbolically, the very
I want to talk about the portion of Alzheimer’s that is real and likely one that more people can relate to than the idolized stories that people talk about. The story of denial and cover up.
Our family has a history of Alzheimer’s and we grew up listening to mom’s stories about HER Grandparents and how MY Grandparents cared for them. We loved listening to the stories mom told because they were funny. They were funny because they didn’t involve us. I don’t really know how mom felt about the stories. I think they were just her history. …show more content…
Other people wouldn’t likely say much to my Grandparents because it was not unheard of, it was the norm for many people. I have heard other people from past generations speak about those unfortunate people who had no family to care for them ending up in the “poor house”.
I don’t know for sure whether the stages of grief are applied to diseases. I certainly feel that there are stages. How do we process the feelings that come with a diagnosis. I believe that so much of the fear of the disease; other than the obvious health conditions, are attributed to acceptable practices of how to share the information with our friends and family. As well, how do friends and family approach the diagnosis with …show more content…
Would my mother have had more peace in her last days of memory if she could have talked with people like she might have if she was dying of cancer? Leaving us with words of wisdom and care. My mother was a giving person who spent her life helping others and I think in her right mind she would have said a goodbye to her own family in ways that she never got the chance to do. Would we feel less inadequate when we visit because we know we didn’t let her down? I don’t know that everyone thinks of Alzheimer’s as mental illness on the same scale of how we discuss mental illnesses like schizophrenia, bipolar, and all the other forms. We see it as it’s own disease but we treat it with fear because it is a disease of the brain. I think diseases of the brain because they rob us of our own choice and ability are feared the most and I for one want to discuss these issues openly and often so that the love that is needed for these people we love so much isn’t denied them. Denying them at this point just adds to their fear and loneliness when they need their families more than ever. If we were diagnosed with cancer and put away in a tent, not allowed to get help and or treatment, simply out of fear of what will people think, the world would see that as barbaric and yet here we are treating our loved ones, symbolically, the very