For my gerontology class, Aging and Health, I decided to write my research paper on my grandmother. This was my mom’s mother and she lived in Portugal. Sadly I never had gotten the chance to meet her before she had passed away. My grandmother suffered from depression and died of dementia. Webster’s dictionary defines dementia as, “A mental illness that causes someone to be unable to think clearly or to understand what is real and what is not real.” (Webster, p. 1). Others might also use the words madness and insanity when describing dementia. Webster’s dictionary defines the medical term for depression as, “A serious medical condition in which a person feels very sad, hopeless, and unimportant and often is unable to live in a normal way.” (Webster, p.1). From writing this paper I wanted to learn more about my grandmother’s struggle with depression and dementia, to do that I need to tell her story.
This topic is a very sensitive topic in my household, so …show more content…
My mother told me how great her mom was when she visited her in Portugal. She was able to make my grandmother laugh, cook and watch television. My mom took her to the outdoor market and to the café every day. She told me that my grandmother was doing great and did not have any fits while she was there. When my mother left to come back home to the states, my grandmother started to fall back into her old self. She started to forget that her own parents had passed away, and every time she realized it she would become hysterical and cry. She seemed to be even more depressed after her daughter left. Before my mother left, she did make sure that her parent’s new caretaker was the right fit. Rose-Marie became like a third daughter to my mother’s parents. First convincing my grandfather to agree to a caretaker was tough, but over all he did it for the health and care for my
This topic is a very sensitive topic in my household, so …show more content…
My mother told me how great her mom was when she visited her in Portugal. She was able to make my grandmother laugh, cook and watch television. My mom took her to the outdoor market and to the café every day. She told me that my grandmother was doing great and did not have any fits while she was there. When my mother left to come back home to the states, my grandmother started to fall back into her old self. She started to forget that her own parents had passed away, and every time she realized it she would become hysterical and cry. She seemed to be even more depressed after her daughter left. Before my mother left, she did make sure that her parent’s new caretaker was the right fit. Rose-Marie became like a third daughter to my mother’s parents. First convincing my grandfather to agree to a caretaker was tough, but over all he did it for the health and care for my