Dementia: An Unknown World
Dementia: An Unknown World
Now, let's focus on why dementia is an unknown world; when a person's mental functioning is slowly declining to cause him/her to forget the people around them and realize they can not seem to remember something, then progress to a severe stage when they have to rely totally on others for basic activities of living. We can agree that they have started living an unknown life in an unknown world because they do not know where they are or what they were doing before slowly losing their thoughts or memory.
Do Not Ask Me to Remember
Do not ask me to remember,
Don’t try to make me understand,
Let me rest and know you’re with me,
Kiss my cheek and hold my hand.
I’m confused beyond your concept,
I am sad and sick and lost.
All I know is that I need you
To be with me at all cost.
Do not lose your patience with me,
Do not scold or curse or cry.
I can’t help the way I’m acting,
Can’t be different though I try.
Just remember that I need you,
That the best of me is gone,
Please don’t fail to stand beside me,
Love me ‘till my life is done.
-Owen Darnell
What is Dementia?
The term Dementia is used to describe the collection of symptoms including a decline in memory, reasoning, and communication skills, and a gradual loss of skills needed to carry out daily activities.
These symptoms are caused by structural and chemical changes in the brain as a result of physical diseases such as Alzheimer’s disease.
Symptoms of Dementia
Loss of memory – problems with day-to-day memory with difficulty recalling events that happened recently.
Concentrating, planning and organising – difficulties making decisions, solving problems or carrying out a sequence of tasks.
Language – difficulties in understanding what people are saying and or finding the right word for something.
It’s normal to forget, but sometimes it’s important to look deeper. What most people do not know is there are many conditions that can mimic dementia. Walking out of ASDA and not remembering where you parked the car is one thing, walking out of ASDA and not knowing if your car is red, green, or blue, is something else.
Types of Dementia
1) Alzheimer’s
2) Vascular
3) Frontotemporal
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4) Lewy Body
Alzheimer’s
90 % of people with dementia experience behavioural and psychological symptoms at some point (Alzheimers Society, 2013). A person’s personality endures through the course of dementia and their individuality will be apparent in various stages and different stages of their illness such as:
? Become confused and frequently forget the name of people, places, appointments and
important events
? Experience mood swings due to frustration from increasing memory loss
? Become more withdrawn – due to loss of confidence or communication problems
? Difficulties carrying out everyday difficulties
? Cognition generally declines steadily over time
? Caused by proteins that tangle in the brain
How common is it?
? As people live longer, the number of people with dementia is set to increase.
? Nationally it is estimated that the numbers will nearly double over the next 30 years to 1.7
million people living with dementia in the UK. (Alzheimer’s Society, 2009).
? It is estimated 61% of people with dementia are women and 39% are men.(Alzheimer’s Research, 2014).
Prevention
? There is growing evidence indicating that certain medical conditions such as high blood
pressure, diabetes, and obesity may increase the risk of Dementia.
? A healthy lifestyle may reduce the risk (Alzheimer’s Society, 2014).
What might behaviors that challenge look like?
● Challenging behavior presents due to an unmet need.
● It may result from an individual feeling threatened, fearful, anxious, suffering delusions or
hallucinations or it may be in response to a difficult situation or a misinterpretation of the
actions of other people.
● May be simply a result of an individual trying to express that they are hungry, thirsty or in pain.
This comes to we asking ourselves, how can we support people living with the conditions? We would suggest a little kindness to everyone we can’t comprehend their behavior, attitude, reasoning, taking our loved ones that we suspect showing symptoms for a checkup, and donating to bodies researching dementia won’t hurt us in any way but go a long way in bringing relief to people living with dementia.
Who knows, it could be you tomorrow Living in an Unknown World Called Dementias.