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Support & Insight for the Autumn of Life

Is It Possible to Live Well with Dementia?

VIDEO + ARTICLE:

Is it possible to live well with dementia? Yes. Is it possible to live well with dementia every
day? No, not in my opinion, but that’s my opinion. Having lived with Alzheimer’s for the
last two years, if I’ve learned anything, it’s to be honest with myself.


If I’m having a bad day,
it’s no good pretending everything is fine. It’s more productive to admit it’s a tough day and
look at ways to make it better.

So what does living well with dementia look like? I guess different people have different
ideas as to what constitutes living well. For me, it’s about finding peace and contentment,
and having fun. These can be very hard, especially when your brain doesn’t want to cooperate,
and if the world feels like a very scary place, which it does some days. The text
books say ‘find ways to relax’ – all good advice until you trip down the stairs because your
‘spatial awareness’ is playing havoc with your balance. It’s not that easy relaxing when
you’re in a heap on the hall floor – but hey! When the initial shock has worn off, and my
pride has recovered, I can laugh at how funny it must have looked. So this is a good coping
strategy and a key for me to live well with dementia – to be able to laugh especially at one’s
self. Yes, it is frustrating when you can’t do simple tasks and forgetting things becomes a
way of life, but dwelling on the things you can’t do only serves to disempower you and
anyone living with dementia knows that’s the last thing you want.

Joy Watson continues these thoughts at Sage Journals. Click here for the complete article.

Joy shares her experience with Dementia-Friendly Support Groups in the following video:

SOURCE:

  • Dementia, January 2016 vol. 15 no. 1 4-5
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Unknown
Unknown
December 15, 2015 7:46 pm

Depends on the stage and type. Lewy Body Dementia? No. Early onset vascular dementia and Alzheimer's yes. For a while. Then no for all three.

Susan
Susan
Reply to  Unknown
December 17, 2015 3:08 pm

Right – cruel to suggest that "most" people can live with Alzheimers in the community and be happy – going to shops and other places – makes caregivers who have to put their loved ones in a facility feel guilty as heck.

Anonymous
Anonymous
December 15, 2015 8:03 pm

Excellent share; I only had this article as pdf, which will not be accepted into "newsLetter" format for Dementia Symptom Perspectives. This format will work nicely instead. THANKS –Tru

B. Berger

B. Berger

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Welcome

This site was inspired by my Mom’s autoimmune dementia.

It is a place where we separate out the wheat from the chaffe, the important articles & videos from each week’s river of news. With a new post on Alzheimer’s or dementia appearing on the internet every 7 minutes, the site’s focus on the best information has been a help to many over the past 15 years. Thanks to our many subscribers for your supportive feedback.

The site is dedicated to all those preserving the dignity of the community of people living with dementia.

Peter Berger, Editor

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