Alzheimer Granny Tells Lies

Remember that guy in the movie, who awoke with no memory. He spent the rest of the film trying to fill the gaps back in. This is how our story is important to us.

We are actually a story, we human beings. We developed language because that is how important a story for us. Our story, in particular. We need our story.

shapes our feelings, our lifestyle, our daily habits and to feed our hearts, our souls, and - yes - it gives us something to write in our journal

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More importantly, it surrounds us with a known structure. shape our lives. Our habits, our skills, which I like, that I like - it's all there in what we remember. It keeps us centered, healthy and safe. We know who we are and part of it, a large part, he knew what we did.

Can you imagine how he does not know what you did yesterday. I will not be able to pull this information out yourself. I do not know who you saw, I do not know who it is you see now. Do not know how to present the address you live or year you live in.

This loss is painful and frightening for most people. And it leaves a huge space filled with nothing where he used a story filled. That is why people with dementia meet the unknown area of memory with probability. They often do not fully make up probably fantasy. They tend to fill the space with stories that are really very unlikely.

lunch with a friend yesterday [happened], go shopping in the city [happened], took the dog for a walk [no dog for nine years] - those are the kinds of things that people invent. They tend to refurnish empty rooms memory with what used to be commonplace. It does not feel like lying. And it does not lie, although it is not true. In dementia, which is space filling, has no intention of lying at all.

So when your mother says your sister on the other side of the United States since the two of you that, yes, it works just fine [not quite right], and cooks dinner every night [is not true] and you do not need any any help at all [if only it were true, you think to yourself], it does not actually lie. She was doing some fill in the space, adding a spoonful of denial and mixing it all with a damn good dose of dementia.

can be outraged by, but can you really spare that amount of energy? I know you want your sister to really, really get it on how much Mama care needs.

So here is my care plan for you. First, find a gentle love, and even admiration for the woman who is so determined to appear independent and self-management.

then another, call a dear sister to stay over a week and take their vacation at the same time, as soon as you fill it up to a daily routine. Give her a list of emergency numbers, but not his cell phone number. I guarantee you'll never have trouble with it any more. She will never forget what your mom needs.

and that's really what you want, right? In the meantime, let your mother a wrap-around with a sense of security. scarf stories.