A woman with Alzheimer’s asked her daughter, “Am I crazy?” and the daughter not knowing how to reply posted on Facebook, “What should I say to her?” It was interesting the myriad of replies. It made me think about what you should say to someone when they are aware something is wrong with their mind but they don’t know they have dementia. Some of the comments were:

Most of the information about dementia tells family and caregivers not to take it personally when your loved one says something mean or hurtful. But is it really dementia talking? It is hard to tell when they are still verbal, especially in earlier stages. It seems like them talking, just a very nasty version of them. They may holler, scold or tell you how awful you are.

I was reading a Facebook post about how a woman with dementia keeps accusing her husband of being with other women. Her daughter is very upset about this. She wrote how her 88-year-old father was never unfaithful and how hurt he is by these accusations. However, do we really know what went on in our parents’ earlier life. He could have been unfaithful at some time, and

When we age, we commonly find our memory is not what it used to be. There are many methods of “exercise” for your brain, however this exercising may not be possible anymore by mid-dementia when they commonly lose the ability to understand or follow instruction steps. One of the saddest moments for a family member is when their loved one forgets who they are. More than any

In caregiver terminology the person with dementia is called the “loved one”. But what exactly is love and how much of it is a family caregiver capable of feeling and giving when the ongoing challenges of 24/7 care have depleted them to exhaustion? The dictionary defines love as a feeling of strong or constant affection for a person. It seems simple enough but who can constantly feel