Is It Dementia?

I have a 99 year-old client who is sharp as a tack! He says he has dementia.

While the computer that is our brain may be slowing down, and our thought to speech processes can get cobwebby, but this is not dementia. 

Forgetting where we are in a conversation, stumbling to find the right words, delays in our ability to verbalize our thoughts are not dementia.

I often cannot come up with names of people, books, films, and so far it is kind of funny and doesn't seem to matter all that much. But I don't worry that it is a sign of dementia. (Not yet, anyway!)

Dementia is described as a complex decline in the brain and I find this helpful to remember when communicating with people with cognitive decline:

 • The hippocampus (short-term memory) may shrink early — that’s why people with dementia forget what they had for breakfast.

• But the amygdala (emotion) is often intact longer — so people with dementia can still feel love, fear, kindness, joy.

• The posterior cingulate cortex helps link past and present — and when it struggles, time gets blurry. The past and present are not so distinguishable, and so people with dementia may be remembering something from their childhood or when their spouse was alive, while speaking about it as if it was happening in current time.

• The default mode network (responsible for self-awareness and reflection) may become fragmented — but sensory and social responses can still thrive.

• The prefrontal cortex might misfire — so logic, planning, and inhibition go dancing out the door. But music, touch, and non-verbal communication can still speak volumes.

We are complex creatures and our brains are proof! 

Let us be gentle with ourselves and each other as we fumble around, trying our best, to find the words to express what matters most, our love.

If you are interested in finding out more about my work and services, please go to my website.