We all know that one of hallmarks of dementia is the loss of short term memory, but the long term memory remains through out most of the disease. I've seen it a hundred times. The resident that begins to be agitated in the afternoon because they need to go get the kids from the bus stop. The resident that wants to know who that old person in the window (mirror) is. I've never really thought about it much, it's just one of those facts.
But one of the repeated topics I hear from my mom every week is about how she can remember all kinds of things from her past. (also so typical, "I don't have any trouble with my memory. I remember things from my past as if they happened yesterday). To hear her explain, it seems that these memories float to the top of her awareness unbidden. It makes you wonder. The mind is such a marvelous creation. It is working all the time whether we know it or not. From the to do list that starts in your head when you are trying to go to sleep, to the rhythm of your breathing, to your dreams where they say you are trying to work out problems in your sleep. On and on the brain goes without our conscious thought. So it makes me wonder. This phenomenon of beginning to live in the past. Is it the brain working over time? Because the short term memory centers are damaged and the brain has to keep working, is that why these long term memories surface?
I'm sure I will never understand why. The more we learn, the more we realize we don't know about this disease. But I hope I can have some kind of take away to help not only my own family, but my assisted living residents. Meet them where they are, that is the philosophy. You just have to discover where that might be and try to join them.
No comments:
Post a Comment