Dear LPG, 

Have you got friends who regularly tell you that they get confused as they get older or who all too frequently comment that they are becoming more and more forgetful?  My answer, and I don’t really want to be cruel about it, is usually, ‘and what are you doing about it?’  When such comments are repeated regularly by the same person, I begin to wonder if it is just something that that older person says to keep a conversation going, or if they really believe what they keep saying and find themselves being haunted by all the implications of this realisation.

All my life I have followed the philosophy that if you know something is wrong you are halfway to curing it, or at least improving the situation.  I strongly believe that (nearly always) there is something that you can do once you have worked out what the problem is apart from spending a lot of time worrying about it.  

I must admit to forgetting a few more of my life’s details than I used to these days, and I know that, like many of my friends, I am not alone.  But worrying about it is not the answer, whether you worry in silence or by offering the odd give-away comment on the subject to your friends.  If you are conscious of your forgetfulness, and the odd bout of disorientation, any medical condition you might have cannot be too advanced, so rather than just worrying about it, the best course of action currently is to see a doctor.

The problem with that is that many are worried that making it official could result in the authorities labelling you with the consequence that those same authorities, and your family, start to treat you differently.  

In my experience, the internet so often approaches this subject from the expert’s objective point of view and much more rarely from the point of view of someone with experience.  But there are a few suggestions to be found there and doing something has to help more than just worrying… 

From what I have read, being older can bring on such symptoms and while one size does not fit all when it comes to any aspect of life, doing something is always better than doing nothing.

So, if what I have written resonates with you, instead of worrying about it please look at what I have found and if you find any other information on the subject, please share… 

JA, Ladywell

JA has found a few bits of internet wisdom about dementia…

JA has found a few bits of internet wisdom about dementia…

(►►►)   (►►►)     (►►►)   

(►►►)   (►►►)    (►►►)   (►►►)