There's no IMDB for life

I was speaking to a friend about Alzheimer's and Dementia the other night, we'd been discussing videos we'd seen on Facebook and people we'd known suffering.
The conversation was basically around a video which is doing the rounds where someone is trying to get a relative to remember who they are, repeatedly asking "who am I?" "how do you know me?" and the older person is getting frustrated and upset while it's obvious the asker is getting upset. I understand it's hard when someone is forgetting you, it must be heartbreaking in every case but I can't see how upsetting and stressing them is going to help, surely all it will achieve is them getting frustrated and even more unlikely to remember. It's hard that they can't remember you are their son/daughter/sister/brother but for that moment can't we all just be their friend? Instead of stressing about forgotten old memories can't we just have a day of fun and make new memories?

There's no way to know how that person is feeling but I did think of something to compare it to.
You know when you're watching a film and you think "oh my god it's them, oh what's their name, they were in that show" and it's so frustrating that you can't remember who they are and what they're from. Now imagine if that's your life, your every moment. Not just that, but the person you can't remember is asking you to remember and getting upset you can't. No way you could enjoy the film with that level of frustration.

Let me be clear, I'm not saying try and see if they remember, I'm not saying it isn't hard, I'm not ignoring the fact that some days will be harder than others. I am just saying that instead of getting to the point where they're frustrated and upset can we just change the topic?

Can't we just focus on having a good time, helping them, making them laugh, making life still worth living another day.
As hard as it is, try and live in the moment. It may not be the same but their smile will be.
There's no IMDB for life.

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