What is Alzheimer's Disease? (The Truth)

1- Activities Ideas
2- What to say/do for specific Challenging Behaviors

Thanks for watching!

[tatorick]

I have experienced psychosis and it's not the same but it gives me sympathy because reality is nothing when your brain lies to you or alters everything you've ever known. It's terrifying.

[Just_Sara]

When I worked at a skilled nursing facility in the activities department, there was one resident with Alzheimer's who eventually progressed to end-stage. One day I was assigned to take her into a private room and sing hymns to her, as her faith had always been important to her. She was just casting her eyes around the room, grasping at the armrests of her tilt-and-space wheelchair. When we finished, I decided to do something... unorthodox. I knew this was going to be my only chance in my lifetime to see this. I got up, went right up to her face and stared into her eyes to see what she could see.

Nothing. She could see nothing. There was no reaction. Her eyes didn't focus on me, they didn't react like something was close to her face. Just darting back and forth blankly. Her brain was completely unable to recognize stimuli. I've never seen anything so awful before or since, but I'm glad I was able to give her what she would have wanted, when she was in her right mind, the last few days of her life here on earth. Rest in peace, Lillian.

[rileycoyote]

As an EMT I can definitely attest to this. Many of my patients are folks with Alzheimer's Dementia. It's really sad to see your regular patients who used to have conversations with you every time you transported them become a shell of themselves, eventually losing the ability to form coherent words, stand up, or understand that you're trying to help them and not hurt them.

[ChibiChidorii]

People forget memory is not just about events or people. We learn through memory, all we know how to do is in our memory. My grandfather because like a little child. He forgot how to speak, what words meant, sometimes would forget how to walk or how to eat. And the most distressing one is that he would forget his sense of self. He would grab his head sometimes out of pain but also the doctors said is because he would remember something but have no way to connect it to other information. Things like remembering his mom but not remembering himself so he felt emotions towards this memory he could not comprehend. He would feel anger or sadness and not know what those emotions were, so they just kept becoming panic

[thepurpledusk]

My dad was diagnosed with alzheimer's and vascular dementia about 18 months ago.
He's treatments for the Alzheimer's are working really well but the where and when of things are almost gone. He can remember many things but not where or when they are or were. It's like the scaffolding of time and space has vanished and it's just puzzle pieces of memories jumbled up in a box.

[destinyedwards]

I recently was put in an application for an Alzheimers facility. Then my mom warned me it wasn’t a good place to work at (shes been an STNA for over 20 years). Hearing this I decided to look them up. I found a new article of a resident who died because an aide beat him up. Nothing in my mind can understand why you would fight someone who mind is not there. Alzheimers dementia patients/residents are some of my favorite people. You have to lack empathy to fight someone why mind is dying. They literally can’t remember whats going on. Im glad I didn’t take that job because that place has terrible reviews and I can’t imagine seeing someone in that condition being treated poorly.

[jhutch]

And the effect can sometimes be like Swiss cheese, robbing certain functions apparently at random, while others remain relatively and mysteriously intact for longer...

[Strix]

For people who still don't get it, I've seen the brain of someone with alzheimers, there is physical holes. When she says brain death, that's not just word play.

[ReapTheWhirlwind]

Houses can change over time. Like, my family has lived in the same house for about 17 years and it seems to have shrunken in that time. Obviously it hasn't but my brother and cousins grew into adulthood from wee sprouts in that time and my perception of the space has altered a lot as they grew. It's possible for a person with Alzheimer's to recognize that they are home but not recognize what's inside it bc those things weren't there in 1999 when you moved in.

[UnchartedStar]

My grandmother had Alzheimer's and with her I mastered patience and the the skill of redirection. That woman loved walking, and although her neighborhood changed I liked being able to see what she remembered. Still managed to remember me and my name until her death (covid took her) I know she was always very grouchy with her main caretakers (my aunt and occasionally my mother) but never with me.

[angelaharris]

I was just diagnosed with dementia and Alzheimers. You need to think about taking precautions before

[WeetchBeetch]

Its honestly a lot like caring for toddlers. You have to be patient and creative. If you try to force them into things their natural reaction is to push back. Its why my grampa needed a caretaker for my grandma. In the early stages he would just yell at her bc he's a shitty person.

[nikoincroatia]

My grandma had dementia before she passed. Her bad days reminded me of myself having a bad acid trip. That's what I usually compare it to for people, and they seem to act more reasonably in response.

[sarahaltizer]

My momaw still doesn’t quite understand that this is going to be what kills my Popaw…she’s his main, 24-7 caretaker. She doesn’t understand that who is was is gone…it’s so sad.

[RoseKB]

I watched my grandma go through this. It was hard at times but I'm just thankful we were able to be there for her during those years.

[braidedgirl]

My mother had rapid onset like literally declined within 6 months it is really challenging...Thank you so much for your videos...they are really helpful ❤

[xx_itzmicheal_xx]

I think of it as the person slowly going away. It's a scary and deadly disease.

[cometasporelcielo]

PLEASE write a book. I lost the person I loved the most to this disease, now I'm losing my mom to it. I wish I had this knowledge when i lost my grandmother. I'm learning so much from you now that I'm seeing it in my mom.

[Chemppi]

I meet a lot of folks with dementia through my work and you're tips and tricks are really helpful in order for me to be able to handle them. I find it really hard otherwise, as I am not really trained to handle it in any way. All I have is the info that I can find on the internet and books.

[krissyalbertson]

My great-grandmother had Alzheimer's for over 10 years. As her confusion increased, she continuously became quieter and more polite; we'd always tell her who we were when we spoke to her (we always did this as she had severe macular degeneration and had been clinically "blind" for my entire life), and she'd play it off like "of course I know you" and we'd go along with whatever memory she'd start retelling. When I was 16, she told me she just loved my wife (gay marriage wasn't legal yet, so it was clear she was confused) and I just smiled and told her "I'm so glad you like her. It means the world to me to hear you say that." She eventually got to the point that she couldn't speak, that part of her brain had broken down too much. But she would hum songs she'd loved throughout her entire life. Made me so happy that she never lost that part of herself, especially after witnessing her lose almost everything else.