Healthy Habits: Truth, Lies, & Alzheimer's

 According to the Alzheimer’s Association, it’s estimated that nearly 6 million Americans are living with Alzheimer’s in 2021. The number of people living with the disease doubles every 5 years beyond the age of 65.

Even though this disease continues to increase in prevalence and severity in our society, it is still quite a misunderstood disease. No one patient is the same… making it difficult for caretakers and loved ones to find beneficial solutions tailored specifically to the individual fighting the disease. 

Being able to identify key symptoms, behaviors, and possible solutions can ensure that we are promoting their overall health and wellbeing while improving their overall quality of life. 

Lisa Skinner, behavioral expert in the field of Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias, navigates the heartbreaking challenges of having a loved one diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease or other dementias in her new book, “Truth, Lies and Alzheimer’s: Its Secret Faces”.

Learn more in this interview.

Why did you write this book? 

I worked in the eldercare industry for more than 25 years and throughout that time, I helped thousands of families struggle through the heartbreaking journey of having a loved one suffer with dementia.  With every family I encountered, it seemed to be a common situation where most did not really understand the disease, or know where they could get help to understand it. Many encouraged me to write a book so people would have a resource to help them better cope, so I eventually did write the book. 

Why is it so hard to deal with the concept of truth and lies when it comes to Alzheimer's?

 

There are so many aspects to what living with Alzheimer’s disease is really like that are difficult to comprehend.  The brain goes through many changes during the stages of the disease and, as a result, the person afflicted can experience personality changes, significant loss of their cognitive ability, as well as the loss of their ability to communicate, so they find alternative ways to let us know they want or need something. This typically shows up in the form of disruptive behaviors, and what seems to be false beliefs in our reality, but not in theirs. If loved ones, friends, or caregivers don’t recognize these changes as being part of the disease, they will often draw the conclusion that their loved one is crazy, which is not the case. Alzheimer’s disease is not a mental illness. It’s a brain disease that eventually destroys the short-term memory and causes people to draw from their long-term memories, which stays intact. All of the symptoms and behaviors are part of the truths and lies of Alzheimer’s disease unless those on the outside looking in really understand the day to day impact and effects of the disease. 

 

How can people with loved ones who have Alzheimer's and dementia navigate the truth of their world? (this question is kind of hard to word, but basically if someone has Alzheimer's or dementia, how can their loved ones step into their world, even if it differs from reality)

 

Simply by recognizing that what they are witnessing is the truth of their world and learning the best approach and practices to effectively communicate with them based on the world they now live in instead of wanting them to communicate with us the way they did when their brains were healthy.