Why Those With Alzheimer's And Mental Illness Need Community

My dad's voice drifted gently through the cell phone, quieting the zip-zapping of my mind, "He was my only friend with Alzheimer's -- sort of my best friend. And now he's dead." Rain pattered outside the tall kitchen window next to me. I'd been chopping colorful vegetables for dinner, and my knife froze. Our family schedules, the child therapy, writing projects, and checklists dissolved for a moment, allowing me to hear my father who suffers with Alzheimer's. Sometimes his mind wanders and frets. He repeats himself. People dismiss his feelings. But lately I've found wisdom when I listen to him, so I inhaled. "Yes, I know. You told me before," I exhaled. He'd told me about his friend's unexpected passing in phone calls, emails, and in a poem emailed earlier that week. "This is such horrible news," I stumbled, aware that I'd inadvertently highlighted his memory problems rather than offering comfort. "Did I tell you he killed himself?" asked my dad. "For sure?" I asked. Good God, I thought. He has only one friend with Alzheimer's. And he killed himself? "Yes," my dad said clearly. His friend, a brain surgeon, had hidden his Alzheimer's diagnosis from most people. But because my dad speaks openly about his disease, his friend had felt safe confiding in him. The two had exchanged stories about their experience with Alzheimer's. "He didn't like people to talk to him like he was suddenly an idiot, because of his Alzheimer's," my dad explained. "Of course not." I thought ab...
Source: Healthy Living - The Huffington Post - Category: Consumer Health News Source Type: news