Neuro Note #4: Dementia

For my last neuro note I watched a TedTalk about dementia. The talk was entitled, "How my Dad's dementia changed my my idea of death (and life)" by Beth Malone. I chose dementia for my last neuro note because it is a symptom linked to so many other neurological disorders and therefor it is common to see when working with this category of cliental. It is a difficult disorder to combat and deal with especially for the family. It will be helpful for my future career as an OT to learn how to interact and work with patients and their families who are dealing with this progressive disorder.
In her talk, Malone cut right to the chase about her father's condition and state after he was diagnosed with Frontotemporal Lobe Dementia (FLD). She did not fill time with statistics about how many people dementia affects annually or what the symptoms of the condition are. She opened up immediately with a detailed description of the struggle she was going through while watching her father progress to this debilitating state. Her father was diagnosed and rather quickly was moved to a skilled nursing facility because he could no longer take care of himself. His dementia made him violent and paranoid and he was quickly transferred out of the nursing facility after several violent acts and outbursts. Malone and her sister found a facility that specialized in carrying for people with dementia. One day Malone walked in to see her dad wearing what essentially looked like a straight jacket to her and she could not stand it. At that point she said she was conflicted by the want to keep her father around and his wishes regarding his own life.
Malone talked about society's tie between productivity and value. "What value does that life have left?", she asked. She felt obligated to help end her father's life because to her it didn't seem as though he had much of a life at all. Until one day, she went to visit him and saw a glimmer of the father she had once remembered.
It is difficult to listen to personal stories such as this one because it reminds me that these people are not only a number they are individuals with memories, lives, and families. It can be so easy to allow people to be defined by their illnesses and disorders, to look at someone and only see their diagnosis especially in the medical field. As a future OT it will be important to remember that these people who are now your clients didn't always move or act this way and didn't always say these things. They are still that person who had all of those experiences, created all of those memories, and accomplished important things in their life prior to their diagnosis. Watching videos like this one is a helpful reminder of that no matter how distant a person seems from themselves they're never fully gone.

References:

Malone, B. (2017, June). How my dad's dementia changed my idea of death (and life). Retrieved August 18, 2019, from 

https://www.ted.com/talks/beth_malone_how_my_dad_s_dementia_changed_my_idea_of_death_and_life?language=en#t-2755