Alzheimer's Spiritual Journey

by Bev Janisch

We don't receive wisdom; we must discover it for ourselves after a journey that no one can take for us or spare us- Provst

I have to admit that when my mother in law, Jessie, was alive I didn't give much thought to the idea of spirituality and Alzheimer's disease.  I didn't give much thought to spirituality in general as it related to my life. I did however, think shortly after she passed away that there had to be some meaning to her Alzheimer's disease and that perhaps the answers lied more in the spiritual domain.

I found an interesting article by Sharon Janis, in Spirituality for Dummies, where she described how spirituality goes beyond the physical world of matter and outer appearances and seeks to find the soul of everything.  "One of the main teachings of spirituality is to look within and find what you seek within yourself." I think the challenge of living and caring for someone that has Alzheimer's disease is that we begin to question everything in our life.  We find ourselves asking questions that we've never asked before like: What remains of the person affected by the disease?  How can I connect with this person that I love? Does everything that we had and shared cease to exist? What will the future look like?

I really loved the idea of looking within and how that relates to Alzheimer's disease. When the mind is gone is the soul still there? I heard someone say that you don't cease to be you if you have an organ removed such as a gallbladder or pancreas. The brain is the most complex organ in the human body. So when the brain ceases to function as a result of Alzheimer's disease, does that mean the person ceases to exist?

It is my personal belief that spirituality transcends the mind and it is the core of who we are beyond our ego, and societal expectations. It is the very nature of our "being."  The spiritual journey is travelled on a road that takes us home to our core where our authentic self lives.  It's a peeling away of all the layers that mask or hide who we really are.

Alzheimer's disease and dementia challenges us to ask the big and important questions in life. I believe that these questions are what's important and not the answers.  I think there is a gift to be found in the struggle arising from asking the questions.  Perhaps the gift is the return to what is important in life, namely our true selves.  The crises that happen in our lives happen for a reason. Perhaps Alzheimer's disease is in our lives to create an opportunity for spiritual growth.  What other reason could there be?