Monday 17 February 2014

Does Alzheimer's Change the Definition of Love?

Valentine's Day was just a few days ago and that got me thinking about love and our feelings towards our loved ones who are experiencing dementia. Does Alzheimer's disease change our experience of love?  What is love and how do we define it? It's interesting that you could ask a million different people about how they define love and come up with a million different responses. I think that's why it's so complicated and then you throw Alzheimer's disease into the mix and wow it becomes even more complicated.

I wonder if we would feel more peaceful about our experience with Alzheimer's disease, if we understood how we defined loved and were willing to change the  definition to fit with the circumstances. It is common that love is viewed and experienced in the context of giving and receiving. Although, we know that ideal love is giving without expecting anything in return, if we're being honest most of us are not wired in that way. Love is a connecting and a feeling and Alzheimer's disease changes the connection. The rules of love in this relationship have changed and the very foundation from which our relationship and love was based crumbles. How do we deal with that?

I read a very moving article about a young couple who are facing early- onset Alzheimer's disease in the Dallas Morning News. In the article, the wife whose 37 year old husband has Alzheimer's disease has redefined her definition of love.  Kam Manthe shares, "I honestly think it's situations like this that are true love.... It's all fine and dandy to love someone when they're leaving you romantic notes, when they're sweeping you off your feet.  But this is unconditional love.  This is love you give knowing he can't give anything in return."  Redefining what love looks like in the midst of dementia, would appear to have resulted in finding some peace in the difficult and painful situation. I think it illustrates so beautifully that "clinging" to the past and what has been lost prevents us from finding new ways to define and show love.

Thich Nhat Hanh describes that, "The most precious gift we can offer anyone is our attention. When mindfulness embraces those we love, they will bloom like flowers."  What I love about this definition is that it fits for everyone in all circumstances. If you're giving your attention to the person with Alzheimer's disease and you're in the moment with them, that's love in my opinion. Not trying to change anything, just accepting what is. I know that is so hard to do and we struggle with it in our lives at the best of times. I want to share a moving video from a previous post, Love Transcends Alzheimer's and Dementia,  because it shows love in action.

Share your stories of love to inspire others going through a difficult time.

6 comments:

  1. For those people whose relative are suffering from Alzheimer’s Disease and maybe reading this, I find it hard that people are still ignorant of herbal medicine when it comes to treating Alzheimer’s Disease.
    I have been through many phases over the last couple of years since my father's diagnosis, he was 53 years old and had Early Onset Alzheimer’s Disease and his diagnosis changed my life in many ways, I spend most of the time in denial and I keep thinking the tests were wrong. But deep down I knew they were correct. Though sharing his story is very difficult. He was always very successful in being able to accomplish anything he set his mind on doing. Alzheimer’s is a bitch of a disease. It began by robbing his recent memory, but it didn't stop there. It continues to steal, taking the most recent memories until it has pilfered all but the oldest memories, he experienced a decline in his ability to think, remember and make decisions. I feel a need to express my thoughts and feelings about how it affected his day to day living and how its deteriorated since despite the help of some wonderful medics and medicine.
    I remind myself how lucky to come across Charanjit rychtova's herbal medicine which is able to control this disease without any side effect, I felt a moment of relief hoping that he is free from this ailment, and nothing compares to the healing power of nature. Now I believe almost every health problem can be addressed in one natural way or another. The only thing I wanted was for him to feel better. I’m proud to say my Dad is Alzheimer’s free. You can also contact him for advice and more info. charantova@gmail.com

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  2. In my own case it was just over four years ago when my Mum began to sound different on the phone. She lived back East with my siblings and my husband and I were living on the West coast and in phone calls it became apparent that my Mum's voice no longer had the same tones of excitement and humor that she used to; and instead it was very flat. At the same time she began to tell us about a situation at work that just didn't seem possible; she was complaining that a group of fellow workers were conspiring to get her. Although Mum had much academic success as a teenager, her behavior had become increasingly odd during the past years. She quit seeing her friends and no longer seemed to care about her appearance or social pursuits. She began wearing the same clothes each day and seldom bathed. She lived with several family members but rarely spoke to any of us. Obviously this whole story seemed very unbelievable and we sensed something was wrong but had no clue as to what it could be. We recommended that my Mum quit her job and look for something else - as we began to wonder if she had a "mental breakdown" and would get better once out of the stressful job situation.
    In the case of Mum, she was having persecurtory delusions, auditory hallucinations and negative symptoms that had lasted for at least Three years. All of these symptoms fit with a diagnosis of Dementia. Her story reflects a common case, in which a high-functioning young adult goes through a major decline in day-to-day skills. Although family and friends may feel this is a loss of the person they knew, the illness can be treated and a good outcome is possible as it all got better when we started using a herbal medicine for her through Aparajita.
    My recommendation to people who are either wondering if they have DEmentia or wondering if a friend or loved one has Dementia should contact aparajitatan@gmail.com. I think one of our key problems was that we didn't do this in the early days of my Mum's illness as we never thought of a natural alternative for her.

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  4. As a sign of gratitude for how my son was saved from dementia , i decided to reach out to those still suffering from this.
    My son suffered dementia and it was really tough and heartbreaking for me because he was my all and the symptoms were terrible, we tried various therapies prescribed by our neurologist but none could cure him. I searched for a cure and i saw a testimony of so many people who was cured from dementia and so many other with similar body problem, and they left the contact of the doctor who had the herbal cure to dementia . I never imagined dementia has a cure not until i contacted him and he assured me my son will be fine. I got the herbal medication he recommended and my son used it and in one months he was fully okay even up till this moment he is so full of life. dementia has a cure and it is a herbal cure contact the doctor for more info on drwilliams098675@gmail.com on how to get the medication. Thanks for reading my testimony

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  5. My name is hoover, my 18 years old daughter, Tricia was diagnosed of herpes 3 years ago. ever since then,we have been going from one hospital to the other. We tried all sorts of pills but all efforts to get rid of the virus was futile. The blisters kept on reappearing after some months. My daughter was making use of Acyclovir tablets 200mg. 2 tablets every 6hours and fusitin cream 15grams. and H5 POT. Permanganate with water to be applied 2x a day but all still show no result. So I was on the internet some months back, to sought for any other means of saving my only child. just then, i came across a comment on dr imoloa herbal treatment and decided to give it a try. i contacted the him and he prepared some herbs and sent it to me together with guidelines on how to use the herbs through DHL courier service. my daughter used it as directed dr imoloa and in less than 14days, my daughter regained her health.. You should contact Dr imoloa today directly on his email address for any kind of health challenge; lupus disease,  mouth ulcer,  mouth cancer, body pain, fever, hepatitis A.B.C.,   syphilis,  diarrhea,  HIV/AIDS,  Huntington's Disease,   back acne,  Chronic renal failure,   addison disease,  Chronic Pain,   Crohn's Disease,   Cystic Fibrosis,  Fibromyalgia,   Inflammatory Bowel Disease,  fungal nail disease, Lyme Disease, Celia disease, Lymphoma, Major Depression,  Malignant Melanoma,   Mania,  Melorheostosis,   Meniere's Disease,  Mucopolysaccharidosis , Multiple Sclerosis,  Muscular Dystrophy,  Rheumatoid Arthritis, Alzheimer's Disease, parkison disease, vaginal cancer, epilepsy,  Anxiety Disorders, Autoimmune Disease,   Back Pain,  Back Sprain,   Bipolar Disorder,  Brain Tumour,  Malignant,   Bruxism, Bulimia,  Cervical Disk Disease, cardiovascular disease, Neoplasms, chronic respiratory disease,  mental and behavioural disorder,     Cystic Fibrosis,   Hypertension, Diabetes, asthma,  Inflammatory autoimmune-mediated arthritis.  chronic kidney disease, inflammatory joint disease,  impotence,  feta alcohol spectrum,  Dysthymic Disorder,   Eczema, tuberculosis,  Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, constipation, inflammatory bowel disease.  and many more; contact him on email- drimolaherbalmademedicine@gmail.com./ also on  whatssap-+2347081986098.

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