Welcome to the first of my five blog posts for UK Dementia Action Week 2018 (DAW2018). This year Dementia Awareness Week is renamed Dementia Action Week to reflect the need for action for people affected by dementia rather than only focusing on awareness. In this…
Tag: symptoms
I need you
In my 2013 blog post ‘What is dementia’ I focused on the symptoms of dementia, noting the following amongst my very long list of ways in which a person can be affected by dementia: “An increasing need for reassurance (someone…
When losing, hiding or hoarding items becomes a problem
In May 2013 I wrote a blog post entitled ‘What is dementia?’ about the symptoms of dementia. I wanted to explore the different ways in which a person’s dementia might manifest itself to reinforce the message that dementia isn’t all…
When concentration becomes difficult
I suspect that from time to time most of us lose our focus on a task, object, TV programme, person or other aspect of our life that momentarily requires us to put aside all other thoughts and images to ensure…
Supporting a person with anxiety
Anxiety is commonly mentioned as one of a raft of symptoms linked to the development and progression of dementia. It is thought that dementia can both exacerbate anxiety in those who have a history of being anxious, and also bring…
The ‘stages’ of dementia
I had a very refreshing conversation recently with someone running a care company about the ‘stages’ of dementia. In this person’s view, the way in which the medical model defines dementia by different stages isn’t helpful for a more human…
Repetition, repetition, repetition
One of the symptoms of dementia that those around the person with dementia find most difficult to cope with is repetition. Families and professionals alike often express frustration, leading onto exasperation, which often ends in irritation and possibly even an…
Spotting dementia
My last D4Dementia blog was all about remembering the person, and as World Alzheimer’s Month draws to a close for 2015, I want to tackle another theme from this month of awareness raising – spotting the signs of dementia. I’ve…
Day-to-day with dementia
There are so many things in life that we take for granted, from the mundane to the critical, cruising through our daily lives wrapped up in our own world, largely ignoring what actually constitutes the foundations of day-to-day living. Take…
Ten lost years
It seems like a very long time ago that my dad first started showing signs of dementia. In essence it’s about twenty years, but since so much has happened subsequently it feels like a lifetime separates those experiences. With the huge level…