Perspectives: Alzheimer, Dementia, & Similar Symptoms
Disclaimer: The following information does not replace any medical facts and is only for educational and entertainment purposes. Always consult with a doctor for diagnosis before anything else. Additionally, the information below may not apply to everyone but only to a selective group.
Alzheimer, Dementia, and similar symptoms on a spiritual aspect can happen to anyone and at any age, especially and usually in elders - who are nearing the end of their life cycle; due to multiple reasons, with 2 big reasons in particular.
They finally have the time to process certain trauma or events in their life.
They've been ignoring certain trauma or events in their lives and it has caught up to them.
When the individual is forced to process such events psychologically - emotionally and mentally; they either lock themselves inside, zoned out, or their memories become disorganized, distorted, and they start speaking “nonsense.” How these different symptoms show up depend on the amount of impact the event had on the individual’s life and how the individual reacts to the events - as in how they wish to accept the flow of the information or ignore it. It also depends on how much information of a particular event the individual is allowing itself to process during the certain episode.
When individuals are in their episodes it is ok to let them be as long as they are not harming themselves or anyone else, and are in a safe environment. Trying to wake up the individual by pulling them back into reality, or putting them to sleep is not recommended for it can delay the individuals “trauma healing process.”
Oftentimes individuals do not have control over when they choose to experience their episodes of trauma processing and what information they want to process. The episodes can come randomly and last for a certain amount of time depending on how much information they are processing at the moment and how they're willing to accept the flow of information.
Another thing to take into consideration is their environment and their triggers. When individuals are triggered to remember certain parts of their memories how they react depends on how they themselves and their environment associate with their memories. If it's a happy or neutral memory the reaction will be more calm. If the memory is traumatizing, the individual may react negatively or aggressively.
With that said, how can you support those around you when they are in their episode, you made wonder. It isn't that difficult.
If the individual is talkative during their episodes, take this time to get to know them. You'll never know what you'll learn about their life experiences. Join their conversation and listen to what they're telling you. Think of the conversation as making up a story together. Do note it down if you wish to talk to them about it later when the episode is over. When asking for clarify about certain aspects of the story you both had just talked about. If the individual gets triggered when you ask for clarity this goes to show that the individual still has a lot to process and isn't quite ready to talk about this topic openly.
If the individual is quiet in their episodes but is active, observe them and see what they're doing. Do stop them if they are trying to hurt themselves or anyone else. Another thing you can do to help them process the information is get them to talk about what they're doing. If they're willing to talk about it, great. If not, that's ok, let them be but stay close by and supervise them.
If the individual is aggressive, allow them to let the anger out by yelling or speaking, as long as they are not physically trying to harm themselves or others. Certain individuals may have bottled up a lot of anger or emotions throughout their entire life and this is their time to let it out.
Regardless of what the individual does or says during their episodes it's important to know that it is a reflection of them and what happened to them and not you nor do they intend to direct anything at you.
