From the desk of Rosemary Laird, MD
Founder of Navigating Aging Needs (NAN), LLC
Frames of Mind
The author F. Scott Fitzgerald once observed that "the test of a first-rate intelligence is the ability to hold two opposed ideas in the mind at the same time and still retain the ability to function." It certainly seems true for this particular time in our lives. The world seems to be convulsed with conflicts between contentious ideas and behaviors, and nothing seems “normal.”
This can also be true of a caregiver of a loved one suffering from Alzheimer’s. As the disease progresses, your loved one may show signs of being in a mental state that conflicts with reality. You may face differences of viewpoints with your family, friends, and health providers on how to proceed on some issue that needs to be resolved.
Seeing the World Differently
This optical illusion is a good metaphor for the challenges that caregivers like you face every day, as their loved one’s mind is altered by Alzheimer’s disease and often may see the world in its own way — a way that is different from your own, and often from that of reality. In these kinds of situations, your loved one’s brain, suffering from Alzheimer’s, can and will make mistakes that your loved one won’t be able to identify as being incorrect.