[IvyMike]

I lost a loved one to dementia, and articles like this one make me want to scream.

Every experience is different. But most people think "oh, they just start getting forgetful", but as the mind decays, everything, everything, goes. Imagine your parent screaming at you in rage because they are hungry, but they've also decided that they hate every food you put in front of them, and they have refused to eat for two days. They are quite literally starving. "What do you want, I'll literally make you anything!", and they scream back "JUST BRING ME SOME FOOD!" Your life is falling apart trying to take care of them. And your parent tells you they hate you, and that you must hate them, since you aren't helping them. They can't shower, they can't brush their teeth, they can't use the bathroom without help. You start to need to take care of them like they are a baby, but babies are tiny and weak, your parent is large and while they're not "strong" anymore, they're still able to fight you in a way a baby cannot. They're in constant physical pain, but they can't describe where, and they lash out both physically and verbally.

They'll forget how to speak, or maybe they just stop trying. Then, they'll forget how to chew, and then once you move to a liquid diet, they'll eventually forget how to swallow.

Fuck this article.

[the_clarence]

Hopping I won't offend anyone here. There's a history of alzheimer in my family and I actually know a number of families that had to deal with the third generation going cuckoo. I've always thought that, if it would happen to me, or to one of my parents, perhaps the only sane solution would be to kill them. I'm wondering if I'm the only one thinking this. It seems like most of today's culture is about keeping people alive as long as possible, even if they're not themselves anymore, even if they're suffering.

[hackflip]

I think that a lot of people think this in theory, but in practice the "boiling frog" phenomenon prevents them from following through.