Dementia Friends Champion Helen Morris offers some thoughts on fear and diagnosis
Exploring opportunities for everyone to become more aware of the importance of an early diagnosis of dementia and finding out how to live well with it.
IT STILL shocks me when someone asks me about a relative or friend who is displaying symptoms but all are persuaded it is just part of ‘getting older’.
Because I work in a world where dementia is talked about every day and people know that living well with dementia is not just possible but makes life better for everyone, I could be guilty of forgetting how scary it can be when people you know and love start behaving differently and saying unexpected things. I remember how your world shifts on its axis and we feel desperately unsettled and unhappy.
So I am not going to say getting a diagnosis is an easy thing to do or gloss over the fear this slow but terminal condition brings – but I am going to say ignoring it will not make it go away.
Advice on how to live well with the condition can be given and if Alzheimer’s disease is diagnosed there are medications that can help alleviate symptoms for many years. It does not always work but for many it halts the decline in memory and in some cases improves it.
Hospital reports have revealed as many as 50 per cent of people living with the condition are undiagnosed in the UK and so have no access to support and advice.
In Saddleworth we are lucky to have Memory Nurses working in the doctors’ surgeries. Please consult your GP if you or a relative start noticing memory problems.
It could be due to other conditions like an infection or the side effects of other medications but it could be that you have dementia and the sooner you know the sooner you can learn more about the condition and how some simple changes can make life better for everyone.
We can do so much to help people living with dementia and it starts with being prepared to get a diagnosis and remove one more layer of harmful stigma attached to this condition.
If any groups and societies would welcome a Dementia Friends Session at a meeting just call me on 07976 702171 or email helen@close-communications.com
For details of local Dementia Friends Sessions please visit www.close-communications.com/dementia-friends
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