Tuesday, February 16, 2016

how to know you are....

....loosing your mind. I went to a little informational meeting today sponsored by the people who want you to make a donation to support their organization funding research for a solution. So they really want your contact info. to send you little envelopes with windows requesting your financial support.

It was interesting, and informative. I already know far more than I want to about Alzheimer's disease and how it can affect families. And have been sending funds in a random haphazard fashion for a number of years, when asked to contribute to the annual Walk. But no one has asked in recent years.

Anyway: here is the info I picked up today, that gives you some guidelines for looking at your friends and family and deciding who amongst you is the one in trouble, headed down the path into the miry pit. The slick handout gives ten signs, that can be considered early hints of future problems. Funny thing is:  they can actually be applied to all of us at some point or other, on those 'not so good' days we all have on occasion.

1) Memory loss that disrupts daily life.
2) Challenges in planning and problem solving.
3) Difficulty in completing familiar tasks.
4) Confusion with time or place.
5) Trouble understanding visual images and spatial relationships.
6) New problems with words in speaking or writing.
7) Misplacing things and losing the ability to retrace steps.
8) Decreased or poor judgement.
9) Withdrawal from work or social activities.
10) Changes in mood or personality.

They all come with 'qualifiers', things that are relatively normal or typical for age related changes, so every thing is relative. One of the most noticeable things might be just sort of loosing touch with reality, in that a person can't say what the month, season, or day of the week is. But that could be easily explained by someone being retired, after a long career, and not needing to look at a calendar to keep up with scheduled work-related events.

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