When my husband's appointment with geriatrician was due, he was adamant that he didn't want me there, in fact he was very hostile to the idea. Geriatrician had obviously seen this happen before so I had a separate session prior to OH.
My husband had been in total denial after his appointment, he told me that there wasn'tit much wrong, 'Just a little bit of Alzheimer's'.
Almost seven years on, he still doesn't believe really that he has the disease and he has probably acknowledged it about five times since diagnosis. However, he does use his patches and takes al the medication the geriatrician has prescribed. That suggests to me that deep down, he probably suspects that he does have AD.
Though this denial can be very frustrating for family and carers, in some way it protects the person with dementia from having to face the truth. There are some people with these diseases who do have insight into their situation and some of them bravely post on Talking Point.