Hello @WTG. I think you hit the nail on the head with your statement that you see friends 'denying your reality. ' Yours (and my) reality are indeed hard to determine by others who do not have MCI, Alzheimers or whatever. They cannot 'see' our reality.
I too have friends, ex collegues and neighbours who deny me my own specific reality, either as a defence mechanism for themselves, to be kind, to deny an uncomfortable truth - or to be completely bewildered and unsure of the rules of engagement.
I also think that a certain level of academia allows us to develop other pathways of coping in the early stages, and together with a reasonable vocabulary this merely reinforces the idea that we remain 'well.'
I hope this makes sense, as I am quite fatigued today after the first outdoor swim for ages yesterday.
I too have friends, ex collegues and neighbours who deny me my own specific reality, either as a defence mechanism for themselves, to be kind, to deny an uncomfortable truth - or to be completely bewildered and unsure of the rules of engagement.
I also think that a certain level of academia allows us to develop other pathways of coping in the early stages, and together with a reasonable vocabulary this merely reinforces the idea that we remain 'well.'
I hope this makes sense, as I am quite fatigued today after the first outdoor swim for ages yesterday.