Mind your language

Gknee

Registered User
Jan 29, 2014
30
0
North of England
Scandal of 'tax' on dementia. Daily Express headline today.

Just had a call from mum ( Alz and VaD) terrified that she now has to pay an extra tax because she has Alzheimer's. According to the Daily Express, that is. She also stopped taking statins some time ago due to the careless reporting in the same newspaper.

The sensationalist and careless language used in such headlines is damaging to the very people it is reporting on. And it has made me very very angry as I try to explain to my dear mum that what the newspaper said is not in fact the truth. It upsets me even more that it appears this term was coined by a spokesperson for the Alzheimer's Society.

My mum trusts the British press and believes what she is told by them. Her ability to interpret nuances has greatly diminished in recent years to the point where she takes everything in a literal sense. She still believes we all pay an extra tax according to how many bedrooms we have.

I'd be interested to know if anyone else out there has encountered this, and how they deal with it. In the meantime, thanks for the opportunity to vent!
 

halojones

Registered User
May 7, 2014
438
0
news

I find the newspapers stories about dementia insulting and upsetting. They report that you should excersise, not smoke etc etc etc. Well my mum did all the right things and still got I'll. I know that some of my family take the news as fact and that mum must have done something wrong..!?? ( like not going to university) ! The press make the ignorant worse and scare the people with the illness.... I totally agree with you, the press does not help at all...Try not to let your mum see the papers if the stories are about AD...I hope your mum is a bit better..x
 

ITBookworm

Registered User
Oct 26, 2011
456
0
Glasgow
We had the same from FIL in an different way :(

His council was good in that they sent out a letter each week with the names of the carers on his rota and when they were due. The only problem was that FIL's ability to understand was very limited - he read a letter which mentioned his "care Services", "Service User" .... and the only word he understood was "service".

The letter turned up on a Friday and we arrived mid afternoon to find him dressed for a funeral and most upset as he couldn't work out where he should be or when and why were we so late taking him :(:(:( He couldn't even use the phone by that point to phone and ask us what it meant (not that he would have - that would mean admitting he didn't understand :rolleyes:)

The only solution we could come up with was to ask the council not to send the letter or to send it to us instead. We couldn't "fix" FIL so we had to remove the other side of the problem.
 

Rageddy Anne

Registered User
Feb 21, 2013
5,984
0
Cotswolds
Cynically, some think the Express's focus on Dementia relates only to sales. The word DEMENTIA emblazoned across the front page persuaded me to buy it yesterday when I was in a hurry, and how stupid of me was that?

Current focus often seems to point at the lifestyle of the patient as contributing to getting Dementia, which is insulting and no help at all without proper research.
 

queenquackers

Registered User
Oct 2, 2013
19
0
It's the same sort of sensationalist headlines all the papers seem to use these days, especially on health-related stories (take the Daily Mail, with their 'everything causes cancer' approach). The difference is that most cancer sufferers still have the capacity to understand when the media is talking rubbish to make things sound more impressive/outrageous. Good that this issue is finally making the news, but the way it's being handled by the media makes me very angry (also while trying to calm a distressed Mum, who thinks she's being penalized for being ill). In our case, once she's got an idea into her head, it's virtually impossible to reason it out, so distraction works best (from now on I'll also be carefully watching news items relating to dementia on the Internet, and making sure we avoid exposure to the same stories through newspapers, radio, TV news, etc)
 

LYN T

Registered User
Aug 30, 2012
6,958
0
Brixham Devon
Current focus often seems to point at the lifestyle of the patient as contributing to getting Dementia, which is insulting and no help at all without proper research.

Totally agree; my Husband didn't smoke, ate sensibly (I made sure of that;)), exercised EVERYDAY,and used his brain as an English Lecturer, and had plenty of interests/hobbies.

I also find the assumption that Dementia attacks only the irresponsible as insulting.
 

halojones

Registered User
May 7, 2014
438
0
Totally agree; my Husband didn't smoke, ate sensibly (I made sure of that;)), exercised EVERYDAY,and used his brain as an English Lecturer, and had plenty of interests/hobbies.

I also find the assumption that Dementia attacks only the irresponsible as insulting.

The press do insult the people and the carers with this illness. The last time the mail printed there hints and tips on how to avoid AD. I actually had to explain to my ignorant sister that ALL types of people are getting the illness, you would not believe the conversation I had to have with her..!!.Maybe the press would like to explain the real problem with this illness which is the disgraceful fact that the medical research has no idea what is the cause and have no cure or proper treatment. and very little support..I find that in a wealthy , educated country in the 21st century it is an utter disgrace...next time they put their stupid headlines up to sell their papers, I am going to write in and complain, we ALL should!!!
 

Witzend

Registered User
Aug 29, 2007
4,283
0
SW London
Well my mum did all the right things and still got I'll. I know that some of my family take the news as fact and that mum must have done something wrong..!?? ( like not going to university) ! The press make the ignorant worse and scare the people with the illness.... I totally agree with you, the press does not help at all...Try not to let your mum see the papers if the stories are about AD...I hope your mum is a bit better..x

I have recently had a set to with an aunt in Canada - mother's much younger sister - over this sort of thing. I had emailed her with a photo on her birthday. The aunt said she 'looks awful' - which of course she does but hardly surprising given 96 and advanced AD.

Aunt went on to say that if my mother had made more of an effort to 'be active in the community' after my father died, she would not have got AD. Went banging on about her local sprightly 90 yr olds at their church. My blistering reply reminded her that plenty of famous people who have always been very active socially have still got dementia. And, since she is so keen on church, pointed out that it is not very Christian to be so judgemental. She has always had a very big mouth and is one of those pain in the bum people who pride themselves on always speaking their mind. Quite frankly I do not care if I never hear from the old bag ever again.
 
Last edited:

Onlyme

Registered User
Apr 5, 2010
4,992
0
UK
A family member goes on about if Mum had only exercised and kept her brain fit she would never have got ill. Mum's brain was more use at 70 than the person criticising her will ever be. :mad:
 

Gknee

Registered User
Jan 29, 2014
30
0
North of England
Glad to know I'm not alone!

Very interesting to read the comments - particularly the one about 'service' users!

I'd dearly love to ban the offending newspaper from mum's home, but it is part of her routine to read it. It has been for 50 years or more. I agree that distraction works well and am focussing on that. Thank you for your insights.
 

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