The Bookshelf
Hello,
A friend told me this and it is a way for me to understand what is happening with my dad's brain.
The person who has Alzheimer's or Dementia you need to think of their brain like a tall bookshelf, at the bottom is everything from their past i.e. their childhood, school friends, places they may have lived basically anything from their younger days, and as you move up the bookshelf these are the more recent occurrences.
This bookshelf has a wobbly leg so it keeps swaying from side to side and as it is doing this the recent memories at the top are falling off so new memories are hard for them to retain, the swaying has not affected the bottom of this bookshelf (yet) so all the memories from the past seem fresher and more recent. But note this bookshelf will get weaker and will collapse at some point. What we should do is focus on the old memories that helps to keep them talking and actively using their brain. Slowly introducing newer memories doing repetitively over time will be very helpful.
Repetitive actions and words are so beneficially but are extremely frustrating for those who are not naturally patient and what results NOW!! (I’m one those).
Music may also awaken parts of their brain that has been affected by their disease, I’m no expert but wouldn’t you want music in your head rather that confusing thoughts??
Hello,
A friend told me this and it is a way for me to understand what is happening with my dad's brain.
The person who has Alzheimer's or Dementia you need to think of their brain like a tall bookshelf, at the bottom is everything from their past i.e. their childhood, school friends, places they may have lived basically anything from their younger days, and as you move up the bookshelf these are the more recent occurrences.
This bookshelf has a wobbly leg so it keeps swaying from side to side and as it is doing this the recent memories at the top are falling off so new memories are hard for them to retain, the swaying has not affected the bottom of this bookshelf (yet) so all the memories from the past seem fresher and more recent. But note this bookshelf will get weaker and will collapse at some point. What we should do is focus on the old memories that helps to keep them talking and actively using their brain. Slowly introducing newer memories doing repetitively over time will be very helpful.
Repetitive actions and words are so beneficially but are extremely frustrating for those who are not naturally patient and what results NOW!! (I’m one those).
Music may also awaken parts of their brain that has been affected by their disease, I’m no expert but wouldn’t you want music in your head rather that confusing thoughts??
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