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"I'll Be Me", a recent documentary about musician Glen Campbell, addressed this directly. The movie very bravely and directly addresses his and his family's str

by beat 11y ago

"I'll Be Me", a recent documentary about musician Glen Campbell, addressed this directly. The movie very bravely and directly addresses his and his family's struggle with Alzheimer's, following him on his last tour, as he slowly but surely loses his mind. One of the most fascinating things was that his ability to play music was the last thing to go. He'd be on stage performing, unable to even remember his children's names (or that they were his children) when introducing the band, but he'd then shred up a storm on the guitar. He'd sing songs he made famous back in the 1960s, with a teleprompter to keep the lyrics going. But he could play music! Another interesting side of the documentary was how he used his tremendous personal charm and charisma to get around the failings of his memory and thinking. If he couldn't answer a question, he'd turn it into a joke or change the subject, easily leading even professionals off the scent. On the other hand, the movie followed his most personal interactions, the near-violent outbursts with his wife and closest friends that only got worse as the dementia wore on. Fascinating documentary. I highly recommend it if you're into this subject.

Mz 11y ago
Another interesting side of the documentary was how he used his tremendous personal charm and charisma to get around the failings of his memory and thinking. If he couldn't answer a question, he'd turn it into a joke or change the subject, easily leading even professionals off the scent. My dad did that kind of thing as his memory went. I think it is self preservation. It is really dangerous to let people know how impaired you are. One thing that helped with my dad was respecting his reliance on muscle memory. I moved back home for a year during my divorce with my two special needs sons in tow. My oldest son had a lot of memory issues when he was little and had also been very reliant on muscle memory -- basically, habit. He had an intuitive understanding of how to relate to his grandfather and we set some precedents in how we interacted with him that helped other family members cope better with the situation. One precedent we set was just leaving food at his place at the table. No one else ever sat there and that had been true for many years. It was HIS place and only HIS. So if he saw food there, he assumed it was and he could decide whether or not he wished to eat it. This returned some control over his life to him and reduced the fighting about trying to get him fed. Other family members soon followed suit, just leaving food at dad's place at the table and letting him discover it and make decisions about it on a time table that worked for him, without having to fight with him about food anymore. Memory is a fascinating and multi-faceted part of human cognition.

by beat 11y ago

Mz 11y ago

Another interesting side of the documentary was how he used his tremendous personal charm and charisma to get around the failings of his memory and thinking. If he couldn't answer a question, he'd turn it into a joke or change the subject, easily leading even professionals off the scent. My dad did that kind of thing as his memory went. I think it is self preservation. It is really dangerous to let people know how impaired you are. One thing that helped with my dad was respecting his reliance on muscle memory. I moved back home for a year during my divorce with my two special needs sons in tow. My oldest son had a lot of memory issues when he was little and had also been very reliant on muscle memory -- basically, habit. He had an intuitive understanding of how to relate to his grandfather and we set some precedents in how we interacted with him that helped other family members cope better with the situation. One precedent we set was just leaving food at his place at the table. No one else ever sat there and that had been true for many years. It was HIS place and only HIS. So if he saw food there, he assumed it was and he could decide whether or not he wished to eat it. This returned some control over his life to him and reduced the fighting about trying to get him fed. Other family members soon followed suit, just leaving food at dad's place at the table and letting him discover it and make decisions about it on a time table that worked for him, without having to fight with him about food anymore. Memory is a fascinating and multi-faceted part of human cognition.