Re: Dementia

Well it can be and that is the most put forward theory but there is no actual proof .
Depression is one of those trial and error illnesses Doctors try various medicines and hope they work .
In the same way they used to ( and perhaps still do ) use electric shock treatment . No doctor had any idea of why or if it worked .

Re: Dementia

[QUOTE=swimfeeders;1320485]Hi

My Dad started with Parkinson's, then dementia.

He was incredibly intelligent, he knew what was going on.

That caused depression and that is when he gave up and died.[/QUOTE

How sad, swimfeeders

it is awdful when a love one has dementia.

I would still like to know why people with brilliant minds succumb to this awful disease?

Re: Dementia

No one knows Azure but dementia strikes at all not just people with brilliant minds.
One day they will find out.

Re: Dementia

My stepfather had dementia and was looked after at home by mother.
He was a lovely gentle man very polite as well and had a nice smile for everyone.
He was quite lucid at times but lived in the past.

She had to take his money away as he started to hand it out to strangers.

Some of his escapades were amusing as well.

He went to Thomas Cooks and booked a flight to Australia,
Mother only found out when they phoned for a deposit.

One night at 2 am when mother was in a deep sleep he got up and found the front Door key and walked down the Town to the Bus Stop with just his shirt flying in the breeze and shoes and socks on and stood at the Manchester Bus Stop.

He was Born in Manchester

A Police in a car who recognized him asked him what he was doing

"I am waiting for the number 9 Bus to Manchester " said he

"Well" they replied"You will have long wait as they don't start till 7 am Lets take you back home"

They had to wake mother up to let him back in

He always had a very good appetite and sadly he passed away after eating freshly cooked Steak and Chips and Apple pie and Custard.
When mother took him a cup of Tea he just slumped over and died.

At least he died happily .

Re: Dementia

He did that

Re: Dementia

Yes Muddy

It is true.

Re: Dementia

Hi

Well the chemicals work for me Muddy.

I am a very positive person, very stressful job and life and coped.

I had to, I was the Boss and had to set an example.

Nothing and nobody fazed me.

When I retired, I had more time to reflect on things.

I could always cope, but then I lost two close friends.

I blamed myself, I had trained them.

Then came the Manchester Bombing, innocent women and kids.

I had picked up my first body parts at the age of 22, including kids, coped with that and various other mass atrocities.

You do your job and put it away, you have to.

It is different when you are not working, everything comes flooding back.

The flashbacks, the PTSD, it paralyses you, you can do nothing except to remember them.

It is not good.

You lose the will to get on with life and get out for exercise and doing the things you do to make you happy.

The things which keep your brain chemicals working.

That is a vicious circle, less exercise, less getting out, the more the depression and the PTSD.

I am as hard as nails, well known for it, but even I am suffering.

I am human and a Dad, I have a soft side, I can cry buckets.

I do so for Guy.

I will beat this, but recognise that it is hard and some may not.

I have been assessed for my Mental Health .

That was a joke.

A complete Prat, who has no idea of life at all, never been stressed in his life , it was so condescending.

A series of Tick Boxes, a laugh, if it was not so condescending.

Have you ever considered Suicide?

Nope.

Have you ever heard of the phrase a Drowning Man will clutch at straws?

Yes was his response, nothing to be scared of admitting.

Well in my case, I will will not be clutching at straws, my hands will be firmly clasped around the neck of whoever threw me in.

He gave up then.

The entire system is wrong.

Re: Dementia

I was watching a TV about help with Dementia and singing was recommended for Mental Health problems, in groups or in a Choir.

It showed some people happily singing.

Also I think Art may help, and you do not have to be good at drawing. Just make shapes like squares ,ovals, and circles and fill them in with bright colours.

A painting of coloured circles recently sold for £Thousands
r
Colour affects and stimulates people and makes them happy and forget their troubles.

Re: Dementia

I don't believe depression leads to dementia except possibly in very extreme cases of very severe depression. Severe depression can cause the brain to shrink and atrophy as skills & memories are lost. This also happens in vascular dementia. Severe depression is something you don't see every day. It's where someone gets to the stage of being catatonic and unable to dress or eat and speak. But early stages of dementia can lead to depression as parts of the brain stop talking to each other. Confusion and isolation & being misunderstood can lead anyone to feeling lonely and depressed. This may happen years before it's obvious that someone has dementia.

With severe depression it's not something you can manage. It can be stabilised with medication but not with self-help or positive thinking. I used to think all types of depression could be changed with positive thinking but now I am fully convinced it's totally chemical. There are chemical changes in the brain that are extremely difficult to reverse. It's like a groove in a record where you can't move the stylus. The brain we are born with has inbuilt flaws, everyone has different strengths and weaknesses just as the human body is unique in its faults in all but identical twins.

The way it's currently treated is only effective for some. A stab in the dark almost. Maybe mild depression can be managed with cognitive therapy. Once it goes beyond that treatment options are less effective. Most people exist on a fog of medication. The "experts" still do not understand much about how the brain works. Some brains totally regenerate after brain injury which flummoxes the experts.

Dementia is also not something anyone can easily avoid.

There are studies linking dementia to "white foods" - sugar, rice, flour, potatoes, cake, bread etc. There is advice to keep your brain active and to exercise. But I am convinced that there is something in day to day life that is causing these plaques to build up. Something we take completely for granted. One day we will find it.

Re: Dementia

The memory centre for music is in a totally different part of the brain to many other memories. So even long after the regular memories are gone music can still stimulate an individual. It's pretty amazing. But it doesn't regenerate the brain that's been damaged, just helps people to connect with their identity.

All of our identity is just collected memories. Wipe the memory and you wipe the person. It's tragic.