As a caregiver for a person with dementia, there will be times when you’ll feel totally alone, you’ll second guess your decisions, you can’t remember the last time you had a good night’s sleep, you question your own sanity and you feel resentful.
Michelle Lennon, of Elara Caring, was Tim Collins’ guest on WBCK’s Miles for Memories. She cautioned that the stress of constantly dealing with a dementia patient can take its toll.
“You may even feel your loved one is choosing to be this way”, said Lennon. “They are not. Dementia has changed the brain of your loved one. His or her brain is no longer healthy or whole. Dementia now determines how he or she behaves. Your loved one is not choosing to be this way. If they had the ability to choose their actions or reactions, they would certainly not choose Dementia. Once you begin to blame the dementia rather than your loved one for their behavior, you may also feel less stressed and less resentful – and l