Dementia And The Bird.

Having been already informed about his condition, I knew I was going to be very careful and most times repeat myself to him. 

On  reaching there, he was dressed in an outing attire and was so full of life. Few minutes later, whistling by a bird at the corner drew our attention. One of my colleagues who seem to know more about birds went closer and I followed her just for curiosity sake. She was asking him for the species, who gave it to him, how long he has had it and what he had named the little creature. 

We all got chatty. .He said, it was a Christmas present from his son and he can't think of a name yet and simply calls it baby. Mmm... How am I supposed to know a mere bird can be called baby as well. We all laughed. I admired his sense of humour. 

It struck me that it was a present. I thought to myself, won't he be doing some more cleaning because of this bird, so much noise and distractions but then I viewed it in a more positive and healthy perspective and concluded that his brilliant son has bought that to make him more attentive, keep him busy and also keep him company or for some other reasons.

He was pleased to have us around. He talked about his housing issues and how he called an ambulance three days ago when he felt so unwell. He looked much stronger and said he felt much better. If my guess was right, he enjoyed our company and wanted us to come more often. I can tell because loneliness is friend of no man.

When we were about leaving, we mentioned our names to him once more and made sure he locked the door before we headed for the stairs.

The next day, I ran into him in an event and he recognised me, I was impressed though he didn't remember my name, which I reminded him of.

At this juncture, I want to get us acquainted with the condition.

Photo credit: Daily mail.

Dementia is a syndrome associated with an ongoing decline of the brain and its abilities. This includes problems with:memory loss,thinking speed,mental agility, language,understanding and judgement.

It usually affect people above the age of 65, though on fewer occasions could have an early onset.

Symptoms include:

• Increasing difficulties with tasks and activities that require concentration and planning
• Depression
• Changes in personality and mood
• Periods of mental confusion
• Difficulty finding the right words
•  Hallucinations i.e they may see or hear things that other people do not or they may make false claims or statements.
• A catastrophic reaction i.e when put in circumstances beyond their abilities, there may be a sudden change to tears or anger .A common symptom of dementia is for dementia sufferers to deny that relatives, even relatives in their immediate family, are their own relatives.
• Disorientation- this occurs in the later stages of the condition, whereby subjects may be disoriented in time (not knowing the day, week, or even year), in place (not knowing where they are), and in person (not knowing who they and/or others around them are).

On the contrary, with appropriate management and care, they lead an active and fulfilled live. 

Photo credit: NL Group

Conclusion
Aging do come with certain conditions and dementia seems to be very popular among them. Do try and treat the elderly with much care and concern, you never can tell what condition(s) they are battling with.

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