Dementia Quotes

“Affirmations are our mental vitamins, providing the supplementary positive thoughts we need to balance the barrage of negative events and thoughts we experience daily.”
― Tia Walker, The Inspired Caregiver: Finding Joy While Caring for Those You Love

“Of all ruins, that of a noble mind is the most deplorable.

- The Adventure of the Dying Detective”
― Arthur Conan Doyle, The Complete Sherlock Holmes

“Dementia was like a truth serum.”
― Amy Tan, The Bonesetter's Daughter

“Psychologist: "This, ah, is a new sort of, ah, psychopathology that we're only now beginning to, ah, understand. These, ah, super-serial killers have no, ah, 'type' but, ah, rather consider everyone to be their 'type.'"
Gramma: "Did you hear that? Your daddy's a superhero!”
― Barry Lyga, I Hunt Killers - Free Preview (The First 10 Chapters): with Bonus Prequel Short Story "Career Day"

“Een mens kan altijd een tijd lang kijken zonder te zien. Kijken kan Robert ook, maar het theebusje en de kaasschaaf herkennen niet. Hij kijkt zonder te zien, bedoel ik. Neem zelf de proef maar eens. Je drinkt altijd koffie van een bepaald merk en omdat dat in de drugstore opeens niet meer voorradig is, neem je een ander merk, een andere bus. Als je de volgende dag koffie wilt maken zoek je overal naar de koffiebus. Het herinneringsbeeld van de oude busis zo sterk dat hij de bus van het nieuwe merk, de aanwezige bus, vlak voor je neus op de keukenplank, onzichtbaar maakt. Om iets te zien moet je eerst iets kunnen herkennen. Zonder herinnering kun je alleen maar kijken. Dan glijdt de wereld spoorloos door je heen.”
― J. Bernlef, Hersenschimmen

“A little insensitive", she whispered, loud enough that Bel and Carter could hear. "Giving the man with dementia a book called The Memory Thief.”
― Holly Jackson, The Reappearance of Rachel Price

“She almost thought she'd said the words aloud, but she hadn't. They remained trapped in her head, but not because they were barricaded by plaques and tangles. She just couldn't say them aloud”
― Lisa Genova, Still Alice

“I think about how the language I’ve mourned never learning has on some levels already been taught. A language I thought too difficult to warrant effort has already embedded itself into me.”
― Jessica George, Maame

“The dominant narrative is a horror story. People with Alzheimer's are perceived as zombies, bodies without minds, waiting for valiant researchers to find a cure. For Alice and me, the story was different. Alzheimer's was a time of healing and magic. Of course, there is loss with dementia, but what matters is how we approach our losses and our gains. Reframing dementia as a different way of being, as a window into another reality, lets people living in that state be our teachers — useful, true humans who contribute to our collective good, instead of scary zombies.”
― Dana Walrath, Aliceheimer’s: Alzheimer’s Through the Looking Glass

“I feel completely broken due to the cruel and dark side of life. Life has been incredibly harsh, leaving me utterly shattered. I have been deeply affected and devastated by this cruel and unforgiving reality.”
― Jonathan Harnisch

“Ze zaten op de banken en in rolstoelen naar de radio te luisteren, hun doffe ogen gericht op de vissen of op niets of op iets dat ze lang geleden hadden gezien.”
― Thomas Harris, Red Dragon

“If I’d realised how much that pressure would build inside me, the slow descent into a dull existence, days blemished with concern for my dad and whether I’m looking after him properly — well, I would have stayed out late some nights, lost my virginity at sixteen instead of still having it, developed a fondness for alcohol, sat at bars, smoked weed, danced at clubs, and turned strangers into friends.”
― Jessica George, Maame

“In Nigeria, if you live long enough, you will see your heroes turn to villains. Nobody is totally sane till the end; almost everyone can be bought at the right price.”
― Olawale Daniel

“We Choose Truth Over Facts.”
― Joe Biden

“I Understand Mom

The fog wraps around her mind
bit and pieces of tattered thought
become blank within her eyes
minutes ago is gone, the sadness inside.

Reaching for a wonderful memory
that was just an hour ago
you fight so hard to bring it back
until you finally let it go.

I’m sorry, I don’t remember
as the tears reach her face
tears roll down a beautiful smile
while your days are being erased.

I understand Mom; I’m here for you
there’s blessings at our door
God is here; He will guide us through
with His love and so much more.”
― Ron Baratono

“How frightening to know that your brain can betray you this way, that the vessel for our sense of self is often faulty and prone to error. How awful to know that death may come for us over and over, snatching pieces of us little by little until all that is left to take is our body.”
― Nora McInerny, Bad Vibes Only

“In Nigeria, if you live long enough, you will see your heroes turn into villains. Nobody is totally sane till the end; almost everyone can be bought at the right price.”
― Olawale Daniel

“Because there are people in our lives;
rare
unexpected
people
who don't just walk
beside us
through life;
they witness our lives too.
They hold our memories in their DNA.
So that when one body forgets,
the other is there
to push rewind,
to cue up the highlights reel
on a love story
that made it all
worth it.”
― Laekan Zea Kemp, An Appetite for Miracles

“And, well, I suppose that's partly why I don't have much faith in the notion of permanence. Anything can be taken from you, at any moment. Even the past isn't guaranteed. You can lose that, too, slowly, like water eating away at stone.”
― Ava Reid, A Study in Drowning

“This longing for explanation is timeless and universal. The common thread in these stories is that suffering rarely "is what it is." More often than not, protagonists have to face challenges on their path before they can come out the other end and achieve peace, light, love, or another form of victory.”
― Eveline Helmink, When a Loved One Has Dementia: A Comforting Companion for Family and Friends

“Issues of meaning and purpose are all about the road we have to travel. Stories help us to gain a better understanding of life. By putting ourselves in other people's shoes, we can safely experience what it means to be afraid yet show courage, to lose yet be triumphant. Identification with a story activates the same parts of the brain that the actual experience would have fired.”
― Eveline Helmink, When a Loved One Has Dementia: A Comforting Companion for Family and Friends

“The Eviction by Stewart Stafford

The mind's paper vessel crumples
Sodden with learning and memory
Ne'er to sail waves of reminiscence
A living statue, hewn by sculptor Time.

The physician nor the shaman console
Self-pitying sobs in the moaning wind
Brought down by jackals in the dunes
The skull's tenant but a daily squatter

Nostalgic waves batter alien shores
Déjà vu of the blood and the collegial
A stranger's reflection in misting eyes
A sandcastle sacked to the four winds

© Stewart Stafford, 2024. All rights reserved”
― Stewart Stafford

“Aku tak menikmati segelas kopi di dalam lembaran berita yang kubaca di layar ponselku di tengah kejemuan yang tak aku mengerti.

Aku tak sedang duduk memandang hujan yang turun rintik-rintik di pagi hari.

Aku bahkan tak sempat menyantap sarapan seperti biasanya, kecuali hanya sebutir telur rebus.

Sepertinya memang sudah lama sekali aku kehilangan seluruh ingatan:

Kepada siapa aku pernah jatuh cinta?

Apakah aku pernah jadi pembunuh di masa lalu?

Apakah aku masih mengingat namaku sendiri?”
― Titon Rahmawan

“...I was thinking and thinking about how, in just the past year, I had just started to know her, but then I began to unknow her, getting farther and farther away like watching a boat drift from the shore and head out not to some other land but to an open water that never, never ends. And she did not even know this, that she was on the boat.

[Charles Lamosway, referring to Louise, his mother]”
― Morgan Talty, Fire Exit

“Former Chief Neurologist at Miriam Hospital, says Mellor's book "...offers a wealth of information for caregivers," while "the mixture of prose and poetry is refreshing.”
― Dr. Norman Gordon

“I'm in awe of people who deal with Alzheimer's, because they have to deal with death 10 times over, year after year.”
― Wolfelt PhD CT, Healing Your Grieving Heart When Someone You Care About Has Alzheimer's: 100 Practical Ideas for Families, Friends, and Caregivers (Healing Your Grieving Heart series) by Wolfelt PhD CT, Alan D., Duvall MD, Kirby J. (2011) Paperback

“When someone you love has dementia, you too experience a form of anticipatory grief, but yours may extend over a longer period of time (for some, as long as 20 years) and be socially unrecognized and surrounded by uncertainty.”
― Wolfelt PhD CT, Healing Your Grieving Heart When Someone You Care About Has Alzheimer's: 100 Practical Ideas for Families, Friends, and Caregivers (Healing Your Grieving Heart series) by Wolfelt PhD CT, Alan D., Duvall MD, Kirby J. (2011) Paperback

“While renovating her house, everyday she asked the same question. 'Who's paying for all that?' I said, 'You are so cheer up, you might have to go back to work.”
― Mark Steven Porro, A Cup of Tea on the Commode: My Multi-Tasking Adventures of Caring for Mom. And How I Survived to Tell the Tale

“Inflammation in the brain plays a pivotal role in the progression of Alzheimer's disease and other forms of dementia. Some cannabinoids have demonstrated anti-inflammatory properties, which might help address this.”
― Mike Robinson, Founder Global Cannabinoid Research Center

“Oh for a son
when my head is bowed
and years have lined my face –
A stalwart son
with a gentle heart,
where I still hold
a mother's place.

Oh, for a son
when eyes grow dim
and memories recede –
A spirited son,
a steadfast son,
who sees but does not
fear my need.”
― Susan Noyes Anderson, His Children