Posted 7/24/20
“Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock.” –Matthew 7:24
As a reminder, this series is going through the warning signs of dementia found at this link: LINK
Hi all! We are at the edge of the weekend looking in! I hope your day finishes strongly and you have a life-giving weekend. Off we go to one of the last warning signs of dementia: Withdrawal from Work or Social Activities.
Withdrawal from work or social activities is really an extension of the previous warning signs. When you struggle, when you forget a lot, when you get lost, when you get bilked or harmed by poor judgement (etc…), the tendency is to withdraw and make smaller your circle of things that can harm/embarrass, and/or take away your freedom to do what you want. Interestingly, I suppose, this warning sign is also a warning sign of a disheveled cousin of dementia: extreme anxiety. Now I certainly know and have been corrected by advocates many times: Dementia is NOT a behavioral health condition, in the pure definition of the word (or at all as some tell me), but in many ways this is a difference with only minimal distinctions. I certainly acknowledge that anxiety and mental health concerns are not AS physical, are not AS progressive, and, probably most importantly, are not as quickly lethal…but they sure quack like a duck quite a bit. Rather than fighting this out again, a hill I find no value dying/dividing over, just know this: if you see someone withdrawal from work or social activities. PLEASE HELP FIGURE OUT WHY! It could be dementia. It could be depression. It could be anxiety. There are a host of conditions that could lead someone into hermitting. Please probe and find out the root cause because there is no cause of utter withdrawal that justifies the harm that social isolation does on a person. Even COVID-19 experts need to retool their vocabulary. We are not wanting social isolation AT ALL in this battle against this stinkin’ germ…we want PHYSICAL ISOLATION! We want people to be social…just do it on Zoom or with appropriate distance and without spitting on each other. That’s all…
Withdrawal can also be caused by physiological processes as well. Check this piece out for more info: Link
Please go back in the DC search box and look up the word isolation. I have digitally penned a couple dozed pieces, at least, that discuss the harmful affects of aloneness. See someone with this problem? The first step should be to see if they will talk to their doc. Always. That is why they make the big bucks! There are also many, many ways to be there for a person. Find the way that works for you and do it today.
#EndALZ
Update: Absent from being able to see mom more than once or twice a week, I don’t have much more than brief notes that the nurses tell me. All is the same, for now.
Dad Jokes of the Day:
- What do you call a pudgy psychic? A four-chin teller.
- What did the police officer say to his belly-button? You’re under a vest.
