Dementia Friends Yesterday, a woman talked to me and a group of my friends all about Dementia. It was really interesting so I thought that I'd try and write down some of what she said to raise awareness of what Dementia really is. "Imagine that inside your head there are thousands and thousands of fairy lights. Having dementia isn't when all of those lights go out, it's when a couple begin to flicker, or maybe a few go out. It doesn't happen just because you get old, there are people in their forties and fifties who have been diagnosed. The symptoms do get progressively worse, but it affects everyone differently. " "There are two parts to the brain: the Hippocampus (which stores the facts) and the Amygdala (which stores the feelings and emotions). Imagine the the hippocampus is a really wobbly bookshelf but the Amygdala is really sturdy oak bookshelf. The most recent feelings/ facts are books at the top, going all the way down to the books at the bottom which are the earliest memories. Having dementia is when those bookshelves are being shaken; the books at the very top of the hippocampus bookshelf will fall off, but the others will be fine. For example, if I had dementia then I might not be able to remover his name but I might be able to remember how much pain I felt when he died." "Dementia isn't all about memory loss. Sometimes they perceive things differently as well. They might see a shiny tile floor as water, because they can see their reflection in it. They might see a swirly carpet as a pit of snakes. The best thing to do if this happens is to distract them and remove the object if possible." "Don't speak to people with dementia as if they are children. Their brains still work in the same way, they just might not be able to remember how to do some things." I really enjoyed the talk this lady gave, and it made me much more aware of dementia. I hope you guys enjoyed this bit I wish you could have been there.