Dementia and Spirituality

[caspex]

So I have found this 6.5 hour album which portrays Dementia in a musical way. "Everywhere at the End of time".

The last stage is where everything just fades off and is just static and some last bits. People say Dementia is dying without actually dying. Dementia throws you in a constant state of confusion, and confusion many teachers say to get comfortable in. This got me thinking that this is very connected to what is done in spirituality. What are your thoughts on this? And do you think most people with Dementia reach some form of enlightenment before finally dying?

 

Edited November 26, 2020 by Swarnim

[Nahm]

@Swarnim

That people reach enlightenment is a misnomer of circular thinking. The word enlightenment points to the nonexistence of individual people and things or states they therefore reach. If you can imagine the thought process per se, the activity of the mind while writing the question, were made of sand, and someone just blew it away mid-activity...there would not be a enlightened person nor an un-enlightened person remaining. With the thoughts, or activity of the mind blown away, there would be nothing.  

[mandyjw]

Dementia can be a devastating thing for families, but I think most of the suffering stems from misunderstanding of what the mind is. Also the fact that our society is not structured well to really care for people in old age and I think that's partly because we don't appreciate the value in it, but that's beside the point. A lot of caregivers continually try to tell people with dementia exactly how things are when they are deluded about things or seeing things, rather than intuiting what the right response is. 

 My grandmother died a natural death at home and there were some incredible circumstances and things that happened that even allowed her to be able to die at home in the first place. The "dementia" probably started in a year or two before her death. A friend of hers died a couple days before, no one had told her but she greeted her and said she was in her room. Right before she died, she seemed to react strongly to the energy in the room. She was lovely to certain people taking care of her and became mean and aggressive when other people would care for her. 

Edited November 26, 2020 by mandyjw

[caspex]

3 minutes ago, Nahm said:

@Swarnim

That people reach enlightenment is a misnomer of circular thinking. The word enlightenment points to the nonexistence of individual people and things or states they therefore reach. If you can imagine the thought process per se, the activity of the mind while writing the question, were made of sand, and someone just blew it away mid-activity...there would not be a enlightened person nor an un-enlightened person remaining. With the thoughts, or activity of the mind blown away, there would be nothing.  

Oh I see. That's very interesting. I think people with Dementia in the last stages have no sense of self remaining. 

[caspex]

3 minutes ago, mandyjw said:

Dementia can be a devastating thing for families, but I think most of the suffering stems from misunderstanding of what the mind is. Also the fact that our society is not structured well to really care for people in old age and I think that's partly because we don't appreciate the value in it, but that's beside the point.  My grandmother died a natural death at home and there were some incredible circumstances and things that happened that even allowed her to be able to die at home in the first place. A friend of hers died a couple days before, no one had told her but she greeted her and said she was in her room. Right before she died, she seemed to react strongly to the energy in the room. She was lovely to certain people taking care of her and became mean and aggressive when other people would care for her. 

That's fascinating.

[Nahm]

@Swarnim

Sense of self, is the circular thinking, the ‘hijack’ via thought attachment. 

 

[Corpus]

Dementia, medically-speaking, is not a single monolithic entity and can have many different aetiologies, signs and symptoms. Add into the mix ones pre-morbid "sense of self" and the different ways the dementing processes erode this and you have a very broad spectrum of symptomatology.