Tag: Dementia
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How to talk to your children about dementia
When someone you love has dementia, explaining it to your children can feel daunting. There’s no perfect way to do it — every family finds their own words. This is my experience of helping my children, who were very young when my dad was first diagnosed.
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Riot Women and midlife
Riot Women focuses on middle-aged women navigating that uniquely intense stage of life – caught between raising children and caring for ageing parents. Two of the characters are dealing with a parent’s dementia, while also confronting menopause and the other challenges that seem to hit all at once at this age.
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Navigating caregiver guilt
I was recently honoured to be invited by Being Patient Voices to write a Voices essay, and I jumped at the chance to share my story. Being Patient Voices is a fantastic resource for learning more about dementia.
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What if you don’t want to visit anymore?
Visiting a loved one with dementia can feel heartbreaking, even overwhelming. I often dread it, knowing it will weigh on me long after. Yet I keep going—for love, for reassurance, for duty. If you’re struggling too, know you’re not alone in these complicated feelings.
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In denial about dementia
We are all, in some way, in denial about dementia. The person living with it, their family, even society. We brush off early signs, explain them away, or avoid thinking about them altogether. Yet dementia remains, confronting us with fears we’d rather not face.
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Dementia and saunas
After my dad’s dementia diagnosis, brain health became personal. A Finnish study found men who used saunas 4–7 times weekly had a 66% lower risk of dementia. What once felt like indulgence now feels like self-care and prevention – a small, joyful habit that might protect my future.
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Care home visits and old photos
I visit my dad in the care home and sit beside him, showing him photos of my children in their school uniforms. When he reaches for my phone, I swipe to an old album of us together. A picture of him, young and strong, carrying me as a baby, hits me.
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Admiral Nurses
Admiral Nurses provide vital support for families affected by dementia, offering both practical advice and emotional care. Talking to one helped me understand my dad’s needs, navigate visits, and feel less alone.
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What modern life does to our minds
After camping in the calm of a Sussex meadow, returning to London felt like sensory overload. The noise, concrete and pollution make me wonder what modern life does to our brains. With my dad’s dementia in mind, I feel the urgency of protecting my own future health.
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Visiting my father with dementia
“Your teeth look great!” my dad said – the first full sentence in a long time. It landed like a gift. Visiting him in the care home is never easy. Dementia has taken so much, but that small moment of clarity, of kindness, reminded me he’s still here, in glimpses.
dementia in the family 