Dementia And Consciousness

This is a profound realisation.

People with dementia are still fully conscious, but have little memory. This captures the profound challenge of dementia and dealing with it.

Individuals living with this condition are fully conscious sentient human beings who experience emotions, retain their core personalities and remain aware of the present moment, even as their ability to retrieve memories deteriorates progressively.

This is the experience we will all have
at the moment after death and rebirth.
All that remains a subtle, unrecognised feeling.

Dementia damages specific structural regions of the brain like the hippocampus, which acts as the brain’s filing cabinet for new information. Because of this localised damage, memory deteriorates.

The now, however, remains real. A person with dementia is conscious of their immediate environment. They can feel cold, warmth, comfort, fear, joy in the present moment.

They may be entirely present and highly aware of their surroundings, while at other times, they might seem detached or confused. We all experience moments like this, and this is how we can empathise. Even if a person forgets the specifics of why they feel a certain way, an emotional footprint remains.

Simply: they aren’t daft, just forgetful.
We all experience this.

Whatever we do or say, it is consciousness that is always present.