Category: Stigma

Responses to thank you. We say, if we are being polite, ‘You are welcome.” Here in Puerto Rico, they say “De Nada”. It’s nothing. That is somehow heartwarming to hear. It’s not a big deal. You can ask for more, I will do it, all those things seem to be said with “De nada”. As I have journeyed, so has the Alzheimer’s community. Today I see a much more positive side of Alzheimer’s being presented. Sites like Living with Jim and Mom with Alzheimer’s focus on what is happening in the midst of the disease. There is much more of…

Stigma is a term used to describe a societal mark of shame or discredit.   As individuals with dementia speak out they are relating the difficulties of living with their diagnoses in a society that sees it as a discredit or a mark of shame.  One commentator said that Alzheimer’s is the new Cancer—not to be discussed, shared, to be hidden.  As Margaret Thatcher’s death is reported the term dementia is used.  The reports speak of Baroness Thatcher having had multiple strokes.  Knowing that dementia is a symptom, not a diagnosis—is it possible that even the news media is feeding the…