I thought this was great survey and it shows what people do not know.

Michael Ellenbogen

 https://www.aarp.org/content/dam/aarp/research/surveys_statistics/health/2021/dementia-diagnosis-perceptions.doi.10.26419-2Fres.00471.001.pdf

 

ThisLife

Thanks for sharing.  I guess I'm not surprised by what people do not know or understand.  What concerned me was the large percentage of people combined who didn't think or didn't know about the financial impact and the ability to afford long term care.  And I guess I take exception to the survey's selling the idea that there is "treatment."  Just a thought.

LadyTexan

Very interesting Michael. Thank you for sharing.

Bhopper

My wife did not want to know and I fear now is a mistake to not tell her five years ago about the original diagnosis and potential outcomes as now the understanding of that is not an option and she does not even realize she is sick or has any losses waiting on some level is a blessing at the time her largest fear in life was Alzheimer’s As she watched it to take her dad so I couldn’t bring myself to tell her the truth of her condition and also helped her hide what she knew was wrong from other members of the family as long as I could to keep her as happy as possible for as long as I could don’t know where that sits in this data and study but that was our experience

Paris20

Bhopper—Telling your wife may be a moot point. My husband’s grandmother had early onset Alzheimer’s. DH’s mother always feared that she’d get it. She never did but my husband was diagnosed about 7 years ago. From Day 1 he never thought anything was wrong. Up to 80% of people with AD exhibit this anasognosia. It’s not denial but rather an inability to understand and accept what’s happening.

Don’t beat yourself up about the decision to tell or not tell your wife. Just take each day as well as you can. As time goes by, the issue will fade in importance. We are all learning how to navigate this horrible disease without drowning ourselves.