Curious about spouses Insight

ilovemusic

Oddly enough my husband displays significant short term memory loss but continues to be well aware that his mind is failing and this distresses him (of course). He was dx 5 yrs ago.
Wondering if it’s better (happier for him & me) when he no longer realizes (lacks insight into) his declining mental status?
He gets angry and sad and frustrated which is hard to see 😥

Vitruvius

I’ve read that 20% of PWD retain awareness of their condition well into the later stages. The other 80% have anosognosia which has its own complications. My DW had anosognosia but this resulted in considerable anxiety and agitation when she somehow felt that there was a routine she should be living but could no longer figure out what it was.

One doctor actually asked her in about late Stage 5, if she felt like her cognitive abilities were better at the time of the question or 5 years prior. She immediately responded that they were much better than 5 years earlier! This contrasted with her daily confusion, which then left her miserable most of the time. This required medication to help mitigate the misery.

Dementia: No easy answers.

Chris20cm

https://alzconnected.org/discussion/73665/curious-about-spouses-insight

DW is aware of her Alzheimer's diagnosis but since that time 8 years ago, she will not even say the word and will get extremely upset if anyone even mentions it. She goes with me when I perform country and gospel music for local assisted living facilities, but never alludes to anyone's state of mind or cognitive issues.
In a sense, this is her way of denial of her condition, just to ignore and avoid any discussion of such things.

Her short term memory is almost totally gone, and I am her substitute brain, clock, calendar, scheduler, medication administrator, and most other things, although she does seem to enjoy doing the dishes by hand and think it's good for her to feel like she's contributing. That is surprising and a bright spot.

Every case is different with unique aspects and quirks. That's just how it is.
I know the battle you are fighting, bless you for hanging there.

H1235

I think you alway wonder if different symptoms might be easier to deal with. My mom has very bad anosognosia. She thinks she does not need to be cared for and is very very angry that I have put her in a nursing home. She believes she does not belong there and does not fit in. All the activities are beneath her. She believes the doctors made a mistake when they diagnosed her. She struggles with depression (she is on medication). It’s also hard on me having all the blame dumped on my shoulders. I can see how insight into their loss would be equally devastating for a pwd. We were very lucky with my mil (maybe lucky is the wrong word, she did have dementia). She was easy going and almost obliviously unaware of her symptoms, but content in assisted living, probably thinking she could leave anytime she wanted. She would sometimes even tell us she just got back from the store. All similar symptoms taken in different directions.