I could have conversations with demented people all day, feels like I'm living in a Kafka book.

Today's conversation with an old lady:
Her: Did they put the potatoes inside?
Me: Not yet (there weren't any potatoes in sight)
Her: But they will get dust on them
Me: You're right
Her: What time is it? I'm going to miss the ship
Me: Don't worry, there will be another one you can take but only when you will be able to leave the hospital
Her: The prime minister visited us today, he should come see how poor people live because he's clueless
Me: You're right (anti government icon!)
Her: I used to look after your mother back in the day too
Me: Where are you trying to go? There's no outside, just sit down
Her: What's your name? You're very clever

And this was a consecutive conversation without any interruptions.

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PepsiColaP

I love how you talk with her , you dont argue her reality and you keep her calm . I had conversations like that with my grandmother in law very often on her last year with dementia.

being · 36-40, F

@PepsiColaP same, I had similar conversations with older people... family or not..it requires a certain level of empathy and a specific kind of emotional intelligence, i know because I cannot do that for long, i find it draining in a way...i respect those who have to go through this..

HannibalAteMeOut · 22-25, F

@PepsiColaP yes there's no point plus they just want someone to understand them, it must be frustrating to people like that to constantly having someone arguing with them, but people in their environment often feel like feeding into it is going to worsen things.

PepsiColaP

@being I would not expect anything less of Hanni anyway haha ,im not surprised at all .

SW-User

Awww bless her! 🖤 Reminds me of my poor grandpa

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deadgerbil · 26-30

I find dementia etc to be pretty scary. I hope I never get that stuff

HannibalAteMeOut · 22-25, F

@deadgerbil yeah it's scary when they can't take care of themselves, like this lady was insisting that she had eaten this morning even though it wasn't true, because she was remembering another day. And she wanted to leave because she thought if she just went outside she would be home.
My grandpa had the type which affected his speech so he ended up only being able to say specific words and he was so frustrated when he couldn't express himself. It's scary to think how you can lose yourself like that one day.