Music Therapy Tuesday - Insights into the life with dementia, Part 1
As a part of Music Therapy Tuesday we are presenting different views on common illnesses of 21st century and how the music could help. We talked with a few people, who are currently fighting early stages of dementia and asked them for their insights.
Our question was, what would you advice to our younger generations and what have you learned from your diagnosis.
Here are their thoughts,
I was always really independant. Working from the age of 16 I am used to being self-eficient and I am terified of the times when my life will become dependent on someone else. You never know what hits you in life, but taking care not just of your body but your mind is crucial, I believe. Cherish and enjoy the memories while you are making them and while you are remembering them, having them is a privilege.
- Khan
I must say that I wouldn't do anything diffirently in my life, while I strongly believe that the whole life is a lesson, but when I look at my children and grandchildren I do want them to learn from my previous experience. Stressing over things which are not important and being worried what people think of you is not worth the health of your mind. I wish they would learn that.
-Ann
Always follow the time and its improvements. I think my generation went through some big changes, socially and technologically and I believe that not a lot of people accepted or at least acknowledged those changes. I wish I would always have this wish to learn and understand new things as I do now. It makes life much more interesting and it never stops developing.
- Christiana
Explore your options and sleep on your big decisions. When I got diagnosed with dementia I could not accept it and I was going through some very dark thoughts. Especially because at the time I was still very independant and living by myself. A thought of me being a burden to my daugthers and their families was just too much. Luckily I discovered a support group in my area and it really helped me to understand and accept how my life is developing. Oh, and another piece of advice would be to keep laughing. My husband was a real joker and after he died I noticed I forget to laugh, sometimes even for days. Now I try to accept every opportunity for laughter I think it makes a difference.
-Tahlia
Be patient. With everything, people, yourself, your children, your job, everything. The irony of the universe is that the things you want to speed up will seem to take even longer. So future you will thank you if you take the stress of the deadlines in your head off your shoulders and accept that you can do just the best as you can do and sometimes that will not be enough. But that's fine, life would be boring if everything would happen as soon as you would wish for it.
-Karl
Appreciate the art. It may not be something you like now but when you get older I think you realise how much art could teach us and how well it shapes the development of the society. I am not much into classical music but I do enjoy going to photography galleries and art exhibitions, every now and then I risk it and go see something I am sure would not like. You would be shocked if I tell you how many times I surprised myself.
-Timothy
Always have hope. It sounds like a big cliche but when you get older, when your children are all grown up and maybe even your spouse has already left this world, the hope is not as easy to keep. When I got diagnosed I took it relatively well but for the wrong reasons. I took it as the 'me saying goodbye to the world' and that 'this is it'. I couldn't be more wrong. When you are threatened by losing a sharp mind you start to appreciate it much more. I had never enjoyed music concerts, reading the book or watching a show on a tv as I do now. I even started to take an art class. There is so much to discover in this world and even though I am happy with my life as I had it I wish younger generations would have this wish for knowledge and hope without some horrible health threat behind it.
- Margarita
We are very thankful for all the responses we recieved and if you would like to contribute to our blog posts on Music Therapy Tuesday, contact us on squidymusicsecrets@gmail.com
In the Part 2, coming out next week, we will present different ways of how music therapy can help to improve the life of everyone living with dementia. Follow Squidy-Music Secrets on Facebook or subscribe for the updates!
