A House Called Dementia
Here at Mindset, one of our aims is to start a discourse about the common struggles that the 850,000 people living with dementia and their carers face on a daily basis. We thought, what better way to illustrate this than through the ancient medium of poetry? We present to you:
A House Called Dementia.
As I sit here, locked in a house called Dementia
The memories of a fruitful life slip away
With cracking, leaking ceilings and failing light bulbs
I watch, passive, as day becomes night and night becomes day
As I sit here, locked in a house called Dementia
You still hold the front door key
A happy go lucky child, I cared for you
Now it’s you who’s caring for me.
I can see you cracking under the pressure
Bearing my heavy load across your weary shoulders
How long can I go on and on?
As you get older and older…
The wrinkles on my face tell a thousand stories
Of laughter, love and vacations
Now the wrinkles on your face tell a single story
Of feeding, bathing and collecting my medication
“I can see you cracking under the pressure
Bearing my heavy load across your weary shoulders”
There are 700,000 informal carers in the UK with the stressful job of caring for someone with dementia, a role which places a huge strain on the carer’s mental and physical health. The carers, who are mostly women, are elderly themselves — with 48.4% of carers having a long-standing illness or disability. They are left with little social support and regularly have to cut down work to maintain the caring role. This makes the vicious balancing act that dementia carers must navigate even harder. Finding the equilibrium between supporting their loved one financially and being there to care for them can be nigh on impossible.
As I sit here, locked in a house called Dementia
With crumbling foundations and rusty pipes
You remain my memory, my counsel, my constant
But I fear this may just be round one of your fight
Time trundles on for you, unrelenting as ever
While you bathe me, feed me and tie my shoes
I sit here in my arm chair and wonder
Is the same fate in store for you?
“I sit here in my arm chair and wonder
Is the same fate in store for you?”
The current estimation is that 62% of patients with dementia are undiagnosed. This is a terrifying thought. Without a proper diagnosis it’s impossible for the patient and family to process, accept and plan for the future.
With the added responsibility of caring for a loved one, a carer could easily neglect their own health. They could go on like this for several years, gradually deteriorating. Our app provides neurological care to the thousands of informal carers around the world who may not have time to care for themselves.
As I sit here, locked in a house called Dementia
Dementia isn’t my only prison
Everybody is screaming “COVID, COVID”
So I’m housebound, just me and my condition.
The thunderous banging of pots and pans
Supporting our brave NHS
But spare a thought for people like me
Locked in my house of Dementia, depressed.
“But spare a thought for people like me
Locked in my house of Dementia, depressed.”
As lockdown eases, the threat of COVID-19 prevails for the elderly and most vulnerable, who rightly remain wary about leaving the house. Even GP appointments fell by about 33% in April, a completely understandable phenomenon when simply wondering outside now carries massive risk for some. As a result, COVID-19 has undoubtedly been a big blow to access to neurological care, which is traditionally very difficult to do over the phone. At Mindset, we empathise with the struggle of this most vulnerable stratum of society and hope our app can help address this pressing issue.
