Defining Wandering
One of the scarier symptoms of dementias is wandering, when someone will forget how to get to a certain place, or where they just came from, and become lost, confused, and possibly frightened. Caregivers can find this behavior extremely distressing, because a loved one will disappear and get lost, even in populated areas, and have no means of getting home. According to the Alzheimer’s Association, 60 percent of people with Alzheimer’s will wander away and become lost at some point.
Why would someone wander? Reasons include:
– Boredom
– Excess energy
– Trying to walk off discomfort
– Trying to find something
– Confusion, like believing there’s somewhere important to be
– Sundowning
Little is written about LBD or other dementia from the patient’s point of view. Far too often because dementia is not diagnosed early, we see it only through people when there is little that can be done. We overlook far too much and assume that it’s just AGE.
Living with dementia is a gradual process that for some people happens over years, and can have ups and downs, which is what can make it easy to miss it in its early stage.
Lewy Body Dementia has a different timeline that is far more linear, and unlike other dementia’s that have broad directional swings of good times and bad times. Do not occur in LBD. Once the disease advances it never retreats.
Wandering Lite with LBD is an attitude which; I believe; results in a much smarter way to go. There are many aspects that I would like to share together if I can. They are…
Categories of things to share:
- Being positive (even if it takes two anti-depressants)
- Seeking to enjoy each day (food, fun, friends) even during Covid-19
- Looking for alternative solutions to help day to day living
- Make life enjoyable
- Searching for help
- Helping others
- There may be other categories or Tags as we continue, but we can discover it together.
One last thing. You may be wondering how I am able to do this website with LBD. The answer is if I did not already have this site it would be impossible, but since I do, I will do my best to try to provide as much information from a first-person point of view living with LBD as I can.
Copyright 2022
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