Emotional Roller Coaster

Ups and Downs are Inevitable

It is helpful to family members and caregivers to understand this, not only so we can be more patient and compassionate, but so we can understand how this will eventually run out of control, and our loved one’s will most likely end up doing and saying some pretty scary things.

This is understandable when we recognize that they are facing one of the most horrifying and protracted death sentences. The loss of our intellectual, functional, and eventually even motor functions over many years is scary enough, but to have our brain fail us in its ability to make peace with this terrible disease, makes it extra hard on them. There will be much crying, self-pity, anger, self-destructive thoughts, and actions. This emotional rollercoaster can easily carry over to the caregiver and family as well. It is brutal to witness this happening to someone else and to go through this with them, especially as the full-time caregiver.

We need to be able to put this all into context so we can help our loved one through this incredibly challenging ordeal, and also so that we will not become emotionally destroyed, just being witness to all of this. Your survival will require a coolly rational perspective, perhaps both distanced and up-close at the same time, tremendous patience, empathy, compassion, and endurance. More of all of this will be required than ever before in our lives, but somehow, we always seem to be able to ‘rise to the occasion.’ The trick here is to ‘rise to the occasion,’ well informed and prepared, so you can be most effective in supporting your loved one, at the lowest emotional price for yourself. This self-preservation is not a selfish act; of course, you need to take care of yourself to survive this ordeal, but you also need to take care of yourself in order to do the best for your loved one.