Alzheimer's hallucinations are demons?

by Once Blind 22 Replies latest jw experiences

  • KateWild
    KateWild

    There are WTBTS articles that would help her understand it's not demons from a WT perspective.

    Here is an excerp from an AWAKE Sept 22 1998. The whole Awake featured the disease. It may have some scriptural guidance that you persoanlly disagree with but you can censor it for your mother.

    What Caregivers Can Do

    “I HAVE always been amazed at how different [people] are in their ability to cope,” says Margaret, a medical professional from Australia who has dealt with Alzheimer’s patients and their carers for many years. “Some families are able to manage with the most incredible demands placed on them,” she continues, “while others are rendered almost incapable of dealing with the situation as soon as the person exhibits the slightest change in their personality.”—Quoted in the book When I Grow Too Old to Dream.

    What is it that makes the difference? One factor can be the quality of the relationship that existed before the onset of the disease. Families with a close, loving relationship may find it easier to cope. And when a person with Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is well cared for, the disease may be easier to manage.

    In spite of declining intellectual abilities, sufferers usually respond to love and tenderness right up to the final stages of the disease. “Words,” points out the advice sheet Communication, produced by the Alzheimer’s Disease Society of London, “are not the only means of communicating.” Nonverbal communication essential to caregivers includes a warm, friendly facial expression and a mild tone of voice. Also important is eye contact as well as clear, steady speech and frequent use of the patient’s name.

    “Not only is maintaining communication with your loved one possible,” says Kathy, mentioned in the preceding article, “but it is also important. Warm and affectionate physical contact, a mild tone of voice and, actually, your physical presence all provide security and reassurance for your loved one.” The Alzheimer’s Disease Society of London sums up by saying: “Affection can help you to keep close, particularly when conversation becomes more difficult. Holding the person’s hand, sitting with an arm round them, talking in a soothing voice or giving them a hug are all ways of showing that you still care.”

    Where a warm relationship exists, caregiver and patient can often have a good laugh together even when mistakes are made. For example, one husband recalls how his mentally confused wife made the bed but mistakenly put the blanket between the sheets. They discovered the mistake when they went to bed that night. “Oh dear!” she said, “I’ve been silly.” And they both had a good laugh.
    Keep Life Simple

    AD sufferers function best in familiar surroundings. They also need a regular daily routine. To this end, a large calendar with daily appointments clearly marked on it is very helpful. “Moving someone from their usual environment,” explains Dr. Gerry Bennett, “can have dreadful consequences. Sameness and continuity are very important for the confused person.”

    As the disease develops, AD sufferers find it more difficult to respond to instructions. Directions have to be given in a simple, clear way. For example, telling a patient to get dressed may be too complex. The items of clothing may have to be put out in order and the patient helped one step at a time with each item of clothing.

    If you want the whole magazine, I can email to you. Unless of course you have acess to the CD ROM, or go on jw.org and search the online library. Everything will be ok. You clearly love them very much and want to help.

    What a good child you have become to them

    Take care love Kate xx

  • Once Blind
    Once Blind

    Thank you KateWild. I do have the CD-ROM. Never thought I would use it, but it is a good idea to show her that particular article. Bugbear and maulboy, no, she definitely thinks it is the ever present JW-grade demons that are the reason for everything bad.

    Wasblind, I agree too with the pressure that the organization puts on its members being a reason for illness. Especially when what they are working towards doesn't even exist.

  • BluesBrother
    BluesBrother

    Sadly, to the J W community the Demons are very real and many (not all) dubs will quickly attribute any kind of thing they do not understand as being the work of Satan & the demons.

    This is what they are taught:

    "Knowlege That Leads To Everlasting Life" 114

    Since then, [the time of Job] the demons have made some people speechless or blind and have continued to revel in the suffering of humans. (Matthew 9:32, 33; 12:22; Mark 5:2-5) Today, reports show that demons sexually harass some and drive others to insanity. They incite still others to murder and suicide, which are sins against God. (Deuteronomy 5:17; 1 John 3:15) Nonetheless, thousands of people once ensnared by these wicked spirits have been able to break free. How has this been possible for them? They have done so by taking vital steps.

    I doubt if you will convince your mother otherwise but no doubt you will try. Sorry about your father..

  • DesirousOfChange
    DesirousOfChange

    Tell her some of the GB members had the same DISEASE.

    It is NOT Satan!

    It's the problems of getting OLD (which was never supposed to happen to this "generation".)

    Doc

  • zeb
    zeb

    There was one of the gb who spent his days at Bethel shuffling about talking to his shoes. Not funny sad and a dementia behaviour.

  • WTWizard
    WTWizard

    There is nothing supernatural about hallucinations that are the result of mental disease. And this includes Alzheimer's. Demons (and angels, for that matter) have nothing to do with this.

    It is, however, possible for people that are psychically open to hear Demons. Those voices (sometimes accompanied by visions) are never threatening, however. This is not a symptom of mental illness, but a sign of psychic openness. Yes, they can hear threatening voices--invariably those are angels pulling these harassment stunts and then blaming the Demons. Occasionally, one can "hallucinate" when one is actually half asleep and wakes abruptly. This is part of the subconscious thinking process and not due to mental illness. It may or may not be unpleasant, but Demons do not have anything to do with this process. Of course, one may ask a Demon to give them advice--and they might get such advice in this form.

    What irks me the most is that virtually everyone that thinks they are being attacked psychically believe Satan is behind it. The jokehovian witlesses practice that smut a lot. Sometimes the angels will attack, blame a Demon, and get the victim to run back to Jesus or joke-hova. That cuts off the attack for now, but the next backslip (or if joke-hova simply wants to extort more out of the victim) will trigger another angel attack. The angel backs off at "Jehovah help me!" only because the attack has done its job, not because it is afraid of being bound by joke-hova. Now, the question should be, Why would any Demon, who has worked so hard to free mankind from tyranny from the most high source possible, turn on their adopted family and attack them? Why would Satan, who has risked so much and paid such a high price with blasphemy and threat of damnation, turn around and attack those who He has worked so hard to liberate?

  • Etude
    Etude

    Once Blind:

    Please make arrangements and take your mom to a session at your local Alzheimer’s Association chapter. Call them first and set it up. The counsel is free. I think that what will transpire might set your mom’s mind at ease. It will help everyone understand the symptoms and the progression of the disease. My mom died from the condition and I felt it was ironic that, after being a faithful Witness for a long time, she had no idea what God was, let along the Jehovah’s Witnesses. In the end, they all abandoned her anyway.

  • Faithful Witness
    Faithful Witness

    wasblind: Thank you for pointing that out to me. I will remember it.

  • caroline77
    caroline77

    Sorry to hear of your problems, Once blind. Alzheimers is very difficult to deal with and your Mother will need a lot of help.

    I heard an interesting programme on hearing voices. When you look at something, it takes a small time for the brain to process the information. Similarly when you hear something it takes time (but a slightly different time) to process the information. Then the brain puts the information together to make sense of it.

    It also takes time to process thoughts, which the brain has to link to other information coming in. The timing of all of these processes is only milliseconds.

    In some people the linking together of all this information is faulty, so that someone may think that a thought they had was not created by their own brain because the timing of the processing was slightly out. It is nothing to do with outside interference by demons.

    After all, the brain is only a piece of meat so it is amazing that it works at all.

  • Once Blind
    Once Blind

    Thanks everyone for your advice and help. Etude--my mother will not speak with anyone who is an expert in this field besides the doctor, and she takes what he says with a grain of "JW salt." She is convinced that the demons are appearing before my father and speaking to him. It's not just her, there are others in her circle who feel the same way and agree with her when she talks about it.

    Caroline77--I really like how you explained the thought process of the brain; it really helps me to understand the disease better. I have done research on my own, but I haven't seen anything explained in quite that way. Yes, the brain is amazing and yet diseases like this that affect the brain make it scary at the same time.

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