Dementia and Personality Changes
People with dementia, who have never been known to curse, suddenly begin using foul language. Science explains that the dementia has caused a personality change. In this case, experiential knowledge causes me to question science.
I've witnessed a number of people with advanced dementia. They cannot carry a conversation. They may have moments of agitation. But their personalities haven't changed. They continue to express the core of who they are.
So, I wonder if the personality changes aren't really changes at all. Could it be that, for the first time, families are seeing the "real" person: who the patient is when no one is looking? Has the dementia simply severed inhibitions that have allowed the patient to keep up appearances all these years?
And, finally, I wonder... what kind of dementia patient would I be? Would my family see the person they've come to know, or would they witness a "personality change?"