The Dementia Zone, Episode 7


Normal folks have no clue how freaking hard our days are, and I don't mean the results of the dementia, rather the physical exhaustion from trying to get through a day in spite of it.


I state this not to elicit sympathy or pity but rather to explain that all of this adds up to a big physical symptom at the end of our "day": out and out, physical exhaustion, not unlike if we had been hauling bricks all day. Up hill. The best and maybe only way I can explain this goes like so:


When I was normal I got through my day fine because all of my thrusters or mental resources were firing efficiently. However now that the LBD has damaged parts of my brain, other parts must work twice as hard to make up for it in an effort to achieve the same things normals can reach with ease. Think of the last time you injured a leg enough that you could not use it to walk with for a few weeks. You will notice or recall that at the end of every day you were wasted from not only trying to get around on one leg, but the act of which over-worked the hell out of that "good" leg.


Same principle at work here: to try and keep up with conversations, negotiate public places, ordering food or making any choices or hell even choosing paper or plastic can leave me physically panting and needing a nap after enough of it goes on....and thats just to strike just below the target of "normal."


I am always trying to find ways for normal folks to understand different things about our existence...but in this case the best I can do is ask a normal person to try to breath mashed potatoes, the act of breathing would be about as hard (and seemingly impossible) as any extended non-trivial brainwork is for us, every day.


So next time we are walking too slow or making up our mind about dinner too slow or we are too lethargic at the end of the day (if we make it that far), try mixing up a big bowl of mashed spuds and having a go for a while....
Toke that stuff up dude...

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