Centre for Policy on Ageing



Inhabitants of a lost kingdom — a model of the subjective experiences of dementia
Author(s)	M P Bender, R Cheston
Journal title	Ageing and Society, vol 17, part 5, September 1997
Pages	pp 513-532
Keywords	Dementia ; Emotions ; Cognitive impairment ; Anxiety ; Depression ; Psychiatric treatment ; Theory.
Annotation	Current concepts of dementia often act to exclude the internal world of the dementia sufferer from consideration as a valid object of study. This paper presents a three stage model of the subjective world of dementia sufferers, drawing on ideas from both clinical and social psychology. The first stage involves feelings engendered by the process of dementia, and includes at least four discrete states: anxiety; depression; grief; and despair or terror. The second stage of the model concerns behaviour provoked in response to the process of decline. The social nature of emotional behaviour is considered, with emotional actions falling along a continuum. The ability of individuals with dementia to engage in emotional behaviour depends on the context of their cognitive impairment, and their social context. This model has implications for the delivery of services, including psychotherapy, to people with dementia.
Accession Number	CPA-971117002 A
Classmark	EA: DL: E4: ENP: ENR: LP: 4D
Data © Centre for Policy on Ageing

...from the Ageinfo database published by Centre for Policy on Ageing.