Dementia Medical Poems
Poems (micro-stories) that may help you increase your comfort in talking about living in the dementia world, deepen your understanding of “psychiatric problems” and of moral injuries caused by our health care system, increase your compassion for individuals who have dementia and their family experiencing mental anguish (including yourself), and strengthen your own resilience.
Abhilash K. Desai, M.D. Geriatric Psychiatrist. Specialty: Long-term care psychiatry, Dementias, Autism spectrum disorders, Intellectual developmental disorders, Treatment-resistant Schizophrenia and Bipolar disorder, Opioid use disorder, PTSD, Chronic Noncancer Pain
idahomemorycenter@icloud.com
This Is Love
She had a sweet face,
sharp eyes,
thick auburn hair
always out of place.
She grinned
at the sight of her pup.
“The pup loves me
even when no one else does,”
she exclaimed.
The pup nipped eagerly
at her hand.
She hugged her pup tight.
The pup licked her ear
and she giggled.
“Best antidepressant, Doc.
Thanks for recommending.”
“You’re most welcome.
I have never seen
anything this effective.”
“I have never seen
such an adorable pup, Doc.
This is Love.”
A Blessing for Caregivers
May the love in your soul guide you.
May the courage within you overcome fears about caregiving.
May the heart within you conquer the pain involved in caregiving.
May you be given the best education and training, to overcome challenges in this
journey.
May you have the commitment to care with compassion, to learn from failures, to
be patient,
and be the best caregiver you can be.
May you have great respect for yourself.
May you show growing compassion and patience toward yourself as you come to
realize how much
the well-being of (name of the person needing care) depends on you.
May you have the wisdom to hear
the unspoken gratitude (name of the person needing care) has for you.
And, above all, may you be given the wonderful gift of meeting the beauty that is
within you.
May you be blessed, and may you find life enriched by your efforts of caregiving.
Adapted from John O’Donohue’s poems
Dementia Joy
Doc, living with dementia:
what an incredible,
life-affirming experience.
Zooming with family regularly.
Trying to achieve
the impossible
creatively.
Helping each other survive
through hard months
of the pandemic
barely.
Now, enjoying,
appreciating
the joy of meeting physically
hugging, kissing eagerly.
Dementia has helped me see
moral beauty,
moral courage,
and moral distress
more clearly.
Thank you
for being there
for me and my family.