Dementia Video

Looking at the grandma in the video, it reminds me of how scary and saddening ageing can be. You witness your own decline as you lose your memory, your senses and your ability to be independent. You throw the lives of people around you into disarray. You make them sad, worried and broke. Sometimes you might think you are better off dead. In our quest for longevity and the ideal golden years after retirement, is this the kind of life we look forward to?

Birth, growth, illness and death - that is the circle of life. It is a natural progression that we cannot stop, much less reversing it. As we age and weaken, our bodies become our biggest enemies. We suffer attacks from all fronts. From within ourselves, one out of the billions of cells might decide to launch a mutiny, turning malignant and then metastasise aggressively; or our brains might suddenly be suffocated, rapidly degenerating into a messy pool of liquid; or our hearts might finally call it a day, as it gives up beating and maintaining the flow of blood that keeps us alive. From outside, we face constant threats from the unseen army of viruses and bacteria.

One by one, qualities which define us as functional beings, which distinguish us from babies, or even animals, are taken away from us. We deteriorate into liabilities, a source of burden and misery, lifeless beings without thinking, emotional souls, fully dependent on others for even the simplest daily tasks. What are we actually? Zombies from another world? Monsters that devour happy families? Or are we finally receiving the punishments for all the sins we have committed in our past lives?

Should I even harbour these thoughts? Should I get so emotional over such issues? My job is to save lives, to salvage as much memory, function and cognition in my patients as I can. I am supposed to be clinical, to hold my patients' best interests as my greatest priority, and to empathise with their situation. Ageing can be frightful. So many unexpected things which did not feature in your retirement plans can happen. How can I help my patients cope with it? What can I do to restore the peace and order in such distressed households?

I guess it is good that I am self-questioning now. Before I can extend a helping hand, I have to ensure that I am strong enough not to be overwhelmed by such thoughts and emotions at the crucial moments. I have to convince myself that ageing can be much less frightening, in fact sometimes it can be quite enjoyable. Most importantly, ageing is not a process that can be avoided - it might come even before you would like to admit it. We will be better off embracing it with an open heart and taking it in our strides for whatever that happens during our twilight years.