Powerful piece. The point about how dealing with unresolved emotions primes the brain for forgetting is underrated in most dementia discourse. I've watched relatives literally choose avoidance over introspection for decades, and the cognitive decline was inseperable from that pattern. The bit about not letting comfort zones calcify also connects to research around neuroplasticity maintenance.
Absolutely. I just watched my mother die with dementia, and it felt like the cognitive decline had everything to do with the avoidance of her emotions (although obviously I understand there was a biological component).
Powerful piece. The point about how dealing with unresolved emotions primes the brain for forgetting is underrated in most dementia discourse. I've watched relatives literally choose avoidance over introspection for decades, and the cognitive decline was inseperable from that pattern. The bit about not letting comfort zones calcify also connects to research around neuroplasticity maintenance.
You can avoid all you want, but it becomes problematic when the avoidance calcifies your brain and thus you becomes someone else's problem.
Absolutely. I just watched my mother die with dementia, and it felt like the cognitive decline had everything to do with the avoidance of her emotions (although obviously I understand there was a biological component).
Great read today. I agree on all points. It was the lack of these things that ended my mother and I am making damn sure it does not end me.