Current Events > There's no good way to die but dementia sounds like the worst way to go....

(+) Yeah! (+)

Slow, cognitive and emotional decline. At least non-mental illnesses give you some time to spend with your loved ones and get things in order before you die. With dementia it's like your humanity is taken from you until you do eventually die.

yes

Made me think of this:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Everywhere_at_the_End_of_Time

Everywhere at the End of Time is the eleventh recording by the Caretaker, an alias of English electronic musician Leyland Kirby. Released from 2016 to 2019, its six studio albums depict the progression of dementia through degrading loops of ballroom recordings. Inspired by the success of An Empty Bliss Beyond This World (2011), Kirby recorded Everywhere as his final work under the alias. He produced the albums in Krakow over six-month periods to "give a sense of time passing", using abstract paintings by his friend Ivan Seal. The series drew comparisons to composer William Basinski and electronic musician Burial, with the later stages being influenced by avant-gardist John Cage.

The complete edition consists of a six-and-a-half-hour long work that presents a range of emotions and is characterised by noise. The last three stages depart from Kirby's earlier ambient works, while the first three are similar to An Empty Bliss. The music depicts the patient's disorder and death, their feelings, and the phenomenon of terminal lucidity. To promote the series, Kirby partnered with visual artist Weirdcore for music videos. At first, he thought of not creating Everywhere at all, expressing concern about whether the series would be a pretentious idea; Kirby spent more time producing the series than any other release of his. The album covers received coverage from a French art exhibition named after the Caretaker's Everywhere, an Empty Bliss (2019), a compilation of unused work.

As each stage was released, the series received increasingly positive reviews from critics, who felt emotionally about the complete edition, given its length and dementia-driven concept. Everywhere at the End of Time is considered to be Kirby's magnum opus, and became an Internet phenomenon in 2020, appearing in TikTok videos as a six-and-a-half-hour listening challenge. Caregivers of people with dementia also praised the albums as they increased empathy for carers among younger listeners.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wJWksPWDKOc

my grandmother has had some memory / thinking issues for a few years but in recent months the whole dementia thing has gotten really bad and yeah it sucks for everyone involved

I think it's bad for the person who has it and the people who have to deal with her in entirely different ways though

kirbymuncher posted...

my grandmother has had some memory / thinking issues for a few years but in recent months the whole dementia thing has gotten really bad and yeah it sucks for everyone involved

I think it's bad for the person who has it and the people who have to deal with her in entirely different ways though

my 90yo gma is going through dementia, and occasionally she has lucid moments where she realizes how absolutely miserable her state is and she bawls her eyes out

it's absolutely terrifying

I think Id rather have dementia than ALS, but dementia is probably harder on loved ones.

Both my grandmothers went through it for a couple years before they died. It was heartbreaking.

My mom is starting to forget things occasionally now, and it's terrifying thinking what it might mean. I don't know if I'm overreacting or not.

Yeah, I think if I had a condition like that (and the mental capacity to realise it, perhaps during one of those lucid moments or similar) I'd seriously off myself.

There's legal provisions where I live for doing so with doctor assistance for physical conditions, but they specifically prohibit it for mental ones. I can understand this when the issue in question is, say, depression; but when it's something like dementia which is well established to be incurable and horrendous, I think it should at least be an option for people to consent to it in advance, while they're still competent.

(Mod disclaimer - since it seems we're back in one of those phases where we need to be pedantic as hell with those - I am not saying "force euthanasia on everyone with this". I am saying make it an option for those who, prior to getting to the point of lacking the capacity to consent at the time, consent in advance to it.)

joe40001 posted...

Made me think of this:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Everywhere_at_the_End_of_Time

Everywhere at the End of Time is the eleventh recording by the Caretaker, an alias of English electronic musician Leyland Kirby. Released from 2016 to 2019, its six studio albums depict the progression of dementia through degrading loops of ballroom recordings. Inspired by the success of An Empty Bliss Beyond This World (2011), Kirby recorded Everywhere as his final work under the alias. He produced the albums in Krakow over six-month periods to "give a sense of time passing", using abstract paintings by his friend Ivan Seal. The series drew comparisons to composer William Basinski and electronic musician Burial, with the later stages being influenced by avant-gardist John Cage.

The complete edition consists of a six-and-a-half-hour long work that presents a range of emotions and is characterised by noise. The last three stages depart from Kirby's earlier ambient works, while the first three are similar to An Empty Bliss. The music depicts the patient's disorder and death, their feelings, and the phenomenon of terminal lucidity. To promote the series, Kirby partnered with visual artist Weirdcore for music videos. At first, he thought of not creating Everywhere at all, expressing concern about whether the series would be a pretentious idea; Kirby spent more time producing the series than any other release of his. The album covers received coverage from a French art exhibition named after the Caretaker's Everywhere, an Empty Bliss (2019), a compilation of unused work.

As each stage was released, the series received increasingly positive reviews from critics, who felt emotionally about the complete edition, given its length and dementia-driven concept. Everywhere at the End of Time is considered to be Kirby's magnum opus, and became an Internet phenomenon in 2020, appearing in TikTok videos as a six-and-a-half-hour listening challenge. Caregivers of people with dementia also praised the albums as they increased empathy for carers among younger listeners.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wJWksPWDKOc

Who the fuck has the time to listen to this for five hours?

As someone currently taking care of a relative with like mid-stage dementia...yes not good

Wait until your own mother no longer recognizes you and she asks who you are. It's like a knife in your heart. I speak from experience.

Oubliettes posted...

my 90yo gma is going through dementia, and occasionally she has lucid moments where she realizes how absolutely miserable her state is and she bawls her eyes out

What a mystifying illness

Nah, FFI

A good friend of mine in his 70's. I noticed dementia was forming. He knew it as well. He was a mathematician. So he's practice things I could never do. But as time went by I saw it advancing. It hurt, and scared me.

It's going to be so bizarre in 20 or 30 years when the board users here start developing it, and having never moved past this stage in life, still religiously post here.

PrsdntHeidecker posted...

It's going to be so bizarre in 20 or 30 years when the board users here start developing it, and having never moved past this stage in life, still religiously post here.

Isnt vegy already 66 years old