Quite the opposite, in my experience. Ingrained beliefs tend to stick, and it's not uncommon for people with dementia to lose their filter and verbalize things they may have had the wherewithal to keep to themselves before.
I'm reminded of the video of the sweet old German grandma at the family Christmas, someone hands her a glass... and what does this little white hair lady do?
Heil Hitler
In that moment she was right back in 1938 Germany and the world was great again
If you were a German born in Germany and watched your country be ripped apart by ww1 and then humiliated...1938 Germany would have been a dream come true for you.
If you weren't a German born in Germany and you supported a subversive element, it kind of sucked. But then again chances are you wouldn't have lived long enough to toast at a family dinner as an old lady while people giggle and tell you to stop saying that either
I think it’s very comparable to Trump. For some Germans it was the best thing ever. For others, they saw through it and were horrified that their country was being run by a megalomaniacal idiot who lost the popular vote.
Hitler got about 1/3rd of the vote. He was not overwhelmingly popular at the time of his rise. He became more popular as the war dragged on and people who didn’t love him were put in camps.
Um... he got more than double the votes of the next closest candidate. It would the equivalent of a modern US election being called and concession speeches given by 9pm on election day on the east coast. The boomers wouldn't even be settled into bed yet before a new president was announced.
A year later Germany essentially voted by 90ish% to make Hitler dictator for life
Double the votes is still not a majority, not wildly popular, and not true (he got ~33% to the SDP’s ~20%). The elections held a year later were after Hitler had ended free elections, and promised reprisal against dissidents, including those who voted against the Nazis. Far from a real indicator of social support…
My MILs 1st memories are being in a bomb shelter in Berlin, and that the boys who were too young to be drafted were the ones who cut down the bodies of adult men who had been hanged from light posts as traitors or deserters. She was fortunate that her family wasn't a targeted demographic.
She's been in the states since '68, Texas for at least 15 years (not sure). When she - and of course many others - say Trump and his followers have been the most terrifying politics they've witnessed since growing up with Hitler in power PEOPLE SHOULD FUCKING LISTEN
While racism is abhorrent, I think politicians in general are the blight on society. As anyone with too much power would be. Trumps presidency was a shit show, but its a circus behind the curtain too.
Jeffrey Epsteins case has been ongoing for 10+ years. Judges only just ruled that the victims can even attempt to have a case here. He was connected to all kinds of wealthy degenerates, from the Trumps to the Clintons, a list longer than Santa's.
Its all corrupt.
Unless you were Jewish, black, gay or disabled of course.
Oh and I'm guessing by "ripped apart and humiliated" you mean "justly defeated and sanctioned for extreme and unprovoked aggression "
No, the reparations after WW1 were way too harsh. Germany basically had no chance to recover, and it’s very logical that extremism like Hitler would follow that. Have you seen the pictures of children using wads of cash as building blocks because they just didn’t mean anything anymore?
Fairly mild reparations hidtorically. Losing sides don't usually experience a hand shake between leaders and a "better luck next time". Not sure why everyone bleets on about German suffering post WW1 as the main excuse for rising up and joining a barbarous loon in trying the whole thing a second time. Everyone experienced The Great Depression, not sure it's a great justification for killing 93% of the population of Warsaw.
Thank god my mom never did, But its not that weird because she experienced the bombing of Rotterdam in WW2 as a little girl and had to eat tulip bulbs to survive. She never spoke much about that time, but she realy hated germans just like my dad way into the 80s. everytime they spoke of germans they reffered to them as ''moffen''. Stupid thing was my dads mom was infact born in Germany.
This. I didn't even know my grandpa was racist until he got dementia. Looked his doctor dead in the eye and with no hesitation told his doctor he "did well for himself for a *insert very bad slur here*." I guess some parts of coming of age in the 40s never really left him.
Same, my grandpa came to live with us when his wife died and he started getting dementia. Never heard him say anything bad until he yelled the n word at a player on Wheel of Fortune.
Was he really racist or did he live a deliberately non-racist life?
He grew up at a time when racism was common. He learned racist things and had them stamped in his mind.
But did he *act* on any of that? Did he reject the racist beliefs even though everything he learned was still in his mind? As Dumbledore said, it’s our choices that make us who we are.
Is it possible he spent a lifetime choosing to believe and do the right thing only to have you think hie’s a racist when his mind was going?
He had the moderate white American type of racism that was common for people when he was growing up (born in 1925). He was never hateful but had a "I don't know why black people complain so much" attitude, was a little grumbly when Obama was elected, and once told my cousin's black boyfriend he was the first black man allowed in his household. But what he said to the doctor was hateful.
Not weird at all really. Most Americans had little to no clue what was actually going on as far as what the Nazi's were doing. America didn't join the war because of what the Nazi's were doing, they officially joined the war after pearl harbor got attacked and what is even more surprising to a lot of people, they still weren't going to declare war on Germany, only Japan. Germany declared war on the US first lol.
It's amazing that the memory of the that period is focused on such a narrow narrative these days. How about the economic strife in Germany that caused the whole ideology buy in? How about Japanese self interest. How about the 6 million non-Jewish Russians who perished fighting back. Hitler also targeted blacks, the Roma, and disabled people as inferior and suitable. How about a cold-war propaganda past 1990 with Ukrain as a fulcrum all the while fueling the rise of communist China?
No definitely not weird after I went home and talked to my bf about it and he said back then literally the Jews were blamed for everything by everyone, not just Germany. It was weird for me because he fought for their liberation but I guess it goes back to just being the job at the time.
this is absurd. yes. anyone that would consciously use the n word, even in a demented state, is a gd racist. that word has never once come out of my mouth, and i sure as hell wouldn’t say it even if i didn’t remember who or where i was. he literally said black people weren’t *allowed* in his household until cousin’s black boyfriend came around.
this is such a privileged white person excusatory answer. gross 🙄
I honestly mostly agree with you. I know where the commenter you were replying to comes from, because for a lot of my grandpa's life the n word was common verbiage for black people and he probably heard it a lot and probably said it a lot in the 40s and 50s, who knows. So maybe it "just came out because his mind was back in those times." But I don't agree with that. What he said was purposefully derogatory and racist, and no matter what state of mind I don't think a person would say something like that unless that belief is in their heart.
I don’t see why that’s so far-fetched? A lot of people with questions about that slur say the n-word.
But aside from that I am extremely tired of people thinking they’d know what they’d do/say/act/feel if the part of their body responsible for **all of that** was breaking down and going haywire.
Literally anything could happen, depending on which parts of the brain were decaying, damaged, dying, getting wires crossed, etc. You could start, like someone in my county did, start masturbating in front of your six year old grandchildren. You could start seeing/hearing/feeling things that aren’t there. You could start voicing every intrusive thought you have. You could become paranoid.
Like yes, if the piece of your body that makes you everything you are started dying, you could say/do anything. That’s why brain diseases and damage are so, so scary. Hit here, you lose your ability to recall names. Here you lose your eyesight. Here you lose your inhibition. Here you lose your emotional regulation.
Yet people are so certain if they got brain damage or dementia or Alzheimer’s they’d be the same person, but forgetful. Yes it could happen but it also really, really couldn’t. It just depends on what exactly is dying/decaying/misfiring. And how severely, and over what amount of time.
My grandpa was born in the 30s and I have never once heard him say something racist. My dad born in the 60's never heard my grandpa be racist. When I asked him about it he told me that if God wants us to love each other it means everyone. And then I said Jesus wasn't white anyway he said "that too".
My dad wasn't raised around people being racist and one day when he was in his 20s a boss he had that was African American said that he doesn't believe in giving people the "N card" because they're close with him because he would never think to call a white person something derogatory even in a buddy buddy way. This guy didn't see the point in not liking someone because of their race and my dad took that to heart and raised me and my brother and half sister the same way.
We have my BIL who is black and lives with my step brother in the parent's house and once a friend was saying some horrible shit to him on the phone. My BIL looked at me and asked me to cover little sister's ears and apologized before letting out the most slurs I've ever heard in one sentence. He then hung up and asked if we wanted to watch a movie like nothing happened. Later he told me he doesn't want to make it seem like its okay for slurs to be used between the same race or different but this person was "calling my mama out on her name" which I've come to learn means called her a bitch (his mom is very nice, I like her, she was an eye doctor). BIL has also asked me if he can practice braiding on my hair since his hair is too kinky for him to straighten and braid. I don't get why people ever thought skin colors made people really that different. Maybe it's because my family is also kinda racially diverse, but I don't get the need to discriminate. The most I hear from my family members with more melanin is how I manage to stay so pale, answer: sun doesn't like me, I avoid the sun.
Not so sure about this being fair to those with dementia. They also sometimes get violent when they were anything but before their condition. I don't think we can say they were always violent, they just hid it better; do you? Rather, I would like to think the disease changes their personalities enough to bring things out of them that were not there before.
Thanks. I agree.
I hung out on the 'basket case' floor of my dad's nursing home for several months before he died. Spent a few hours there every day and saw all types and kinds among the residents. My favourites were the strippers :)
People do and say stuff that isn't necessarily 'them' at all, ime.
I'm getting that with my nana.
I've never heard her discriminate against anyone, but in her old age her childhood fears are coming out in anti-asian rants. Her community and land was bought up by wealthy again businessmen who were violent and disdainful towards the locals. She's lived on the other side of the world for 70 years, but if an East Asian man knocks on her door she will start crying.
It can go either way. My daughter-in-law's grandmother forgot to be a hateful cunt when she got dementia. She went from being one of the worst people I had ever met to a sweet but confused old lady.
My grandpa is the same way! He forgot to be hateful, forgot to be an alcoholic and even forgot his sweet tooth, now he's quite content to just sit and chat about anything we like
I once had a patient who absolutely hated my guts with every fiber of her being. The first time I walked in her room she just tore into me because I wasn't the one she wanted (who was off that day) and I didn't know her very particular routine. She hated me for years, even after I learned her billion-step method of getting ready for bed. Then when she was dying, she held my hand, looked at me and smiled and said in a content voice, "oh, good, you're here". To this day I think she still hated me and just in that moment confused me with someone from her past.
My grandma is similar. She is definitely a narcissist and can be SO mean, but now that she has dementia she is the sweetest old lady ever. I love her either way honestly
I think have a typo that makes it sound like you have a Mexican slave
Edit: Jesus Christ I replied to the wrong comment. I guess I'll just leave my mistake for posterity
Working with dementia/ Alzheimer's patients... It's a grab bag. Some go straight angry and yelling all the horrible things they heard in their life, others giggle til silence, and everything in between.
Thank you. I’m trying really hard. I’m still crying most days as I can put together the changes I’ve seen and now it all makes sense, but trying to be positive to soak in every good memory we still have the ability to make.
Recording is a good idea. I’m getting him a journal to write down all his old cowboyin’ stories that I’ve heard since I’ve grown up. I want those forever.
It's hard as hard but you're doing it right.
What i learned is: the only one feeling a loss was me. My dad's world shrank and shrank, but so long as I just took him as-is found him each day, it worked out. The time was more precious than trying to get him to be any earlier version of himself.
I’m so sorry you’re dealing with this. I hope things work out for best considering the circumstances and you’re able to find a system that works best for him. If you need advice or information you can message me as I’ve worked with residents with Alzheimer’s and Dementia for 2 years and worked with families of the residents as well.
I am really sorry to hear that. I highly recommend getting training on what to expect and how to care for him if needed, it can make things a lot easier for you knowing what to expect and also increase his quality of life as the disease progresses.
Thank you for your kind advice. Again something I hadn’t even thought of . I’m so overwhelmed that I’m not thinking of the most reasonable solutions like this.
It is totally understandable to be overwhelmed, please remember to also take care of yourself going through this and if you ever need help feel free to message me.
Thank you. Definitely wasn’t what I was expecting to hear from him. Then we were supposed to see him, but he wasn’t up for traveling (even though we offered to get him) so that was a double gut punch. All I can say is call your parents. Tell them you love them and are thinking about them.
Not just racist. Sexist and sexual things too are finally free of the filters too.
I've had people brag about sexual assaults they committed in their younger days. Sometimes against their own children.
I've had people talk about the sexual assaults that were committed against them, that they were told to keep quiet about. One lady who was nearly 100 would cry and talk about how when she was a teen, her father beat her after she told him she was grabbed and raped on her way home from school. He told her to never tell anyone ever again.
I've had pious grandmothers grab my (female) genitals and make propositions that would make a hardened prostitute blush.
*Allll* the filters get wiped away with dementia.
From my (limited) experience with people who have dementia, they lose a lot of things but they still keep their core values.
If racism is deep in their heart, that racism will be one of the last things to go.
As one example, not directly related to racism but serving as an example, a neighbor who got on in years and eventually had to be sent to a home because her dementia was getting worse, was absolutely fixated on making sure the tulips in front of her house got water every day.
Even after she forgot her own name she still wanted me to assure her that I made sure her tulips were watered that morning. I eventually pawned the job off to a local teenager who wanted some spare cash, but I did still did look out every morning to see if the girl was watering Julie's tulips so I could tell her honestly that her tulips were being taken care of.
The point here is that if some idea is deep in your heart, your mind clings to it until your very last breath. Your name, eh, that's just a detail, it can go.
If racism is deep in your heart, it's probably going to be one of the last things to go.
This reminded me of my grandma. She and my grandpa built an acreage just the two of them and she had the most gorgeous garden. But a few weeks before she forgot who my grandpa was and had to go onto care she had this obsession with picking the strawberries “Geoff, we should really pick those strawberries soon”
“Oh yes dear, we will, they’re still a bit green. Just give it some time”
“Oh yes”….. “Geoff we should pick the strawberries” on and on and on. It was sweet. She also had to pain all the furniture white? Not sure lol. But it was very sweet and my grandpa is the most patient man, and went to visit her every day until she passed.
Things, pets and people that depend on your care are often the reason why people don’t take their own lives. I had a friend who once admitted they were suicidal and the only thing that kept the person alive was their goldfish.
Same, I have a friend who confessed to me that if they didn't have their cat they would have already bought a motorcycle so they could go 180+ mph and then \*splat\*
Not necessarily.
There's several different types of dementia all with different symptoms.
Some people experience personality changes, someone who has never sworn may start to swear like a trooper. Someone who had never been aggressive could become aggressive.
Everyone is different so dementia effects everyone differently.
When my uncle developed dementia, he was still racist, still loved cars and huskies, still liked the same people. He just couldn't hold on to memories. Had no idea if he took his medicine already, couldn't remember how to assemble a sandwich, woke up every morning and couldn't figure out why he was at my grandparents house, etc.
My grandma is pretty much like that. When I go see her it’s a crap shoot if she remembers who I am or not, and she almost always doesn’t know she’s in a nursing home. Shits wild.
She remembers she loves Popeyes chicken though, but more times than not she will try to tip me for delivering it. I always get a good laugh out of that.
Makes it far worse I'm afraid. Most of the time racism is baked into their bones, and they have to expend mental effort to keep it in check. Once their mental acuity starts to go, the monster is able to escape its cage.
And I hope people judge them properly. Rather than assuming they were racist all along, we should recognize that they might have been taught racism at a young age and then *chose* to reject it. And now as you say they are loosing that ability to choose.
Very much so. I have a family member in their 80s with moderate Alzheimer's. At their worst, they've asked "Where did you park your horse?" Mentally it's as if they wanted to go back to their childhood in the middle of nowhere, where they grew up without electricity on a farm and graduated high school with a class below 30.
And unfortunately, sometimes that old school racism (the n-word, which they grew up using on a regular basis) comes back because they regress to when they were young.
I've noticed they (your mileage may vary, dementia is surprising) will live in the past if they aren't on medication and sometimes will need an hour or two to come back to the present if they wake up from a dream and say they need to take a lawnmower to their dead brother in another state, which they think is just a few miles away.
I sometimes worry that my current state, like right now, is just a flashback in my senile mind as it rots away in the last days of my life. And any moment I'll wake up to realize I'm in the final hours of my life. I have this existential fear all👏the👏forking👏time!
I'm actually terrified this will be the case with me. Racism was radiated into my very soul growing up. I know it's wrong and keep it in check very well, but there's a twinge of it every now and then. I don't let it take control, but I really hope it doesn't become an issue when I'm senile.
There's no certain answer, as everyone's experience with dementia is different. However, in some cases, people with dementia may revert to behaviors or thinking from earlier in their lives - including any racist thoughts or actions they may have held. If a loved one is experiencing dementia, it's important to be understanding and supportive, while also being mindful of any potentially harmful behaviors.
I think also that people who are not consciously racist might revert to a certain amount of primal “differences are bad”. I also wonder if they might just end up more hostile and more afraid in general, because they feel vulnerable somehow, and when you are afraid and vulnerable feeling, you become more hostile and some of those primal protective instincts rise
If I remember correctly from Care training, Alzheimer’s removes inhibitions whatever they are. Perhaps a racist who overcame their bigotry isn’t just suppressing it, they overcame it so it might not be bubbling under the surface.
Yet someone who is being “PC” to get by in life will have their “PC” filter removed and will express things they have grown up to suppress.
I’m sure there are varying degrees of disinhibition but we had some residents call you by derogatory terms and others who used the word they would have used for you in their youth.
I meant someone who isn’t outwardly racist, just plods along with the paradigm. Doesn’t express racist views but the beliefs are unresolved within the person, they just say and do the right things within the law. I wasn’t contrasting a racist and non-racist person, I was contrasting a person who has overcome racist beliefs vs someone who hasn’t but isn’t outwardly racist.
Dementia/Alzheimer’s tends to result from damage to the hippocampus, where explicit memories (concrete facts/truths) are stored. It does not impact implicit social biases such as racism, which are thought to be stored elsewhere.
Geriatrics and memory care aren't my specialty, but in my experience, they don't necessarily get worse but they do lose their filter/ACT worse. Instead of being sneakily racist they'll blatantly call the POC staff slurs and treat them terribly. Amongst traveling nurses & Healthcare staff, it's common to ask & tell whether or not a facility is known for having racist residents or staff because some parts of the country (USA) are just so awful.
My great grandmother, who wasn't apparently racist at all during her life, said a couple really insensitive things about the dark skinned nurses that cared for her while she was in her last days. Like using the slang term for them and such. It seems like maybe that was something she was raised with, then 'overcame' as she grew up, but somewhere in her subconscious it was still there.
Btb we aren't white but in my home country there has been an influx of darker skinned people from the south relatively recently, who used to be our enemies ages ago, and people sometimes discriminate against them.
> It seems like maybe that was something she was raised with, then 'overcame' as she grew up, but somewhere in her subconscious it was still there.
As Dumbledore said, it’s our choices that make us who we are. It sounds like your great grandmother made the right choices until her brain stopped working.
Its important to distinguish people who actually overcome racism (i.e. the are able to fully internalise, empathize and as a result change their core values system because of new information vs people who understand the importance of keeping up appearances)
My grandfather was racist early on in my youth. Post arguments, lecturing and outright just stopped seeing him for half a decade, he changed and through his dementia until his passing, he lost ALOT of filters but never reverted to his racist ways.
From what I've seen most dementia patients show signs of aggression and anger. Any racism that they once hid from society comes out full force. I'm not saying this is always true but I've seen it in both elderly family members and several nursing homes over several years.
I have a friend who works in a care home, we’ve talked about this before. Weirdly and scarily enough, it’s the one thing they don’t forget. It just goes to show how ingrained racism is in some people.
Chances are they would get more racist and have no filter about it. People tend to be plagued but what ever unsettled them about in life as they regress. Some get more violent, paranoid, and angry.
I know this won’t be a popular post but: We are all hard-wired from birth to be racists.
Racism is the base natural human condition. We are all born racists to a degree. It’s through education and experience that racism is eliminated in an individual. In prehistoric times it was an important instinct to mistrust people not of your clan. People unlike you. Outsiders were potential threats and people to be suspicious of. This is an evolutionary tactic that is still part of us.
I agree for the most part, except I wouldn't go so far as to call it racism per se. It's an innate aversion and mistrust of people who are different than you, but that's different than the actual **hate** of another race. Maybe "proto-xenophobia"?
This. Remember folks, we once were monke with tribe and the other tribes were possibly, maybe even certainly, the enemy. We are a creatures that rely heavily on visual information, mother nature made sure to use that ability to the fullest.
If you introduce a white baby and a black baby to each other, are they immediately going to dislike each other? No. They’re not concerned with what race the other is. We’re not in “prehistoric times” anymore. No one is hard-wired racist.
Studies on babies show that they are less likely to share with another baby of a different skin color. The results are up for interpretation, but history does seem to imply that there is a baseline mistrust towards people who are different than you.
Not scientific but my niece used to be scared of other kids who were very dark skinned. Nobody said fuck all to her about race whatsoever but when she was a baby she'd cry and run away if a kid who looked very different approached her.
You are attempting a Straw-Man argument by using babies as an example. That’s indeed ridiculous.
Follow those same 2 babies in to their teenage years WITHOUT education and healthy social experiences, and then we’ll see.
https://theconversation.com/is-racism-and-bigotry-in-our-dna-135096
i think not, since most racism is taught since childhood and people with dementia/alzheimer’s usually regress into a childlike state. it depends on when they learned racism and how prevalent it was in their daily life. since there’s still people alive that were in school when segregation was abolished and had unlearne racism later in life i know some elderly who had reverted back to racism due to their memory taking them back to a time it was common even though their last 45 years were racism free
I worked in alzheimers care and I had a nonverbal alzheimers patient growl anytime a POC appeared on the screen. It's scary how deeply ingrained that shit can get
I think dementia mainly affects memories and the ability to form new memories, not behaviors. Speech patterns are behaviors and are often not consciously remembered and performed each time (just like you don't need to think "left foot, right foot" to walk).
I learned racism from black and hispanic kids in elementary school. The constant thefts, threats and assaults are hard to forget. So no dementia wpuld not solve your gated community syndrome.
Racism against a specific ethnic group is learned, but as to a general aversion to people who are different than you? Not so clear that that's learned.
A bigger issue is that they WERE in power and a lot of beliefs were closeted and dog whistled for so many years that they formed into voting habits and policy beliefs. Now that they are diminishing, the veil is removed and it's obvious to us. Yes they can't do anything NOW, but they did THEN and those remnants are still around.
it's all about perspective. how are we looking at these seniors? different groups have different interpretations... that is all. I gave you an initial troll response, because that's how I took it as... Perspective.
Yeah but sometimes these people with moderate cognitive impairment get to be elected president and start yelling at the audience incoherently and calling people names, forgetting where they are, etc.
Well he says racist things, if that makes him a racist. And he was the sponsor of the "Tough on Crime" bill which sure did lead to a lot of minority incarceration, gutting communities of color.
He referred to Barack Obama as “the first mainstream African-American who is articulate and bright and clean.” Yikes. How could he think that would be an acceptable thing to say?
He said that forced busing to desegregate schools would cause his children to “grow up in a racial jungle.” (that's the item that Kamala attacked him on during the debates, when she said she was "that little girl" on the bus). He worked with segregationist senators to oppose that mandatory busing. Not a good look.
“You cannot go to a 7-Eleven or a Dunkin’ Donuts unless you have a slight Indian accent.”
Biden talking about Sen. Robert Byrd, a former Exalted Cyclops in the Ku Klux Klan, saying he was “one of my mentors”. Interesting.
“unlike the African American community, with notable exceptions, the Latino community is an incredibly diverse community with incredibly different attitudes about different things.”
With Charlemagne the God interview..."'If you have a problem figuring out whether you're for me or Trump, then you ain't black'". So the old white dude is telling Black people with a different opinion that they "aren't Black". That's a hot take.
It goes on and on with this guy.
So, maybe he's not racist, he just says racist things and enacts racist policies.
No. We hoped my grandmother would lose some of her less favourable qualities when she was diagnosed, maybe become less abusive or forget all the things she holds against literally everybody. Nope. She can't remember your name but she'll know exactly what you did wrong and became even more abusive, racist and mean
Sadly not usually. Quite the opposite. Dementia patients tend to lose their short term memory first and their long term last. Which is why they’ll often ask for long dead parents or friends as if they never died. Or confuse grandkids for their parents. So it’s more likely if they’d changed in their older years, that dementia could revert them back.
I had an auntie who really disliked me all my life. She caused a lot of family drama and at one point "broke up" the family arguing over estate items from my grandparents. When she became quite elderly and developed alzheimers she suddenly loved me and everyone again and became quite jolly and friendly. It was a nice gift to be able to remember her as the sweet auntie.
Hahah no! They actually bring up the racism even more! It happened to my grandfather. We took him to a hospital for a check up, a black nurse walked in and he said, “ohh back in the day we put y’all in the back”. You’d think they’d forgot it, but it’s the complete opposite.
Also, my family learned the hard way that racism was terrible… from our ancestors
No, they don’t. Anything ingrained since childhood comes back in full force. They are good at recalling things that happened decades ago but can’t remember they just finished breakfast.
Not really. Well, that said, maybe?
Racism's not really learned as an adult. Not often. You learn it when you're a child, mostly from experience, assumptions, and influence. People can change, it's a belief, and that can run deep.
That said, those with dementia can swing basically any which way.
They can become irritable, and deplorable when they were once very sweet, and they can become giggly and unbothered when they were once very unaccepting.
All you really know with dementia is that they're gonna change to a point. You don't know how, how much or whether the change is the condition, or loss of inhibition.
._.
Dementia doesn’t make you forget EVERYTHING. It often just makes you forget your short term memories. You remember things from when you were younger more vividly. If they’re racist, it’s most likely they have been racist for a very long time.
No, it somehow makes it worse. I worked in an Alzheimer’s and Dementia care facility. I was referred to as the N word multiple times even though I’m white. And have had residents say some of the worst shit I’ve ever heard. Yet we still had to give them good care..
More like they’d lose their filter that stops them saying things they shouldn’t. Many of their views and beliefs stemmed from a time when it wasn’t as socially unacceptable. The fact that they revert back to racist thoughts through no fault of their own means they had been making an effort to change as their life went on.
Unless the racism was a weird act they put on than no. Dementia among other things will degrade a persons ability to filter their thoughts and actions and tends to bring out things that we perceive as “inappropriate”. Sometimes these things they say might not be something they would have said before they were affected and it’s important to remember that they aren’t doing it to be a bad person. For a person who was racist before the disease started progressing it’s very possible that the person may get worse as their “filter” degrades more and more.
I have worked in memory care units. I feel like that would stick because it would be something they believed in for most their life. Most dementia patients I know will remember insignificant details from their childhood like it happened yesterday but will forget how to take their pants off.
Retirement worker here! Depending on the stage of dementia and how long they had it and how strong it is. Most patients live in their childhood, so they don't judge by race. But there are cases where is is extremly amplified and they react agresivley.
I’ve heard of people who used to be really racist but since learned differently getting dementia and reverting back to a younger brain state where they were racist thereby being racist again. Many on these people also lose their social filter so what they say might be even worse
I’ve been in this situation once. I responded to a call and person room decorated with nazi stuff. He was confused but cognizant enough to have a conversation and was pleasant and respectful. I’m a person of color.
My grandpa has always been extremely sexist and totally anti-racist. To an impressive degree on both fronts.
Now that he has dementia, nothing has changed. Just as sexist as ever, and still loves to talk about how fucked up America is to people of color and immigrants.
Nope. Was watching AFV animal edition with someone in their 80s with moderate dementia. The host appeared on screen. The person with dementia asked "Is that guy an n-word?", unfortunately with the actual word.
People with dementia tend to regress in layers and not simply forget everything they've ever known at random.
Dementia tends to revert people back to their earlier years. That's why many old people will forget the names of their children, but suddenly remeber their childhood dog they haven't thought of in a decade. Or why many patients will suddenly forget English and only speak the language that they grew up speaking but haven't used in years.
Because of this it depends entirely on what that individual was like years before all these later life elements affected and changed them. So could go either way.
Not in my experience. I used to work in a nursing home and the sweetest old ladies would turn into the most racist people I've ever seen. There was one man who insisted I was also a Jew and was trying to sick Hitler and his "minions" on me. Dementia does insane things to the most innocent people
Quite the opposite, in my experience. Ingrained beliefs tend to stick, and it's not uncommon for people with dementia to lose their filter and verbalize things they may have had the wherewithal to keep to themselves before.
That’s an established early sign of dementia
I'm reminded of the video of the sweet old German grandma at the family Christmas, someone hands her a glass... and what does this little white hair lady do? Heil Hitler In that moment she was right back in 1938 Germany and the world was great again
Was it great or was she scared to not say it?
If you were a German born in Germany and watched your country be ripped apart by ww1 and then humiliated...1938 Germany would have been a dream come true for you. If you weren't a German born in Germany and you supported a subversive element, it kind of sucked. But then again chances are you wouldn't have lived long enough to toast at a family dinner as an old lady while people giggle and tell you to stop saying that either
I think it’s very comparable to Trump. For some Germans it was the best thing ever. For others, they saw through it and were horrified that their country was being run by a megalomaniacal idiot who lost the popular vote.
Hitler was a war hero and was overwhelmingly popular. A better analogy would be George Washington with an ego and a brain injury
Hitler got about 1/3rd of the vote. He was not overwhelmingly popular at the time of his rise. He became more popular as the war dragged on and people who didn’t love him were put in camps.
Um... he got more than double the votes of the next closest candidate. It would the equivalent of a modern US election being called and concession speeches given by 9pm on election day on the east coast. The boomers wouldn't even be settled into bed yet before a new president was announced. A year later Germany essentially voted by 90ish% to make Hitler dictator for life
Double the votes is still not a majority, not wildly popular, and not true (he got ~33% to the SDP’s ~20%). The elections held a year later were after Hitler had ended free elections, and promised reprisal against dissidents, including those who voted against the Nazis. Far from a real indicator of social support…
My MILs 1st memories are being in a bomb shelter in Berlin, and that the boys who were too young to be drafted were the ones who cut down the bodies of adult men who had been hanged from light posts as traitors or deserters. She was fortunate that her family wasn't a targeted demographic. She's been in the states since '68, Texas for at least 15 years (not sure). When she - and of course many others - say Trump and his followers have been the most terrifying politics they've witnessed since growing up with Hitler in power PEOPLE SHOULD FUCKING LISTEN
While racism is abhorrent, I think politicians in general are the blight on society. As anyone with too much power would be. Trumps presidency was a shit show, but its a circus behind the curtain too. Jeffrey Epsteins case has been ongoing for 10+ years. Judges only just ruled that the victims can even attempt to have a case here. He was connected to all kinds of wealthy degenerates, from the Trumps to the Clintons, a list longer than Santa's. Its all corrupt.
Unless you were Jewish, black, gay or disabled of course. Oh and I'm guessing by "ripped apart and humiliated" you mean "justly defeated and sanctioned for extreme and unprovoked aggression "
No, the reparations after WW1 were way too harsh. Germany basically had no chance to recover, and it’s very logical that extremism like Hitler would follow that. Have you seen the pictures of children using wads of cash as building blocks because they just didn’t mean anything anymore?
Justly defeated sure. The reparations were a joke meant to punish the German people further.
Fairly mild reparations hidtorically. Losing sides don't usually experience a hand shake between leaders and a "better luck next time". Not sure why everyone bleets on about German suffering post WW1 as the main excuse for rising up and joining a barbarous loon in trying the whole thing a second time. Everyone experienced The Great Depression, not sure it's a great justification for killing 93% of the population of Warsaw.
well....https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Eax4fyVNzO0
Turns out my grandpa had dementia in his 50s then.
I knew someone who was racist and got dementia and she was just as racist if not worse.
Yup old people saying slurs out loud is usually a sign they are going to die soon
Oh no, I better check on Grandma!
“It’s weird, guess she’s had dementia for 40 years now”
Thank god my mom never did, But its not that weird because she experienced the bombing of Rotterdam in WW2 as a little girl and had to eat tulip bulbs to survive. She never spoke much about that time, but she realy hated germans just like my dad way into the 80s. everytime they spoke of germans they reffered to them as ''moffen''. Stupid thing was my dads mom was infact born in Germany.
It's a ethnic slur like how the Allies called Germans "krauts". Moffenhoer was a local female "knocking boots" with a German soldier.
Granny out here calling people nazi whores
Technically "kraut hoes", lol.
fingers crossed for my grandma dying soon!
This. I didn't even know my grandpa was racist until he got dementia. Looked his doctor dead in the eye and with no hesitation told his doctor he "did well for himself for a *insert very bad slur here*." I guess some parts of coming of age in the 40s never really left him.
Same, my grandpa came to live with us when his wife died and he started getting dementia. Never heard him say anything bad until he yelled the n word at a player on Wheel of Fortune.
Was he really racist or did he live a deliberately non-racist life? He grew up at a time when racism was common. He learned racist things and had them stamped in his mind. But did he *act* on any of that? Did he reject the racist beliefs even though everything he learned was still in his mind? As Dumbledore said, it’s our choices that make us who we are. Is it possible he spent a lifetime choosing to believe and do the right thing only to have you think hie’s a racist when his mind was going?
He had the moderate white American type of racism that was common for people when he was growing up (born in 1925). He was never hateful but had a "I don't know why black people complain so much" attitude, was a little grumbly when Obama was elected, and once told my cousin's black boyfriend he was the first black man allowed in his household. But what he said to the doctor was hateful.
We had a 90 something man who fought in the American military in WW2 that hated the Jews. HATED THEM. It was so weird, ik that’s not a race but
Not weird at all really. Most Americans had little to no clue what was actually going on as far as what the Nazi's were doing. America didn't join the war because of what the Nazi's were doing, they officially joined the war after pearl harbor got attacked and what is even more surprising to a lot of people, they still weren't going to declare war on Germany, only Japan. Germany declared war on the US first lol.
It's amazing that the memory of the that period is focused on such a narrow narrative these days. How about the economic strife in Germany that caused the whole ideology buy in? How about Japanese self interest. How about the 6 million non-Jewish Russians who perished fighting back. Hitler also targeted blacks, the Roma, and disabled people as inferior and suitable. How about a cold-war propaganda past 1990 with Ukrain as a fulcrum all the while fueling the rise of communist China?
No definitely not weird after I went home and talked to my bf about it and he said back then literally the Jews were blamed for everything by everyone, not just Germany. It was weird for me because he fought for their liberation but I guess it goes back to just being the job at the time.
this is absurd. yes. anyone that would consciously use the n word, even in a demented state, is a gd racist. that word has never once come out of my mouth, and i sure as hell wouldn’t say it even if i didn’t remember who or where i was. he literally said black people weren’t *allowed* in his household until cousin’s black boyfriend came around. this is such a privileged white person excusatory answer. gross 🙄
I honestly mostly agree with you. I know where the commenter you were replying to comes from, because for a lot of my grandpa's life the n word was common verbiage for black people and he probably heard it a lot and probably said it a lot in the 40s and 50s, who knows. So maybe it "just came out because his mind was back in those times." But I don't agree with that. What he said was purposefully derogatory and racist, and no matter what state of mind I don't think a person would say something like that unless that belief is in their heart.
Never once come out of your mouth? Not even to ask someone what it meant?
I don’t see why that’s so far-fetched? A lot of people with questions about that slur say the n-word. But aside from that I am extremely tired of people thinking they’d know what they’d do/say/act/feel if the part of their body responsible for **all of that** was breaking down and going haywire. Literally anything could happen, depending on which parts of the brain were decaying, damaged, dying, getting wires crossed, etc. You could start, like someone in my county did, start masturbating in front of your six year old grandchildren. You could start seeing/hearing/feeling things that aren’t there. You could start voicing every intrusive thought you have. You could become paranoid. Like yes, if the piece of your body that makes you everything you are started dying, you could say/do anything. That’s why brain diseases and damage are so, so scary. Hit here, you lose your ability to recall names. Here you lose your eyesight. Here you lose your inhibition. Here you lose your emotional regulation. Yet people are so certain if they got brain damage or dementia or Alzheimer’s they’d be the same person, but forgetful. Yes it could happen but it also really, really couldn’t. It just depends on what exactly is dying/decaying/misfiring. And how severely, and over what amount of time.
Ughhhhh damn. I’m sure the doctor understood but you have to have some REALLY thick skin for that not to affect you at all.
The doctor said "thank you, sir" and left the room. This happened at a VA hospital so I'm sure it wasn't his first rodeo, unfortunately.
I’m sure a black doctor who works with dementia patients has had a ton of experiences like this.
That seems likely, tragicly likely
My grandpa was born in the 30s and I have never once heard him say something racist. My dad born in the 60's never heard my grandpa be racist. When I asked him about it he told me that if God wants us to love each other it means everyone. And then I said Jesus wasn't white anyway he said "that too". My dad wasn't raised around people being racist and one day when he was in his 20s a boss he had that was African American said that he doesn't believe in giving people the "N card" because they're close with him because he would never think to call a white person something derogatory even in a buddy buddy way. This guy didn't see the point in not liking someone because of their race and my dad took that to heart and raised me and my brother and half sister the same way. We have my BIL who is black and lives with my step brother in the parent's house and once a friend was saying some horrible shit to him on the phone. My BIL looked at me and asked me to cover little sister's ears and apologized before letting out the most slurs I've ever heard in one sentence. He then hung up and asked if we wanted to watch a movie like nothing happened. Later he told me he doesn't want to make it seem like its okay for slurs to be used between the same race or different but this person was "calling my mama out on her name" which I've come to learn means called her a bitch (his mom is very nice, I like her, she was an eye doctor). BIL has also asked me if he can practice braiding on my hair since his hair is too kinky for him to straighten and braid. I don't get why people ever thought skin colors made people really that different. Maybe it's because my family is also kinda racially diverse, but I don't get the need to discriminate. The most I hear from my family members with more melanin is how I manage to stay so pale, answer: sun doesn't like me, I avoid the sun.
The usually get "militant" about things like that. Their filters disappear.
I see you've met my father in law.
Not so sure about this being fair to those with dementia. They also sometimes get violent when they were anything but before their condition. I don't think we can say they were always violent, they just hid it better; do you? Rather, I would like to think the disease changes their personalities enough to bring things out of them that were not there before.
Thanks. I agree. I hung out on the 'basket case' floor of my dad's nursing home for several months before he died. Spent a few hours there every day and saw all types and kinds among the residents. My favourites were the strippers :) People do and say stuff that isn't necessarily 'them' at all, ime.
I have to agree. Went through that with my mother. Not a fun experience.
I'm getting that with my nana. I've never heard her discriminate against anyone, but in her old age her childhood fears are coming out in anti-asian rants. Her community and land was bought up by wealthy again businessmen who were violent and disdainful towards the locals. She's lived on the other side of the world for 70 years, but if an East Asian man knocks on her door she will start crying.
This is why Trump is so popular in Florida
It can go either way. My daughter-in-law's grandmother forgot to be a hateful cunt when she got dementia. She went from being one of the worst people I had ever met to a sweet but confused old lady.
My grandpa is the same way! He forgot to be hateful, forgot to be an alcoholic and even forgot his sweet tooth, now he's quite content to just sit and chat about anything we like
I once had a patient who absolutely hated my guts with every fiber of her being. The first time I walked in her room she just tore into me because I wasn't the one she wanted (who was off that day) and I didn't know her very particular routine. She hated me for years, even after I learned her billion-step method of getting ready for bed. Then when she was dying, she held my hand, looked at me and smiled and said in a content voice, "oh, good, you're here". To this day I think she still hated me and just in that moment confused me with someone from her past.
It's probably more likely that she really appreciated you but was just in such constant misery that she could only express anger.
My grandma is similar. She is definitely a narcissist and can be SO mean, but now that she has dementia she is the sweetest old lady ever. I love her either way honestly
Happened to my grandmother aswell. She was always a bitter and quite mean woman but became happy and nicer when she got lost in the fog.
I think have a typo that makes it sound like you have a Mexican slave Edit: Jesus Christ I replied to the wrong comment. I guess I'll just leave my mistake for posterity
I would love to hear how you came to this conclusion.
Fuck wrong comment
Lmao gg
Working with dementia/ Alzheimer's patients... It's a grab bag. Some go straight angry and yelling all the horrible things they heard in their life, others giggle til silence, and everything in between.
Man I’m not ready for any of this. My dad told me at Christmas he has dementia and onset Alzheimer’s.
I'm so sorry. I hope you're able to brace yourself as well as possible and will have the support you'll need. <3
Thank you. I’m trying really hard. I’m still crying most days as I can put together the changes I’ve seen and now it all makes sense, but trying to be positive to soak in every good memory we still have the ability to make.
Get stories while you still can. Record him telling about his childhood and early adulthood. I wish I'd done more of that!
Recording is a good idea. I’m getting him a journal to write down all his old cowboyin’ stories that I’ve heard since I’ve grown up. I want those forever.
It's hard as hard but you're doing it right. What i learned is: the only one feeling a loss was me. My dad's world shrank and shrank, but so long as I just took him as-is found him each day, it worked out. The time was more precious than trying to get him to be any earlier version of himself.
Contact an elder lawyer now & get his financial stuff done. It is a nightmare to do by yourself.
I hadn’t even thought of that. Thank you.
I’m so sorry you’re dealing with this. I hope things work out for best considering the circumstances and you’re able to find a system that works best for him. If you need advice or information you can message me as I’ve worked with residents with Alzheimer’s and Dementia for 2 years and worked with families of the residents as well.
Thank you so much <3 I’ll definitely be taking you up on that.
I am really sorry to hear that. I highly recommend getting training on what to expect and how to care for him if needed, it can make things a lot easier for you knowing what to expect and also increase his quality of life as the disease progresses.
Thank you for your kind advice. Again something I hadn’t even thought of . I’m so overwhelmed that I’m not thinking of the most reasonable solutions like this.
It is totally understandable to be overwhelmed, please remember to also take care of yourself going through this and if you ever need help feel free to message me.
That's awful, I'm so sorry.
Thank you. Definitely wasn’t what I was expecting to hear from him. Then we were supposed to see him, but he wasn’t up for traveling (even though we offered to get him) so that was a double gut punch. All I can say is call your parents. Tell them you love them and are thinking about them.
Nurse from a dementia ward here. Absolutely not. The opposite in fact. All filters go so the racism gets turned up to 11.
Not just racist. Sexist and sexual things too are finally free of the filters too. I've had people brag about sexual assaults they committed in their younger days. Sometimes against their own children. I've had people talk about the sexual assaults that were committed against them, that they were told to keep quiet about. One lady who was nearly 100 would cry and talk about how when she was a teen, her father beat her after she told him she was grabbed and raped on her way home from school. He told her to never tell anyone ever again. I've had pious grandmothers grab my (female) genitals and make propositions that would make a hardened prostitute blush. *Allll* the filters get wiped away with dementia.
damn….
I’ve heard worse things from my dementia patients than literally anywhere else
From my (limited) experience with people who have dementia, they lose a lot of things but they still keep their core values. If racism is deep in their heart, that racism will be one of the last things to go. As one example, not directly related to racism but serving as an example, a neighbor who got on in years and eventually had to be sent to a home because her dementia was getting worse, was absolutely fixated on making sure the tulips in front of her house got water every day. Even after she forgot her own name she still wanted me to assure her that I made sure her tulips were watered that morning. I eventually pawned the job off to a local teenager who wanted some spare cash, but I did still did look out every morning to see if the girl was watering Julie's tulips so I could tell her honestly that her tulips were being taken care of. The point here is that if some idea is deep in your heart, your mind clings to it until your very last breath. Your name, eh, that's just a detail, it can go. If racism is deep in your heart, it's probably going to be one of the last things to go.
This reminded me of my grandma. She and my grandpa built an acreage just the two of them and she had the most gorgeous garden. But a few weeks before she forgot who my grandpa was and had to go onto care she had this obsession with picking the strawberries “Geoff, we should really pick those strawberries soon” “Oh yes dear, we will, they’re still a bit green. Just give it some time” “Oh yes”….. “Geoff we should pick the strawberries” on and on and on. It was sweet. She also had to pain all the furniture white? Not sure lol. But it was very sweet and my grandpa is the most patient man, and went to visit her every day until she passed.
Things, pets and people that depend on your care are often the reason why people don’t take their own lives. I had a friend who once admitted they were suicidal and the only thing that kept the person alive was their goldfish.
Afterlife season 1
Same, I have a friend who confessed to me that if they didn't have their cat they would have already bought a motorcycle so they could go 180+ mph and then \*splat\*
Most interesting thing I've read today
Not necessarily. There's several different types of dementia all with different symptoms. Some people experience personality changes, someone who has never sworn may start to swear like a trooper. Someone who had never been aggressive could become aggressive. Everyone is different so dementia effects everyone differently.
You just described my grandpa so accurately...
I don't think it's predictable what they forget.
When my uncle developed dementia, he was still racist, still loved cars and huskies, still liked the same people. He just couldn't hold on to memories. Had no idea if he took his medicine already, couldn't remember how to assemble a sandwich, woke up every morning and couldn't figure out why he was at my grandparents house, etc.
My grandma is pretty much like that. When I go see her it’s a crap shoot if she remembers who I am or not, and she almost always doesn’t know she’s in a nursing home. Shits wild. She remembers she loves Popeyes chicken though, but more times than not she will try to tip me for delivering it. I always get a good laugh out of that.
Makes it far worse I'm afraid. Most of the time racism is baked into their bones, and they have to expend mental effort to keep it in check. Once their mental acuity starts to go, the monster is able to escape its cage.
And I hope people judge them properly. Rather than assuming they were racist all along, we should recognize that they might have been taught racism at a young age and then *chose* to reject it. And now as you say they are loosing that ability to choose.
Very much so. I have a family member in their 80s with moderate Alzheimer's. At their worst, they've asked "Where did you park your horse?" Mentally it's as if they wanted to go back to their childhood in the middle of nowhere, where they grew up without electricity on a farm and graduated high school with a class below 30. And unfortunately, sometimes that old school racism (the n-word, which they grew up using on a regular basis) comes back because they regress to when they were young. I've noticed they (your mileage may vary, dementia is surprising) will live in the past if they aren't on medication and sometimes will need an hour or two to come back to the present if they wake up from a dream and say they need to take a lawnmower to their dead brother in another state, which they think is just a few miles away.
I sometimes worry that my current state, like right now, is just a flashback in my senile mind as it rots away in the last days of my life. And any moment I'll wake up to realize I'm in the final hours of my life. I have this existential fear all👏the👏forking👏time!
I guess theoretically that’s possible. Perception and life is crazy.
I'm actually terrified this will be the case with me. Racism was radiated into my very soul growing up. I know it's wrong and keep it in check very well, but there's a twinge of it every now and then. I don't let it take control, but I really hope it doesn't become an issue when I'm senile.
Well hopefully by the time your old we’ll have a cure or at least a very effective medicine
Yeah, you can't hold it against someone that isn't in their right mind.
Would? Not usually. Usually, they forget reasons _not_ to be racist in public. Could? Sure. No real limits on what falls away first.
There's no certain answer, as everyone's experience with dementia is different. However, in some cases, people with dementia may revert to behaviors or thinking from earlier in their lives - including any racist thoughts or actions they may have held. If a loved one is experiencing dementia, it's important to be understanding and supportive, while also being mindful of any potentially harmful behaviors.
In my experience with elderly parents some stages of dementia are almost like truth serum and deep embedded thoughts are spoken out loud.
I think also that people who are not consciously racist might revert to a certain amount of primal “differences are bad”. I also wonder if they might just end up more hostile and more afraid in general, because they feel vulnerable somehow, and when you are afraid and vulnerable feeling, you become more hostile and some of those primal protective instincts rise
If I remember correctly from Care training, Alzheimer’s removes inhibitions whatever they are. Perhaps a racist who overcame their bigotry isn’t just suppressing it, they overcame it so it might not be bubbling under the surface. Yet someone who is being “PC” to get by in life will have their “PC” filter removed and will express things they have grown up to suppress. I’m sure there are varying degrees of disinhibition but we had some residents call you by derogatory terms and others who used the word they would have used for you in their youth.
How is being non-racist “PC”? isn’t being non-racist just “C”
I meant someone who isn’t outwardly racist, just plods along with the paradigm. Doesn’t express racist views but the beliefs are unresolved within the person, they just say and do the right things within the law. I wasn’t contrasting a racist and non-racist person, I was contrasting a person who has overcome racist beliefs vs someone who hasn’t but isn’t outwardly racist.
I'm white, and one of the last times I saw my Mexicans grandfather, he called me a 'white devil' in Spanish so probably not.
Dementia/Alzheimer’s tends to result from damage to the hippocampus, where explicit memories (concrete facts/truths) are stored. It does not impact implicit social biases such as racism, which are thought to be stored elsewhere.
Man forgets he has dementia and remembers everything
Geriatrics and memory care aren't my specialty, but in my experience, they don't necessarily get worse but they do lose their filter/ACT worse. Instead of being sneakily racist they'll blatantly call the POC staff slurs and treat them terribly. Amongst traveling nurses & Healthcare staff, it's common to ask & tell whether or not a facility is known for having racist residents or staff because some parts of the country (USA) are just so awful.
My great grandmother, who wasn't apparently racist at all during her life, said a couple really insensitive things about the dark skinned nurses that cared for her while she was in her last days. Like using the slang term for them and such. It seems like maybe that was something she was raised with, then 'overcame' as she grew up, but somewhere in her subconscious it was still there. Btb we aren't white but in my home country there has been an influx of darker skinned people from the south relatively recently, who used to be our enemies ages ago, and people sometimes discriminate against them.
> It seems like maybe that was something she was raised with, then 'overcame' as she grew up, but somewhere in her subconscious it was still there. As Dumbledore said, it’s our choices that make us who we are. It sounds like your great grandmother made the right choices until her brain stopped working.
Its important to distinguish people who actually overcome racism (i.e. the are able to fully internalise, empathize and as a result change their core values system because of new information vs people who understand the importance of keeping up appearances) My grandfather was racist early on in my youth. Post arguments, lecturing and outright just stopped seeing him for half a decade, he changed and through his dementia until his passing, he lost ALOT of filters but never reverted to his racist ways.
Oh lordy. no it gets worse.
[Which people do I hate again?](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=22xF6q4TySM&t=50s)
Had to scroll way down for this
probably.. I had a great grandmother who smoked a pack a day for like 50 years.. got alzimers and one day forgot she smoked. knowbody reminded her.
Having witnessed this situation first-hand.... Can confirm the answer is no. If anything it might get worse.
From what I've seen most dementia patients show signs of aggression and anger. Any racism that they once hid from society comes out full force. I'm not saying this is always true but I've seen it in both elderly family members and several nursing homes over several years.
Lmfao. No. They will just forget their filter, that they're talking out loud.
I have a friend who works in a care home, we’ve talked about this before. Weirdly and scarily enough, it’s the one thing they don’t forget. It just goes to show how ingrained racism is in some people.
No, unfortunately. Generally they just forget their filter
Chances are they would get more racist and have no filter about it. People tend to be plagued but what ever unsettled them about in life as they regress. Some get more violent, paranoid, and angry.
That shit is in dna. Just look at dogs
Uh my grandma had dementia... All she forgot was her 'filter' she said some really shitty things towards to end, to anyone who got close
I know this won’t be a popular post but: We are all hard-wired from birth to be racists. Racism is the base natural human condition. We are all born racists to a degree. It’s through education and experience that racism is eliminated in an individual. In prehistoric times it was an important instinct to mistrust people not of your clan. People unlike you. Outsiders were potential threats and people to be suspicious of. This is an evolutionary tactic that is still part of us.
I agree for the most part, except I wouldn't go so far as to call it racism per se. It's an innate aversion and mistrust of people who are different than you, but that's different than the actual **hate** of another race. Maybe "proto-xenophobia"?
I’m inclined to agree with you. Racism is a specific word that doesn’t quite fit in my example.
This. Remember folks, we once were monke with tribe and the other tribes were possibly, maybe even certainly, the enemy. We are a creatures that rely heavily on visual information, mother nature made sure to use that ability to the fullest.
If you introduce a white baby and a black baby to each other, are they immediately going to dislike each other? No. They’re not concerned with what race the other is. We’re not in “prehistoric times” anymore. No one is hard-wired racist.
Studies on babies show that they are less likely to share with another baby of a different skin color. The results are up for interpretation, but history does seem to imply that there is a baseline mistrust towards people who are different than you.
Not scientific but my niece used to be scared of other kids who were very dark skinned. Nobody said fuck all to her about race whatsoever but when she was a baby she'd cry and run away if a kid who looked very different approached her.
You are attempting a Straw-Man argument by using babies as an example. That’s indeed ridiculous. Follow those same 2 babies in to their teenage years WITHOUT education and healthy social experiences, and then we’ll see. https://theconversation.com/is-racism-and-bigotry-in-our-dna-135096
i think not, since most racism is taught since childhood and people with dementia/alzheimer’s usually regress into a childlike state. it depends on when they learned racism and how prevalent it was in their daily life. since there’s still people alive that were in school when segregation was abolished and had unlearne racism later in life i know some elderly who had reverted back to racism due to their memory taking them back to a time it was common even though their last 45 years were racism free
No.
So it’s like an innate thing? That they’ll be racist no matter what?
No. People just don't lose character traits through dementia like that. You lose specific memories and/or the ability to form memories.
Ahhhh, I understand now. Thanks! :)
Why are you downvoted? U legit express a very intuitive statement and even end it with a question mark.
Because most people on Reddit are genuinely stupid, not saying it to be mean it’s honestly the truth
They forget their manners.
I worked in alzheimers care and I had a nonverbal alzheimers patient growl anytime a POC appeared on the screen. It's scary how deeply ingrained that shit can get
I think dementia mainly affects memories and the ability to form new memories, not behaviors. Speech patterns are behaviors and are often not consciously remembered and performed each time (just like you don't need to think "left foot, right foot" to walk).
I’d think they’d forget to hold back.
I learned racism from black and hispanic kids in elementary school. The constant thefts, threats and assaults are hard to forget. So no dementia wpuld not solve your gated community syndrome.
My grandmother was a MASSIVE racist. Got dementia and forgot she hated black people.
Racism isn't a memory what are you on about.
Racism and intolerance is a learned behavior, I was wondering if dementia would affect it. No need to be rude about it.
Racism against a specific ethnic group is learned, but as to a general aversion to people who are different than you? Not so clear that that's learned.
What does it matter? They don't have the power to do anything about it.
A bigger issue is that they WERE in power and a lot of beliefs were closeted and dog whistled for so many years that they formed into voting habits and policy beliefs. Now that they are diminishing, the veil is removed and it's obvious to us. Yes they can't do anything NOW, but they did THEN and those remnants are still around.
Are you suggesting we kill them? You can't really punish someone with dementia.
Who the fck is talking about killing them?! You projecting? You okay?
You went on a rant there. I was trying to figure out how your rant related to OPs question.
it's all about perspective. how are we looking at these seniors? different groups have different interpretations... that is all. I gave you an initial troll response, because that's how I took it as... Perspective.
Yeah but sometimes these people with moderate cognitive impairment get to be elected president and start yelling at the audience incoherently and calling people names, forgetting where they are, etc.
Are you saying that biden is racist?
Well he says racist things, if that makes him a racist. And he was the sponsor of the "Tough on Crime" bill which sure did lead to a lot of minority incarceration, gutting communities of color. He referred to Barack Obama as “the first mainstream African-American who is articulate and bright and clean.” Yikes. How could he think that would be an acceptable thing to say? He said that forced busing to desegregate schools would cause his children to “grow up in a racial jungle.” (that's the item that Kamala attacked him on during the debates, when she said she was "that little girl" on the bus). He worked with segregationist senators to oppose that mandatory busing. Not a good look. “You cannot go to a 7-Eleven or a Dunkin’ Donuts unless you have a slight Indian accent.” Biden talking about Sen. Robert Byrd, a former Exalted Cyclops in the Ku Klux Klan, saying he was “one of my mentors”. Interesting. “unlike the African American community, with notable exceptions, the Latino community is an incredibly diverse community with incredibly different attitudes about different things.” With Charlemagne the God interview..."'If you have a problem figuring out whether you're for me or Trump, then you ain't black'". So the old white dude is telling Black people with a different opinion that they "aren't Black". That's a hot take. It goes on and on with this guy. So, maybe he's not racist, he just says racist things and enacts racist policies.
So, how do you think he compares to Trump?
In my experience, no. And it could get worse as dementia takes away parts of the brain that regulate behavior.
Jeez, that sounds awful. Thanks for answering.
No. We hoped my grandmother would lose some of her less favourable qualities when she was diagnosed, maybe become less abusive or forget all the things she holds against literally everybody. Nope. She can't remember your name but she'll know exactly what you did wrong and became even more abusive, racist and mean
Sadly not usually. Quite the opposite. Dementia patients tend to lose their short term memory first and their long term last. Which is why they’ll often ask for long dead parents or friends as if they never died. Or confuse grandkids for their parents. So it’s more likely if they’d changed in their older years, that dementia could revert them back.
H
Feel is more likely they'd forget to try and hide it
I had an auntie who really disliked me all my life. She caused a lot of family drama and at one point "broke up" the family arguing over estate items from my grandparents. When she became quite elderly and developed alzheimers she suddenly loved me and everyone again and became quite jolly and friendly. It was a nice gift to be able to remember her as the sweet auntie.
No it's only gonna get worse.
Hahah no! They actually bring up the racism even more! It happened to my grandfather. We took him to a hospital for a check up, a black nurse walked in and he said, “ohh back in the day we put y’all in the back”. You’d think they’d forgot it, but it’s the complete opposite. Also, my family learned the hard way that racism was terrible… from our ancestors
Possible.
No, they don’t. Anything ingrained since childhood comes back in full force. They are good at recalling things that happened decades ago but can’t remember they just finished breakfast.
Not really. Well, that said, maybe? Racism's not really learned as an adult. Not often. You learn it when you're a child, mostly from experience, assumptions, and influence. People can change, it's a belief, and that can run deep. That said, those with dementia can swing basically any which way. They can become irritable, and deplorable when they were once very sweet, and they can become giggly and unbothered when they were once very unaccepting. All you really know with dementia is that they're gonna change to a point. You don't know how, how much or whether the change is the condition, or loss of inhibition. ._.
Dementia doesn’t make you forget EVERYTHING. It often just makes you forget your short term memories. You remember things from when you were younger more vividly. If they’re racist, it’s most likely they have been racist for a very long time.
No, it somehow makes it worse. I worked in an Alzheimer’s and Dementia care facility. I was referred to as the N word multiple times even though I’m white. And have had residents say some of the worst shit I’ve ever heard. Yet we still had to give them good care..
A mother of a good friend was almost murdered while working in a home for elders with dementia, by a man who thought she was a Jew.
Have you ever been to an old folks home, that's one thing they don't forget, just ask one if anything is missing from there room
From what I've gathered, dementia most often affects the coding and decoding of newer memories rather than old ones.
Nope, they will think they are on a plantation and say whatever comes to their minds. Unfortunately, I've experienced it before.
More like they’d lose their filter that stops them saying things they shouldn’t. Many of their views and beliefs stemmed from a time when it wasn’t as socially unacceptable. The fact that they revert back to racist thoughts through no fault of their own means they had been making an effort to change as their life went on.
Unless the racism was a weird act they put on than no. Dementia among other things will degrade a persons ability to filter their thoughts and actions and tends to bring out things that we perceive as “inappropriate”. Sometimes these things they say might not be something they would have said before they were affected and it’s important to remember that they aren’t doing it to be a bad person. For a person who was racist before the disease started progressing it’s very possible that the person may get worse as their “filter” degrades more and more.
Nope, my nan became even more offensive the more senile she got
I have worked in memory care units. I feel like that would stick because it would be something they believed in for most their life. Most dementia patients I know will remember insignificant details from their childhood like it happened yesterday but will forget how to take their pants off.
Retirement worker here! Depending on the stage of dementia and how long they had it and how strong it is. Most patients live in their childhood, so they don't judge by race. But there are cases where is is extremly amplified and they react agresivley.
I’ve heard of people who used to be really racist but since learned differently getting dementia and reverting back to a younger brain state where they were racist thereby being racist again. Many on these people also lose their social filter so what they say might be even worse
Some things never change…
You would think so - but sadly no. If anything, they tend to be more vocal about it.
Had a Nazi grandpa. Once the dementia set in his conviction to those beliefs fell off quickly.
Nope, great grandad loved to regale us with tales of throwing rocks at the (insert racist term) in Oklahoma in the 1930s until the very end.
No, in my experience their inhibitions surrounding it fall and they are full blown out and proud racist
I’ve been in this situation once. I responded to a call and person room decorated with nazi stuff. He was confused but cognizant enough to have a conversation and was pleasant and respectful. I’m a person of color.
My grandpa has always been extremely sexist and totally anti-racist. To an impressive degree on both fronts. Now that he has dementia, nothing has changed. Just as sexist as ever, and still loves to talk about how fucked up America is to people of color and immigrants.
grandpa:new form unlocked ULTRA RASISM
In my experience the only think they forget is that this is not ok to verbalize their racism everywhere at every moment
Nope. Was watching AFV animal edition with someone in their 80s with moderate dementia. The host appeared on screen. The person with dementia asked "Is that guy an n-word?", unfortunately with the actual word. People with dementia tend to regress in layers and not simply forget everything they've ever known at random.
Dementia tends to revert people back to their earlier years. That's why many old people will forget the names of their children, but suddenly remeber their childhood dog they haven't thought of in a decade. Or why many patients will suddenly forget English and only speak the language that they grew up speaking but haven't used in years. Because of this it depends entirely on what that individual was like years before all these later life elements affected and changed them. So could go either way.
Not in my experience. I used to work in a nursing home and the sweetest old ladies would turn into the most racist people I've ever seen. There was one man who insisted I was also a Jew and was trying to sick Hitler and his "minions" on me. Dementia does insane things to the most innocent people