Alzheimer’s from the Inside Out
| Brand: | |||
| Average Rating |
|
Receiving a diagnosis of Alzheimer’s disease profoundly alters lives and creates endless uncertainty about the future. How does a person cope with such a life-changing discovery? What are the hopes and fears of someone living with this disease? How does he want to be treated? How does he feel as the disease alters his brain, his relationships, and ultimately himself?
Richard Taylor provides illuminating responses to these and many other questions in this collection of provocative essays. Diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease at age 61, the former psychologist courageously shares an account of his slow transformation and deterioration and the growing division between his world and the world of others.
With poignant clarity, candor, and even occasional humor, more than 80 brief essays address difficult issues faced by those with Alzheimer’s disease, including
• the loss of independence and personhood
• unwanted personality shifts
• communication difficulties
• changes in relationships with loved ones and friends
• the declining ability to perform familiar tasks
This rare, insightful exploration into the world of individuals with Alzheimer’s disease is a captivating read for anyone affected personally or professionally by the devastating disease. Individuals with early-stage Alzheimer’s disease will take comfort in the voice of a fellow traveler experiencing similar challenges, frustrations, and triumphs. Family and professional caregivers will be enlightened by Taylor’s revealing words, gaining a better understanding of an unfathomable world and how best to care for someone living in it. more info
Related posts:
- Level of gene alters risk of Alzheimer’s disease, researchers find (Science Daily)
- Alzheimer’s Drug Discovery Foundation Supports ADispell Technology With A Grant To Advance Novel Drug Candidates For …
- Alzheimer’s discovery brings hope
- September Marks World Alzheimer’s Month as Advocates Push for Early Diagnosis and Health Care Planning
- The Alzheimer’s Drug Discovery Foundation to Host 12th International Conference on Alzheimer’s Drug Discovery
November 7th, 2009 at 9:28 am
Kudos To One Brave Man
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
What a great book! Alzheimer’s, one of the cruelest of afflictions, touches so many families. This book is a must read for all to understand what it means to live through the progress of Alzheimer’s. Mr. Taylor takes a positive attitude towards this problem, and shares with all of us on the progress of Alzheimer’s. I’m sure most people would just give up and get depressed – but, not Mr. Taylor. He continues to live life to the fullest, and, shares his experiences in a most professional way. My admiration for him has no bounds. My best wishes go to this brave man.
November 14th, 2009 at 7:55 pm
Good reading for everyone
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
Any caregiver of a person with dementia should read Alzheimer’s From the Inside Out. It is actually good reading for anyone. As one would suspect, Dr. Taylor gives you tremendous insight into the thoughts and feelings of someone with Alzheimer’s disease. The writings reinforce the fact that there IS someone inside a person with dementia, a human being first and foremost, that deserves to be treated respectfully and is worth the trouble of doing what it takes to communicate with effectively.
November 14th, 2009 at 10:45 pm
Alzheimer’s from the Inside Out
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
This book gives a unique perspective on the feelings of the person with Alzheimer’s disease. Examining how it feels to be ignored by family and doctor’s as if they are not in the room as they are discussed. It is a good book for families and other caregivers to read as it can help them understand some of the behaviors that the person with Alzheimer’s disease exhibit, especially fear, anger, outrage, embarrassment, etc., often they cannot explain these reactions in words and thus act out their feelings. This book helps the caregiver understand this better and helps them to see that a change in their behavior might improve their loved one’s behavior.
November 15th, 2009 at 1:18 am
Yesterday I hear Mr. Taylor speak
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
Yesterday I hear Mr. Taylor speak to a room of spellbound seniors in a bridge (between independent and assisted) home in Atlanta. One of these seniors is my 89 year old mother, who has been diagnosed with cardio-vascular dementia. Mr. Taylor showed me, like no book or outside expert could, what a person with dementia feels and thinks inside. As he warned the caregivers not to treat their family as children, not to snatch chores and precious belongings away, not to order them about, not to show their frustration, and so many other feelings I know I have been guilty of, I knew I had been invited into a world I needed desperately to FEEL, not just learn about, but FEEL. The room full of nodding heads and murmured agreements convinced me of the harm we who try so hard to help can do to the ones we love in our rushed quest for expediency.
November 15th, 2009 at 9:10 am
A must for anyone facing the challenge of Alzheimer’s
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
Whether you are a care giver or have been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s this book will enrich your knowledge. Richard Taylor has the insight of personal experienc. He also has the gift of being able to convey that experience with passion, honesty and grit.
November 16th, 2009 at 3:26 am
ALZHEIMER’S FROM THE INSIDE OUT
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
I thought it was an excellent source for where we are at in having our mother recently diagnosed with Alzheimer’s. It wasn’t alot of fluff, very
honest about what to expect now and in the future. This is one’s man account of his memory loss and deficiencies acquainted with the disease. I reccommend it highly.
November 17th, 2009 at 6:23 am
THE BOOK for everyone concerned with the general topic
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
Very few books can be all things to all people. This comes very close. I have read most of the others, including the very few written by the people affected by some kind of brain condition that changes them, their behavior, their perceptions of themselves, and people’s and society’s perceptions of them as individuals. This book, written by a highly intelligent and verbal retired psychologist, a professional, about his own progression through the early stages of dementia, probably of the Alzheimer’s type (medical people have to use that phrase as only a biopsy of the brain is definitive right now), is for everyone. Those affected, their loved ones, professionals working with those affected, academicians/researchers looking for insights, psychologists, sociologists, psychoneurologists, etc. etc. It is not just about dementia. Any brain problem that changes the person is equally relevant. I know what I speak about. I am also a retired psychologist, diagnosed with Pick’s Disease, a dementia of the frontotemporal form. The causes may be irrelevant to most readers (build-up of certain proteins in the brain, vascular misfunctioning, whatever). It is the existential reality that is explored here, with exquisite insight, and humor as well. I have never met this man, but I certainly know him well now. I can’t recommend this book highly enough.
November 17th, 2009 at 11:01 pm
Excellent Book
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
This is a great read if you want to know what Alzheimers is like from someone who has it. It is very well written by a teacher with a formerly very high IQ who was diagnosed at age 58 and forced to retire. It is short essays about his experiences up to about age 63. It is easy to read from front to back. I didn’t get bogged down with sadness. After I read it I loaned it to my mother, she liked it to. My Dad has Alzheimers.
November 20th, 2009 at 1:53 pm
An amazing gift of self
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
This book is a gift from the author to all of us who need the support and insight and understanding so necessary to a care giver. It has given our entire family strength. The essays need to be read and savored and contemplated individually. And since each one is a short but profound read, finding the time is not a problem! My patience and endurance has multiplied because I am able to better imagine how my dad is feeling as he fights this disease. Thank you for this book.
November 21st, 2009 at 9:00 pm
A Dementia Patient Comments
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
I have early dementia, fitting the criteria for Alzheimer’s. Like the author, I was a psychotherapist in my 50s when my difficulties became such that I couldn’t work. It’s incredibly powerful to read his words, and see what I would have said if I were only so gifted. Most importantly, I want doctors to read this book, as most of them relate only to dementia as it looks in the end stage, and aren’t familiar with what the early disease process looks like.
November 22nd, 2009 at 7:29 am
Critical of Jesus, disturbing comparision!!
Rating:2 out of 5 stars
Right off the author critizes the writers of the New Testament. What does faith have to do with this book??? He puts down the Bible as contradicting. His book is only his perspective!!! I really did not like it at all.
November 24th, 2009 at 9:05 am
Stunning…
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
Alzheimer’s from the Inside Out is a stunning achievement. In this collection of essays, Richard Taylor gets at the essence of dementia, and how it has redefined his relationships with family, friends and even with himself.
There are no answers when it comes to Alzheimer’s, but Richard asks all the right questions. Alzheimer’s from the Inside Out is much more than a resource for anyone dealing with the disease. Although the book includes plenty of practical information, Richard goes beyond test scores, standard medications and neuroimaging to the more important philosophical and psychological aspects of life after diagnosis. He takes the focus off the disease, and puts it back on the person.
I wish I’d read this book when my father were alive. I would have worried less about what was wrong with him and worried more about just being with him.
December 1st, 2009 at 12:34 am
awakens the heart and mind
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
This book is a wonderful insight to the affects of Alzheimer’s from a patient’s perspective. It is a reminder of why we must continue to be patient, loving and understanding when dealing with anyone with the disease.
This is a book I will share and recommend to others.
December 5th, 2009 at 8:48 am
Personal experiences with Alzheimer’s
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
I found this book profoundly moving since my wife is caring for an individual with advanced Alzheimer’s. The statistics are frightening. Metlife Foundation surveys have found that adults 55 and older fear Alzheimer’s more than cancer. 4.5 million Americans currently have Alzheimer’s. Some of the symptoms we have observed personally include wandering, inability to perform even basic human tasks (such as unlocking a public toilet door from the inside), striking out at people, grabbing small children, wandering,using foul language and losing an understanding of colors. I have recently read Hermine Hilton’s new book, Fuhggeddaboutit! The book that will help you stop worrying about your memory (and Alzheimer’s). I benefited from her hundred tips on improving your memory. The book is brand new and should be listed on amazon.com soon. Right now I found it at http://www.lulu.com/tontent/237234. One other important thing I have learned. Never discuss something an Alzheimer’s victim has done wrong or try to contrict him or her. Often their brain is operating and hearing even though they can’t responsd and you run the risk of making them needlessly upset.
December 6th, 2009 at 12:08 am
Informative and Entertaining
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
This title is one of the few that I have been able to find that actually helps the Alzheimer’s patient, as well as the caretaker. My husband is in early-moderate stage and has found many incidents in the book that he can relate to. He keeps the book at his chair and re-reads parts of it everyday….and underlines frequently. I have found it very informative, and the author writes entertainingly as well. If you know some one that has been diagnosed with “dementia problems of the Alzheimer’s kind” this would be a wonderful addition to their personal library, and to yours. I am thinking of buying additional copies for each of our children.
December 9th, 2009 at 11:34 pm
A must read if involved with Alzheimer’s
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
Reading all the books I can find on this disease. This book was suggested as a must read at a Alzheimer’s seminar. I am a caregiver trying to understand and care for my mother. This is a very informative book in the eyes of the person with Alzheimer’s. Very eye opening for me. God Bless all who are dealing with this disease and those who love them and want the best for them. Thank you Mr. Taylor and may God Bless you and your family.
December 13th, 2009 at 1:32 am
ONCE
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
Fast service, great book from a first-person perspective, insightful and thought-provoking for those who have a friend or family member with this disease..
December 14th, 2009 at 3:21 pm
A gift to us all!
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
if you work with, love or know anyone living with Alzheimer’s or other forms of dementia, I HIGHLY recommend Alzheimer’s from the Inside Out by Richard Taylor. The book is written by a professional psychologist and teacher who was only 55 when he received his diagnosis of “dementia probably of the Alzheimer’s type” and who was able to write in a remarkably articulate and insightful way about his own process–how it affected him, his family, his caregivers and his relationship to others and to the world. It is a stunning achievement by the author who writes with passion, honesty, even humor; and it contains a wealth of helpful information to support us all in relating to individuals living with dementia in more effective, caring and compassionate ways. The book also includes invaluable resource information in the form of recommended reading, website addresses, names of organizations, and agencies, and so on.
Dawn Nelson, Founder
COMPASSIONATE TOUCH for Those in Later Life Stages
author, From the Heart Through the Hands: The Power of Touch in Caregiving.
December 15th, 2009 at 6:12 pm
Alzheimer’s from the patient’s perspective
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
Richard comments on his dementia in the early stages. In the later stages, he can only see HIS needs.