Working with the elderly population with dementia can be difficult mentally and emotionally in ways most people wouldn't realize or understand. It really is essential to have a strong foundation and a strong support system of people who love and listen to you and care. It can be isolating to have the same conversations over and over with people who don't remember your name. You can feel like you're connecting with someone, as we do when we converse with one another, but this is very isolating because there really isn't that reciprocated receiving that we do when relating to others. When you spend 40 or more hours a week only having these types of conversations and relationships and you go home to yourself and start the day again... it can be extremely draining. Self-care and self-knowledge is very important if you're going to do this type of work. It's also heartbreaking to watch them decline, knowing that they are all at the end of their lives and that the disease will take them and their dignity and all of who they were. You can't help but form friendships and love them. You will smile and laugh with them. You will love them and care for them, and you will watch them die and you'll be by their side as they cross over to be with the Lord. It is also a great blessing.
