Alzheimer’s, bereavement and understanding. Caregivers facing continuous and progressive loss
This article presents a reflection on the bereavements that occur around Alzheimer’s disease, such as the gradual disappearance of key elements that made the patient who they were, from the perspective of their caregivers and close family. By examining the ways in which grief manifests itself amongst family caregivers for patients with Alzheimer’s disease, we will question the variable dimensions of grief these family caregivers are exposed to, as they are dealing with a progressive ‘multidimensional death,’ in which language and their relationship with the patient plays a key role. In cases where people have Alzheimer’s disease, their caregivers are found to be in situations of continued or multiple grief. In addition to the pain of the physical death of a loved one, grief related to their relationship, or their past appears to be grafted onto the pain, particularly through language, the strangeness of the other, and what brought them together.