Caregiving & Dementia: 7 tips for Good Grieving

August 30^th, 2020 is National Grief Awareness Day. All month I’ve been chatting about Grief, dementia, and caregiving (on social media).

And the verdict is out: Grief is such a complicated, individual, and layered experience!

But one thing is for sure, we ALL will experience grief in our life time. Even right now, during this COVID-19 pandemic, many of us have lost loved ones, close friends, and know someone impacted by the virus.

And it might feel like we are collectively grieving..

Additionally, grief and dementia caregiving can be an even more unique experience.

A very common type of grief experienced by dementia caregivers is Anticipatory Grief [AG]: which is a feeling of grief occurring before an impending loss.

That feeling of grieving your loved one before their actual death… while also anticipating potential losses that will occur during the course of the disease.

Have you ever experienced this type of grief?

It’s also very normal to grieve each of those losses while also feeling anxiety or fear about what future loses will occur, because of the dementia diagnosis.

A perfect example of this type of AG is the fear of when your loved one with dementia will forget who you are and not be able to recognize you!

This is a very real experience and heart break every single time.

Try to remember that those feelings you are experiencing are normal. Grieving is a normal part of the caregiving journey. And It IS okay to have waves of ups and downs.

See infographic below with 7 helpful tips for “grieving good” and navigating grief as a dementia caregiver: