Athazagoraphobia: A Mouthful and a Brainful
Phobias are long-term anxiety disorders that can disrupt activities of daily living. For many, phobias generate strong feelings of panic, anxiety, stress and fear. In severe cases, you might experience physical or psychological reactions that interfere with your daily life. In other words, the anxiety that your fear causes may alter your physical and mental health.
Enter Athazagoraphobia. The fear of forgetting someone or something, as well as a fear of being forgotten. For example, you or a loved one may have anxiety or fear of developing a Dementia Related Disorder, like Alzheimer's Related Dementia. Or a general fear of memory loss. This might come from caring for someone with such a disorder or simply seeing messages about the loss of cognition over and over again. Let's face it, we work in an industry that reminds us of how sick we can be rather than how well most of us really are; at any age.
The term Athazagoraphobia reminds me of a case study I heard years ago:
A older husband and wife lived on a rural farm. The husband, "John", had a sister who lived with some type of dementia for many years and eventually passed away. John had spent a great deal of time caring for his sister and was determined that he would not have that type of protracted demise. He was heartbroken when she died, as she was such an integral part of his family network.
After some months, John began to forget things. Car keys. Items at the grocery store. And he was panicked that he was also following the same path as his sister. He fell into a deep depression. He volunteered to give all of his firearms and ammunition to his children; to have them removed from the house.
Some time later, John's wife was out in the yard and heard the back porch screen door slam. As she returned to the house, she saw that it was not the screen door. John has shot himself. He had strategically kept one firearm and one bullet.
This is a horrible story; made even more horrible by the fact that it is a true story. In retrospect, John exhibited all the classic signs of depression and not of dementia. His anguish over the loss of his sister and his incredible fear of following her trajectory seemingly results in anxiety, depression...then some very mild cognitive impairment. Not dementia.
This example of Athazagoraphobia may seem catastrophic. But some researchers and practitioners are pushing back and observing that this is not entirely uncharacteristic. That normal changes in memory and recall related to our "hard drives being full" is manifesting itself into this heightened anxiety and fear, which are returning both physical and cognitive side effects. A self-fulfilling prophecy if you will.
As healthcare professionals, we are called on to remember that most of the folks we encounter will never have a dementia diagnosis. Around 1/4 of folks over the age of 65 may have "mild cognitive impairment." Some 10% may have a diagnosis of some kind of dementia (and there are many different kinds). The numbers do increase with advancing age, with under 40% of 90-year olds tending to have a diagnosis of dementia.
Regardless of age, one is UNLIKELY to ever have a diagnosis of dementia. We need to change the narrative from that of fear, to that of hope. From decline to resilience...and thriving. Because even with an accurate diagnosis of a Dementia Related Disorder, with a strong village of family and friends, healthcare providers, nutrition, exercise and PURPOSE, lives are still lived and lived well. Again, let's change the narrative.
Written By: Dr. Jay White, a Gerontologist and Certified Dementia Practitioner. He works with the Longevity Project for a greater Richmond and his own emerging options counseling private practice in Central Virginia.
Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay