Making a decision starts with assessing all the options then selecting an appropriate action. Sounds easy, eh? From the moment we open our eyes every morning we all make decisions: to get out of bed, plan our activities for the day – or maybe to just stay there a little longer…
But then, once up, our minds have already done a myriad of mind manoeuvres – and all without much conscious effort. We all drift through that raft of daily decisions about showering, choosing clothing, what to eat, and then mull over the day’s planned activities. Along that process we’ll also decide how to travel, who to see, what to buy, or when to do something – a string of choices we seem to make instinctively.
And that sequential thought process is much more complex than we realise. Our mind seems to move through our daily routine of activities automatically. Our brain has been pre-programmed by earlier life activities and seems to run on autopilot. My mind hardly registers that I’ve prepared my body, adorned it with clothes, and organised a plan for what comes next after breakfast, and all without much thought. It is clear to me now, how utterly different that was for my late wife.
Alzheimer’s began its’ assault on Dorothy’s ability to run on autopilot; it removed her ability to select and choose her activities. Bit by bit, her lifetime of happy personal interactions and subconscious decision-making just continued to melt away. All that earlier life with its loving response mechanisms had slipped away. Her ability to make choices and decisions was almost entirely absent. A lifetime of learned and instinctive behaviour had slipped into a void where only a few remnants spasmodically survived.
As I awake each morning, I’m able to think and decide automatically, as most of us do, about when to get up and what will follow. Later in the day I am able to change my plans and to be flexible about timelines and activities. How good is that!
If you, dear reader, can also do much the same, then there’s a good chance, like me, you don’t have Alzheimer’s! I am still able to make choices, to pick and choose most of my life activities. Well, maybe I am a wee bit forgetful and, perhaps, sometimes, just make the occasional wrong choice, at the wrong time.…but don’t we all know that feeling?
Now, this is a good time to draw your attention to:
Dementia Action Week 2025 …. coming soon!!
Monday 15th to Sunday 21st September
includes World Alzheimer’s Day on Sunday 21 Sept.
I hope you will, right now, go to their web site to discover what’s on:
Dementia Action Week | Dementia Australia
https://www.dementia.org.au/get-involved/dementia-action-week