I am a veteran public relations professional and former professor of public relations and social media at a state university in Texas. Since 2010 my husband, Bill, (whom I married on May 1, 1982) and I have been on a journey we never signed up for–a journey into the dark and isolating world of Alzheimer’s Disease. In retrospect, the symptoms were there years, maybe decades ago. Nobody thought a man so smart and young could have dementia, so he was treated and medicated for depression, ADHD, bipolar disorder, and thyroid disease. He lost jobs and initiative, trashed our finances and nearly ruined our marriage before episodes of getting lost led us to a diagnosis of younger-onset Alzheimer’s Disease.
In 2017 more than 5.5 million Americans have Alzheimer’s Disease, and that number is projected to grow to 7.1 million by 2025. In 2015 the direct costs to the American people for Alzheimer’s care is $226 billion. In 2016 friends and family members of people with Alzheimer’s provided an estimated 18.2 billion hours of unpaid care, with an estimated value of nearly $230 billion. In 2017 Alzheimer’s and other dementias will cost the United States more than $259 billion. The emotional, medical and economic cost to caregivers is high, with 60 percent reporting stress-related issues. Forty percent of primary caregivers report being treated for depression, and the additional healthcare costs to caregivers is estimated to exceed $9.7 billion in 2014.
For more information, check out this short video.
