This question comes from watching the TV right now, and they’re talking about Bruce Willis. I feel bad for him, I really do…
Bruce Willis apparently has what they call Frontotemporal Dementia. That’s a tounge twister mouthful for most average people, I can only assume Mr. Willis probably can’t even remember the name of his own condition…
Why isn’t there a ‘patient-friendly’ easy to remember name for disorders that literally affect a person’s brain and memory?
Like shit, I bet most people wouldn’t know what polytetrafluoroethylene is, but they gave everyone a simple name to know it by, teflon.
So, why don’t they have simpler terms for brain disorders so the suffering patient might be able to talk to their own doctor privately…?
I’ve never heard it pronounced any other way?
And my point is that being exposed to the word dementia, and taught what it means and how to say it, is no different than being taught how to say Teflon. When you first learn it, it will be a bit awkward. The more you and people around you use it, the more familiar it will become. That just how language works.
What do you propose we use instead of dementia? How would that be a better solution? I’m not against helping people with better accessibility, I just don’t see where this is a problem that can be solved by changing the words used. Especially since to me it seems like we already do what is being suggested in the title post. We already usually have a general term in common conversation in place of the full medical term used by medical professionals.
I never said to change the existing words, I’m just suggesting to do like almost every other word or phrase and have a shorthand, easier to remember/communicate acronym or something.
Imagine actually being a person suffering with brain/memory issues. You know you have a condition, but you can’t remember what the hell the doctor called it to save your life.
That’s fucking embarrassing to them, I’ve seen that firsthand more than once. ☹️
I’m not saying to completely replace it either, but what are examples of words or phrases you think would be a good “shorthand” for dementia? Anything I can think of is either infantilizing or not actually simpler, just different. And needing to learn a new word might be just as difficult, or might be difficult for other people for different reasons.
I can empathize with patients being embarrassed because they can’t pronounce or remember the name of their own condition, but I feel that the condition itself would pose the same issue with other, substitute words as well. It’s sad and tragic, but I don’t think it can be fixed by a change of language.
The existing terms I tend to hear are ‘brain fog’, CRS (can’t remember shit), and for those with a few more braincells still intact, ‘CRAFT’, or Can’t Remember A Fucking Thing.
Yes, I gather that basically any doctor worth their weight in salt should interpret those sort of terms as the patient has brain/memory issues, but isn’t there some easier and less self-insulting term than CRAFT?