Creative expression for processing dementia: Terry and Janet

You’ll find people living with dementia like Fred Keating (in A letter to dementia) and Brian Stanley (in his poem Pictures on the wall) using writing to make sense of their lives in a way that can help other people.

Like countless others who have used creative expression to make sense of their lives, these two writers offer authentic insights into individual experiences, yet they connect to what others are feeling.

 

For Janet Marshall and husband Terry, music has always been at the heart of their 45-year marriage. They played in a band together, and their love for folk music and performing took them around the world.

Terry has spoken frequently about the value of sharing music with his longtime musical partner and wife, who passed away this spring after living with dementia.

During the time she spent in hospital and long-term care, Terry visited, wheeled her in her chair outdoors – on warm, clear days – to the parking lot and recorded videos of the two of them singing together, later uploading them to his YouTube channel. The music connected them to each other, but it also kept Terry resilient.

“It’s been a source of joy,” Terry says. “Music is magic. It has its own momentum, with whatever I may be dealing with at the time, if I take out my guitar and start playing...and definitely when I connect with other people...”

If you haven’t yet found the value of creative expression, there are many reasons to try:

1. To reach a language beyond words. Naming feelings is helpful for accepting and responding to them, but the experience of dementia is complex. Emotions can be expressed in symbols, freeing us from word limitations.
2. To calm intense feelings. A work of art such as a poem or music can hold emotions and allow them to be expressed. Music can communicate sadness without retelling a story that might be difficult to re-experience. Singing or dancing can allow the nervous system to settle and anxiety to pass.
3. To relieve ambiguous loss and grief. Some parts of dementia can’t be fixed or lessened. Creative expression can release emotions linked to gradual changes. A repeated drawing, song or gesture might become a personal emotional ritual that helps with orienting oneself and maintaining connections. 

We are not all musicians, visual artists or writers who want to perform or share our work, but we all have the capacity to express our feelings in creative ways that help us to process emotions and navigate grief and loss.