'Do they still recognise you?': Our language matters when speaking about dementia

Provocative metaphors may be allaying our own fears and anxieties about dementia but we are doing nothing to promote the dignity, personhood and well-being of the individual, writes Professor Suzanne Cahill

We need to re-shape our thinking about dementia to enable us to connect with rather than distance ourselves from those dear to us who have the condition.

A recent newspaper article used the word ‘sufferer’ to describe a person diagnosed with dementia. 

Within a few days, the Alzheimer Society of Ireland (ASI) had contacted the newspaper requesting that journalists refrain from using this term to depict the person diagnosed. They referred to the ASI’s own guidelines on dementia-friendly language and claimed that the word ‘sufferer’ was stigmatizing.