Thinking about Dementia Culture, Loss, and the Anthropology of Senility

Cultural responses to most illnesses differ; dementia is no exception.These responses, together with a society's attitudes toward its elderlypopulation, affect the frequency of dementia-related diagnoses and thenature of treatment. Bringing together essays by nineteen respectedscholars, this unique volume approaches the subject from a variety ofangles, exploring the historical, psychological, and philosophicalimplications of dementia. Based on solid ethnographic fieldwork, theessays employ a cross-cultural perspective and focus on questions ofage, mind, voice, self, loss, temporality, memory, and affect. Takentogether, the essays make four important and interrelated contributionsto our understanding of the mental status of the elderly.