How to Tell Family and Friends
Once you’ve gotten used to the idea of your diagnosis, you may want to start letting those close to you know. This can be difficult. Here are some of our thoughts:
“I’ve been selective in letting people know . Certain people will not do the right thing with the information . Some people don’t know how to talk to you anymore . They are afraid of the ‘weird things’ that may happen to you . It’s a problem . But certainly my direct family and friends know . You get all sorts of questions . Your kids have a very healthy way of looking at it . They know you have to cope . I don’t know if my grandchildren know . I left that up to my daughters .” - Gerrit
“They recognize that I have some kind of disease . They are very understanding and accepting .” - Les
“Denial keeps you from telling many people . Being part of the support group has helped me become more comfortable and talk about my diagnosis . Some of my friends still don’t believe me because I don’t fit into their idea of what AD looks like. They don’t think there’s anything wrong with me .” - Gerrit
“It took me a while to tell people because I was in denial . But then I wanted to start helping people with the diagnosis, so I started talking about my diagnosis more .” - Les
“I’ve stopped telling people if it’s not necessary .” - Gerrit
“The people you tell first are the ones you’ve shared a lot with . If you don’t know them well, then why would you talk about it?” - Elizabeth
“There are people I don’t see often . They don’t see me change .” - Gerrit