Before I Lose My Own Mind

Navigating Life as a Dementia Caregiver

Author: Beverly E. Thorn

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"This is a book I immediately wanted to give to a friend-and keep a copy for my bookshelf. Wise, clear, well-researched, and helpful." -Katy Butler, bestselling author of Knocking on Heaven's Door and The Art of Dying Well

When Dr. Beverly E. Thorn became a caregiver for her husband, Walt, she joined a massive army. Worldwide, unpaid dementia caregiving requires the equivalent of forty million full-time workers, and that number will only grow. But navigating dementia caregiving can feel like trying to climb a mountain in the dark-and few resources exist to support caregivers in finding their way.

In Before I Lose My Own Mind, Thorn-a psychologist, neuroscientist, and end-of-life doula-provides an honest vision of caregiving that is tender, openhearted, and genuinely useful. Filled with resources and insights on financial planning, advance care directives, clinical trials, support groups, death with dignity, grief, recovery, and more, this book is a road map for all caregivers, whether they're family or friends, spouses or children, professionals or novices.

For those coping with the grief, exhaustion, and loneliness of a challenge they never expected, help is out there. Surviving dementia caregiving is a team effort. Consider this book a part of your support crew.

Critic Reviews

"This is a book I immediately wanted to give to a friend-and keep a copy for my bookshelf. Wise, clear, well-researched, and helpful. Many books focus exclusively on the needs of the person with dementia and assume the unpaid family caregiver is a saint without normal human needs. Not this one. The 'Facts & Insights' sections are fantastic and will save your life when you are too overwhelmed to absorb a full chapter." -Katy Butler, bestselling author of Knocking on Heaven's Door and The Art of Dying Well

"In the style of Atul Gawande's Being Mortal, Beverly Thorn's Before I Lose My Own Mind is not only a raw and honest journal of a wife's walk with her husband as he descends into dementia, but also contains valuable chapter-by-chapter facts, insights, and resources. . . . In this moving, and often humorous, love story, we have a front row seat as the author overcomes her denial and learns to fight for her husband. And for herself." -Gretchen Staebler, author of Mother Lode: Confessions of a Reluctant Caregiver

"Remarkably forthcoming about the ups and downs of her emotional journey, Thorn's candor, dry humor, and no-nonsense prose makes the potentially challenging material very accessible. . . . Before I Lose My Own Mind serves as a document of Thorn's journey as well as a valuable road map for others who are in a similar caregiver role." -Jim Van Buskirk, regional coordinator and chief book and film reviewer for Final Exit Network and editor of There at the End: Voices from Final Exit Network

"Every page of this book captivated me. The author writes from her own perspective, offering a personal lens on Alzheimer's that makes Walt's story highly relatable. . . . While we cannot and should not assume to be in someone else's position, we might encounter similar situations, and this book encourages you to take what you need from it and make it your own. . . . an essential read." -Gabrielle Elise Jimenez, hospice nurse, end-of-life doula, death educator, and author of The Hospice Heart

"This book is full of practical information and resources, but it is also a comforting place to turn for emotional support. Readers will find invaluable insights, useful suggestions, and a laugh or two in this necessary guide." -Deborah Nedelman, MFA, PhD, author of A Guide for Beginning Psychotherapists, Still Sexy After All These Years?, and What We Take for Truth