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When You're Asked to Speak About Sex, Intimacy, and Alzheimer's

A brief overview of the influence of degenerative brain disease on intimacy and sexuality is offered to sexologists invited to speak to Alzheimer's support groups. Options for coping with sexual issues are offered from the perspectives of both the well partner and the partner with Alzheimer's disease. These options are dependent on the length of time since diagnosis and severity of the dementia. Attitudes of adult children are considered. Topics the speaker might include are discussed along with the speaker's own awareness of anxiety about loss, degenerative brain disease, and continuing sexual energy for the well partner. Suggestions for managing appropriate and inappropriate behaviors are offered. Preparing to lose a partner is described as an intimate and spiritual task, especially when one defines intimacy as a deep connection with oneself in the presence of a partner. Providing information and offering specific suggestions are described as supporting the intimacy of partners waiting for a predictable end.