What being an Alzheimer’s caregiver taught me about mental health
Do you have times when your mind bounces between what you should do or ought to be doing at the moment?? Are you overwhelmed by hundreds of creative ideas without having the time to implement them? For a long time, the answer for me was a resounding yes, and I can't stress enough how exhausting this can be. Then again, perhaps you know this struggle first hand.
The thing is—the human brain is not able to operate optimally when balancing multiple streams of information, at once. It’s like a computer with dozens of tabs open in a browser; it will be difficult to manage them all and eventually that computer will crash and generally, as we age, learning and memory decline because our minds tend to be exhausted with excessive information or junk data.
How memory is affected by information
According to the Alzheimer's Association, nearly two-thirds of those with Alzheimer’s are women. And black Americans are two times as likely as their white counterparts to develop Alzheimer’s and dementia.
Learning to regularly detox the mind is crucial to our development as women of color. By having meaningful conversations about our mental health with our family and loved-ones, we can begin to change the narrative and create new rituals that positively impact our “working memory” or short-term memory.
What being an Alzheimer's caregiver taught me
Around 2011 I witnessed my aunt Carolyn’s swift mental decline. She was diagnosed with early-stage dementia at the age of sixty-eight. We believe that much of her change was a result of grief. She devastatingly lost two of her closest loved ones in a very short period of time.
By watching her, and reversing the caregiver role, I learned to practice unconditional love and I found several ways to release my daily stress through things like yoga, meditation, and journaling; more specifically, I found relief in a technique known as brain dumping.
The brain dump is just what it sounds like—an opportunity to get all of your thoughts out. Not only will you create some room in your head, but you’ll also be able to process and organize your priorities.
Don’t worry about all you need to do, just get started! Here’s my step-by-step guide through a complete brain dump and an effective method to organize all the information you release.
How to brain dump
Brain dumping is writing independent thoughts on a page.
Some people love to make a simple list of bullet points, then jot a sentence or thought next to each one. If you have more to say about a specific bullet point, just keep writing. Also, if you have something you’d like to add later, draw an arrow back to the first thought.
At this point, don't worry about organization, just write. Allow your thoughts to flow without over-analyzing for clarity or usefulness. This is your absolute, shameless, #NoFilter moment. You’re allowed to be messy now. If you choose, you can process and organize it later!
You might be surprised at the things you’ll write down within a 15-minute session. It may seem overwhelming and time-consuming at first. Remember that the more you release, the lighter your load, and the more intentional you can be with your time.
It's a good idea to plan a monthly or weekly brain dump for yourself. Consider adding this practice to your lifestyle rituals to help you experience less anxiety and overwhelm. It’s also an excellent way to start and end each day.
What to do with a brain dump
When your brain dump is complete, set it aside for a while so you can return with fresh eyes. If you decide you’d like to organize your thoughts into tasks, here’s a few steps to guide you:
Select your priorities
Cross out anything that is not a task.
Create a list of categories
Grab a set of colored pens
Assign a color to each category (For instance, Green = Work, Blue = Errands, Pink = Home, etc)
Grab a blank sheet of paper, at the top write “Get ish done” and draw four quadrants. Next, label them in the following way;
Yesterday - Tasks that are overdue, piling up, and keeping you awake at night.
Now – Tasks that should be done within the next couple of days i.e bill payments, meetings, grocery shopping, etc.
Soon – Tasks that should be done in the near future but don’t require immediate attention.
Later – Consider it your “someday” list.
7. Look through your list and assign each task to a category. Move all your relevant tasks from the brain dump to new sheet or into an app like Wunderlist. You should do this until all the tasks are put down in order of priority and according to color.
That's it. Don’t you feel better already?
When you create upcoming daily, monthly, and weekly to-do lists, ensure that you always refer back to the “Get ish done” sheet. It will remind you of what matters.
Remember that if you do not get all those thoughts out of your brain and into a well-organized process, it probably will never get done. Your mind will be filled with much more information than you can process. Learning to release stress and declutter our minds helps us to stay present and live blissful lives. I hope this technique will help you face important tasks first so you can remain organized and stress-free every day!
Need an alternative?
The principles of brain dumping also work well with audio recording. Grab your phone and set a 15-minute timer to record all of the thoughts that come to your mind. In this way, clearing takes priority over organizing thought, but the recording is always available to help you revisit your state of mind and write down your thoughts when you have an extra moment or two.
Want to help spread awareness on mental health and aging?
I proudly serve as the Strategic Planning Specialist on the board of Dementia Care Warriors, an NPO that was founded by an incredible black woman who has been a full-time caregiver twice in her life. She has alchemized her experiences to bring meaningful education and community to those who are caregivers of loved ones.
Please consider supporting Dementia Care Warriors by attending or donating to its annual event Revive Refresh!
