Parkinson's.
I had heard the word many times but never understood what it was really like. It was not until this podcast that I began to feel some sense of it.
After listening, I felt that what is more frightening is not the illness itself, but all the reactions it brings, including but not limited to emotional pressure.
It seems that every illness is like this.
Getting sick is not the worst thing. Receiving the diagnosis is not the worst thing either. The worst thing is... the helplessness, confusion, and despair after learning the fact that you are ill... Those feelings are often what set up the final, fatal blow.
There is a reason I used to say I envied people who are naturally positive and optimistic. In stories, these people always seem able to move against the wind and arrive at the outcome they hope for. For people who are relatively cautious or habitually imagine the worst outcome... hope is often “ended” by themselves before it even begins.
Having hope is always a good thing, if being alive still feels like a good thing.
Of course, beyond the patients themselves, whether caregivers are “seen” is even more poignant.
No matter what role they have beside the patient, the common assumption that their care is “only natural” is the greatest cruelty toward these people carrying such a heavy burden.