Experiencing Loneliness as a Source of Existential Suffering during Alzheimer’s Disease

Abstract

The paper analyses the specificity of the phenomenon of loneliness experienced in Alzheimer’s disease. The theoretical part contains a discussion on the issue of solitude and loneliness as described in the scientific literature, as well as on the significance of various manifestations of loneliness for the possibility of achieving existential fulfilment. Particular attention has been paid to the context of unaccountable loneliness caused by destructive changes in Alzheimer’s disease. It disrupts the ability to remember and perceive oneself in relation to one’s social environment. In the empirical part which uses the qualitative research approach, an in-depth reflection on the multi-faceted, very complex nature of experiencing loneliness by an elderly woman with Alzheimer’s disease is presented. The analysis was conducted on the basis of her own entries in her daily notebook concerning the ways of experiencing loneliness as a source of existential suffering. The analysis of the collected research material enabled the identification of several manifestations of the loneliness of an elderly person which do not correspond with the typical image of loneliness experienced by an individual unaffected by dementia. The analysis captured the subtle nature of existential suffering, which reflects the specificity of the deepening personal degradation of an elderly person caused by Alzheimer’s disease.