Hello Tian and eKim,
This is an area worth exploring.
Tian, drugs alter the ability to communicate, internally and with our surroundings. I believe there are options to take before palliative sedation but the client must be willing to explore them. Although sometimes holding a hand is enough, as the experience of Ekim illustrates.
Altered states of consciousness help us in transitions. We experience an altered state any time we dream, watch television, play a video game, take drugs, drink alcohol, smoke tobacco, intense physical exertion, have a near death experience. Coma and dementia are examples of altered states.
Dying is accompanied by altered states of consciousness. Dying has much in common with dreaming, except we don’t wake up, not here at least.
Anecdotal evidence tells us there are things that altered states of consciousness have in common. We know thisfrom our own dream states. Here are two: the absence of time and perceptual/sensory distortion.
How can we use this information? With dementia, I never make references to clock time. For people with dementia, time is not linear. If they see or hear things I do not perceive then I try to validate their inner experience with words like ‘that must be interesting, can you tell me more’.
People in altered states experience a different ‘normal’ than we do. Care-givers and companions can meet them in that dream-like place. In other words we have the capacity to shift our waking awareness to communicate with them in their inner world.
The technique is called Bridging. I hope to offer it as a workshop in the fall.