ABSTRACT
This chapter provides an understanding of the emotional situation of the families of persons with dementia. It discusses the factors which influence why grieving is more difficult for some than for others. Grieving is usually referred to as a 'process'. Sometimes such grieving behaviours are grouped into three stages: protest, despair and detachment. Naturally there are always differences in the grieving processes for the loss of a partner, parents, siblings, friends, colleagues, neighbours, etc. The intensity of the bond that the 'person left behind' had with the deceased plays a large role in grieving. The grieving process can also be complicated by old, unresolved losses and grief. Sooner or later, the partner and children of a person with dementia long for the real death of their spouse or parent. The brain damage, and the way in which the person with dementia reacts to having it, are not the only factors that influence behaviour.
