ABSTRACT
Chapter 2 starts with an account of the author’s experience with a female offender undergoing what appeared to be an episode of psychosis. It goes on to use a discussion of mental illness by Elyn Saks to introduce the mental illness people with dementia face. A thumbnail sketch of the history of dementia follows. This history includes discussion of geronticide, the direct killing of the elderly, death-hastening, indirect killing through abandonment, and other non-supportive treatment. The chapter goes on to discuss biomedical and sociological perspectives on problems of the mind before addressing the relationship of dementing illness to aggression and violence. The chapter concludes with a discussion of the various perspectives on the agency, selfhood, and sentience of people with advanced forms of dementia.
