The social isolation, the burden of responsibility, sheer lack of fun and spontaneity, and (usually) the lack of money, which come hand in hand with caring for a person with Alzheimers and other forms of dementia must be quite crushing, no matter how much the bonds of love prevail.
I am pleased to see that there is a 'cafe' held every month for sufferers of Alzheimers and their families to have a friendly time together. It takes place at St Andrews Church Centre, Church Road (off St Andrews Road, which runs between Higham Hill Road and Blackhorse Lane) in Walthamstow on the third Monday of the month, from 10.30am to 12.30pm. It is run by the Waltham Forest Carers Association, which reckons there are some 2,000 'informal' carers who look after a relative, friend or neighbour with a disability and/or mental health difficulty locally. That would be about 1% of the population of the borough. Of course, many more people than that are affected by the issues and benefit from the efforts of such people to care from their loved ones in a world which is not always as selfish as we think.
WFCA can be contacted on 0208 531 9652.