# Hey Dude - look behind you. **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [May 30, 2013, 6:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-dude-look-behind-you/659693 "2013-05-30T06:56:19Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2013, 6:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-dude-look-behind-you/659693/1 "2013-05-30T06:56:19Z")
This reporters quizzical reaction is priceless. He’s waiting for a live shot to update the search for a local man with dementia. It takes the reporter a couple minutes to realize who just walked by him. 😛 The video is worth a look just to see the reporter work it out in his head. > **[Camera crew reporting on missing man, 73, stunned as he emerges from the...](https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2332674/Camera-crew-reporting-missing-man-73-stunned-emerges-trees-them.html)** > > Robert McDonough, who has dementia, had been missing from his home in Limington, Maine for more than 14 hours when the WMTW crew went to his street to provide a live update. A fortuitous ending. The old gentlemen could have wandered around for days before getting found. I didn’t realize someone with dementia could act so normal. The old gentlemen was well dressed, walks up, says hi, and comments on the weather. I would have never realized anything was wrong. The reporter almost failed to recognize him even with a description of the man. ---
**Author:** ![Ferret\_Herder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e47774/32.png) [@Ferret\_Herder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferret_Herder)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2013, 10:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-dude-look-behind-you/659693/2 "2013-05-30T10:38:56Z")
Talk about a scoop. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![phouka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c5a1d2/32.png) [@phouka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/phouka)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2013, 1:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-dude-look-behind-you/659693/3 "2013-05-30T13:30:11Z")
Oh, yeah. People with dementia are really good at covering their deficits, especially with people who don’t know them. Small talk is easy - the weather, your health, your favorite movie. All those superficial social skills tend to last a fairly long time, and people with dementia often behave better around strangers than they do when alone with family. It’s why first responders will assess for aware, alert, and oriented in that order. ---
**Author:** ![Ferret\_Herder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e47774/32.png) [@Ferret\_Herder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferret_Herder)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2013, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-dude-look-behind-you/659693/4 "2013-05-30T15:07:47Z")
Yeah, my mother-in-law was perfectly capable of chatting about the weather, etc. Only problem was that she would repeat the same small-talk conversation every 5-10 minutes without realizing it was a repeat. ---
**Author:** ![swampbear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/swampbear/32/467_2.png) [@swampbear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/swampbear)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2013, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-dude-look-behind-you/659693/5 "2013-05-30T15:33:09Z")
My father would talk of the news/weather/current events etc just fine. At the same time however his mind might be in 1970 thinkin’ he was talkin’ to his then 16 year old son rather than his at the time 47 year old son. The father of a friend of mine knows who I am but apparently does not really know why he knows who I am so he has decided I grew up with his son which I didn’t. In his mind I have a whole different life growing up in the same town he raised his family. Thus I have a whole other life going on in somebody else’s mind. ---
**Author:** ![simster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/simster/32/1047_2.png) [@simster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/simster)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2013, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-dude-look-behind-you/659693/6 "2013-05-30T17:14:41Z")
> [@swampbear](#): > > My father would talk of the news/weather/current events etc just fine. At the same time however his mind might be in 1970 thinkin’ he was talkin’ to his then 16 year old son rather than his at the time 47 year old son. > > The father of a friend of mine knows who I am but apparently does not really know why he knows who I am so he has decided I grew up with his son which I didn’t. In his mind I have a whole different life growing up in the same town he raised his family. Thus I have a whole other life going on in somebody else’s mind. Or you’re the one with the problem and you’re not who you think you are. Think about that for a minute. ---
**Author:** ![Colophon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@Colophon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colophon)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2013, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-dude-look-behind-you/659693/7 "2013-05-30T17:29:31Z")
A bit like that woman who found her dog in the rubble of the Oklahoma tornado live on TV. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2013, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-dude-look-behind-you/659693/8 "2013-05-30T18:06:58Z")
[GPS Shoes](http://www.alzheimersreadingroom.com/2011/10/gps-tracking-shoe-for-dementia-patients.html) may be the answer. Especially for people that are still semi-functional. A relative could take them shopping, out to eat and not worry about them slipping away. My dad was still in the early stages. He still drove. Ran errands. Once in awhile he’d get turned around, or forget the errand he left to do, but he always got home. I know he was pretty good at compensating and using post it notes. We dreaded the day when he actually would get lost. He died before his dementia reached that stage. Otherwise we would definitely would have bought him these shoes by now.