What happens to the soul of a person with dementia or Alzheimer disease? Is it overwhelmed by the disease so nothing of the person is obvious or does it leave the body and is watched over by G-d? I work with the elderly and have been bothered by this as I watch the person “disappear” and it seems like someone else takes over. I appreciate your response.
This is a very interesting question. I can’t say that I’m any kind of an expert on souls, but I do know that our tradition teaches that our souls remain with us until the very last moment of life. Even after death, to varying degrees, the soul is said to remain in the geographic proximity of its body for some time.
What I might suggest is happening with your patients is that as their conscious minds are progressively less effective, their subconscious – or dunkele as Rabbi Yisroel Salanter described the subconscious back in the middle of the 19th Century – becomes more visibly active. This subconscious, too, is connected to the soul, but relates to conscious thought differently.
I hope this helps and wish you the very best.With regards,
Rabbi Boruch Clinton
Ottawa, Canada