The Experience of Personal Time in Alzheimer's Disease

International audienceBackground. Alzheimer’s Disease (AD) is a neurodegenerative illness, which occurs with increasing frequency as people age, and is currently a disease beyond curative therapeutic possibilities. While progressive memory impairment is the upfront element associated with the disease, other neurocognitive problems are also associated with it, such as language impairment that tend to degenerate into aphasia. The paper presents singular representations of time in such patients’ lived experience, which with the course of the disease gradually move away from the real present around them. In consequence, they live in a bygone era. The dimension of the perceived world implies an anchoring in temporality in the present by using the resources of the past. This becomes impossible with the progression of the cognitive disorders. Multiple psychological tensions result from patient’s maladjustment to temporality. Objective. The article attempts to define the singular experience of the time of the demented patient according to the phases of the disease. Design. An analysis of the psychological tensions summoned at the various stages of the disease was carried out using a semiotic methodology. Results. The progression of the disease gives way to another mode of relation to the world, presentism. With its course, emotions can no longer unfold. At first, the patient seeks to increase his grip on the surrounding world, and the internal psychological tensions are accentuated. Suddenly the world ends up completely escaping him, and catastrophically the internal tensions collapse. The patient slides irreversibly towards regression. Conclusion. If the emotional intensity of what the patient experiences is enough, he remains engaged in the time of a presence in the world, even if it is distinct from the reality of those around him. When the intensity collapses, the demented patients disengage from it. The caregivers or families who take care of them can understand the mechanisms involved in the patients’ experience of time. This allows them to adapt their own behavior. Thus, they limit the risk of misinterpretation and induce certain behavioral disorders linked to their shift from the reality of the patients