Aristophanes’ Fusion and Longing for Love: A Philosophical Hermeneutic of the Shared Dementia Phenomenon in Spousal Dyads

Abstract

There is new and alarming evidence emerging in dementia research literature apropos of family system psychodynamics. This evidence indicates that spousal caregivers of dementia patients are at an increased risk for developing dementia themselves. By way of a philosophical hermeneutic rooted in Aristophanes' notion of love, as explicated in Plato's Symposium, depth psychological perspectives on this newly identified “shared dementia” phenomenon are explored. The author proposes deep psychodynamic forces that may be at work in the etiology of spousal dyadic shared dementia.