I was thinking about my grandfather this morning and wondering where his soul is. He has alzheimer's and is now to the point in which he no longer recognizes anything. He can still speak some, but it is gibberish or it is about stuff that doesn't make any sense.

Where do you think the souls of people who are still alive but unable to use their mind correctly are. What happens to their knowledge, their spirit, their mind. Are they in heaven already, or are they trapped here on earth because we don't want them to die.

I know for a fact that my grandpa would rather be dead than where he is at right now. During the first stages of the disease he new that he was losing his mind, he could even tell when he was doing things wrong, or asking questions multiple times. It broke his heart that he was like this. It broke mine to see such a man like this. I guess it would make me feel better to think that his soul has already transcended to heaven, but i don't know and i don't think anyone can.

Let me know what you think happens to the soul of a human in this kind of state.

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"People should not be afraid of their governments. Governments should be afraid of their people." -V

My grandmother has had dementia for years. She's at the point where she no longer recognizes anyone. As best as we can tell, the part that makes her grandma simply isn't there anymore.

Oddly, though, she seems happy.

We often wonder if the problem is that she's gone, or that she simply can't communicate much anymore. And if she's gone, is she *totally* gone, or has she simply regressed to early childhood or pure brain-stem instinct? We don't know.

So to answer your question, I'd say it depends both on how you view the soul and how far gone your grandfather is.

If the soul is what gives personality, then it has either flown or is buried deep down inside. If the soul is simply the life spark, it's still there. If the soul is what makes us human, then it's probably there until the last vestige of true human consciousness is erased.

One thing to consider, though, is how things look to your grandfather. If the soul is buried, what is it experiencing? Is it trapped, as you fear? Or simply preparing for its upcoming journey? Could something like Alzheimer's be, in effect, a soul pupae? Or simply a brief vacation from the cares and worries of life? A long, restorative sleep after a lifetime of toil?

It's hard for me to see my grandmother, and miss her even while she still lives. But it's not at all clear that she is suffering.

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Scarred survivor of the April 2008 Mod War.

My uncle also has Alzheimer's. When I tell him I love him, he says it back to me because he knows he should, though I know he doesn't know who I am. It's a tough question. I believe his soul is still there. I can't say why I think this since his personality is just about gone. I don't think he's suffering. Maybe his soul is gone. He doesn't show any emotion or derive pleasure from anything. I guess he's not as far gone as your grandfather.

The best thing to do is believe that God is perfect. If you can have that trust in God, it'll get you through many tough times in your life.

I absolutely believe that sometimes God takes the souls before we know the person is gone. The Terri Schiavo case comes to mind. If I thought for a minute that her soul was still there, I would have been even more on the side of letting her body die.

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Order without liberty and liberty without order are equally destructive. - Theodore Roosevelt

I don't know any of my extended family (the only family members I know are my parents), so I haven't had the same experience that you, Locke, and raytri have had. The closest comparison I can make is seeing my late friend the beggar slip into schizophrenic episodes in which he could no longer comprehend what was real and what wasn't. If something like that (but permanent) happens to either or both of my parents, I'm not sure whether I'll be tough enough to take it.
With the disclaimer that I could be entirely wrong, where the soul is concerned, I don't think that time has ultimate meaning, so I think that the souls of all people in God's grace are, ultimately, already in heaven. I think that their only problem is a lack of awareness of where they truly are. That is a rather odd belief, I know. What is most relevant about my philosophy, though, is that I think that in some sense, none of us- including those of us who are supposedly of sound mind- fully understands who or where we really are and that existence is a realization of such things.

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"Some people complain about the system. The system is not good, so they can't do anything. It's an excuse. Freedom is in your heart." (Jin Xing)

Maybe it depends on what we mean by "soul".

Maybe Your grandfathers "soul" is in his children and grandchildren and in all his future descendance. His "soul" is in the people he has influenced in his life, the words he spoke and the way he lived his life. His "soul" is in the hard work he put in and the things he created.

He is ill now, but that does not define his "soul". He may have lost his mind, but he has not lost his "soul"

If you believe in an afterlife(I don't but thats doesnt matter), then his afterlife "soul" will be the sum of his entire life not just his last few moments.

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http://www.arts-fine.co.uk

The soul is just a desperate wish man invented to deny inevitable death.

Is there not a certain faith that science, as traditionally defined, encompasses the whole of potential human knowledge involved in materialism? Personally, I cannot find an absolute definition of science or any ultimate distinction between what we call "physical" and what we call "spiritual". All has being, which isn't a transient quality but rather a constant. In that sense, isn't everything, whether we call it material or immaterial, immortal?

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"Some people complain about the system. The system is not good, so they can't do anything. It's an excuse. Freedom is in your heart." (Jin Xing)

Consider how technology has changed the world and how it has changed everyone's lives. How often are you able to see your grandmother?

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And he said unto them, Ye will surely say unto me this proverb, Physician, heal thyself: whatsoever we have heard done in Capernaum, do also here in thy country.

And he said, Verily I say unto you, No prophet is accepted in his own country.

By "see" I mean "visit." And it's a few times a year. She lives in a nursing home near my parents' house.

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Scarred survivor of the April 2008 Mod War.

I remember my stepfather's struggles with his mother when she was near the end and my own experience with my great grandmother believing that I was my father. I also saw a movie in my Family Sociology class on a woman's struggle with her mother suffering from alzheimers. In truth it was more the daughter who was suffering... and her suffering brought devestation and confusion to the mother.
The kinds of homes that are best for alzheimers patients try to keep them in the moment... because trying to bring back the past only leads to suffering for all involved.
With this in mind, from some perspectives the soul of the alzheimers patient is doing well. They live forever in the moment, always treating every stranger as a friend, unable to distinguish loved ones from strangers. I suppose someone with a nasty disposition might be rather awful in this circumstance, but for most it is an odd kind of... possibly enlightenment. Isn't it something we typically think of as spiritual to be so lost in the moment and in treating all people as friends?
It's the mind that is going, all little worldly concerns like short-term memory, distinguishing objects. All becomes more and more one as the mind begins to go.
Sounds to me like the soul must be having quite the experience it desires. The body and mind are fading... but wherever she's going, she's not going to need them anymore.

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"It's never over... BOY!"
The Tall Man, Phantasm III