As MCI Mild Cognitive Impairment reduces the amount and effectiveness of brain activity, a corresponding increase takes place in the presence and role of emotion-based activity, that is, Mild Emotional Enhancement (MEE) occurs.  Put in simple terms, the reduction in thinking allows space for an increase in feeling.  This increase in feeling expresses itself in various ways such as crying, laughing, sensitivity, and in other ways.  This is part of the MCI Journey and of The~Alzheimer's~Conversation as a whole.

 

Unlike MCI, I am finding MEE to be a very positive experience - so much so that I feel that this is a very special "Golden Moment" in my life which takes me to amazing places.  I find that my expressing emotions including crying (out of sensitivity, not out of pain/sadness/anger) actually exposes and connects me with myself in ways that I never have before.  Thinking of myself at this moment as a person with MEE, alongside what has been labelled on me as MCI, allows me to experience many aspects of life in ways that I am very glad to do.  This already appeared when I documented the first few weeks of my MCI Journey.

 

The name MEE Mild Emotional Enhancement directly connects and contrasts with the name MCI Mild Cognitive Impairment.  In addition to its other powers the words/expression of MEE are able to have a very positive impact on how people identify themselves, their condition, their future, and their relationship to the world.

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Feeling MEE leads to many questions - is the real me, me or is the real me, MEE?  Does MEE bring me closer to the real me than I've been up to now?  Is the MEE balance between cognitive and emotional  "better" or more "natural" than me?  Does MEE connect us better to the world as it really is than our cognitive/brain-driven approach to the world?   The MEE reality raises questions that may well point in very valuable directions.

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Meditation/Mindfulness and MEE

 

Yoga, Buddhism, Hinduism, Mindfulness, and related practices silence activity of the brain in order to achieve higher levels of consciousness and awareness.  In a way these can be considered as limited controlled self-induced MCI/Dementia as these conditions also have the effect of silencing the activity of the brain.

 

With the brain activity-reducing aspects of meditation/mindfulness we can create a condition that is somewhat different than usual.  MCI/meditation/mindfulness can be a window into the mind-gut (heart) balance.  The opportunity for a person to free up from their mind activity and connect with their gut feelings is a positive side that is available from MCI and meditation/mindfulness, although their usual practice does not follow this path.  MEE focuses on a person paying attention to and developing awareness of their own essence as expressed in their gut and their heart, their core inner self.  This is done by using the blank space created by MCI/meditation/mindfulness to identify their core emotional being, and uses consideration of the question "what brings me to tears"/"what moves me to tears" as a guide to their own essence.  This does not refer to tears of sadness, pain, longing, etc. but rather tears of core emotion, feeling, and connection.  Imagining, recollecting, or being in situations which lead a person to emotional expression through tears is quite a valuable aspect of MCI-meditation-mindfulness/MEE which I can personally attest to both as a person with MCI and one who comes to tears in various situations as a result of this condition.

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A Different Approach to the MCI-Dementia-Alzheimer-Death Process

 

A person's path of MCI-Dementia-Alzheimer-Death is usually considered in terms of decline in cognitive capability.  A different approach takes advantage of the emotional release/growth which occurs in the early part of this process as described above, and also views ending the process with dignity on one's own terms including the process of parting from family/friends and the view of death itself: