美国国家公共电台 NPR Firearms And Dementia: How Do You Convince A Loved One To Give Up Their Guns?

 

RACHEL MARTIN, HOST:

Families of people with dementia will often take away the car keys to keep them safe. Concerned relatives might also remove knobs from stove burners or lock up medicine. But what about the risk of guns in the home? That's a growing problem as the U.S. population gets older and the number of those with dementia soars. NPR's Melissa Block reports.

MELISSA BLOCK, BYLINE¹: He's 87 and knows the songs from a favorite musical by heart.

ED AND KATHY: (Singing) We know we belong to the land - pow pow - and the land we belong to is grand - pow pow.

BLOCK: That's Ed singing with his wife, Kathy, at their home in Aurora², Colo., outside Denver. Kathy asks that I use just their first names out of privacy concerns. Ed is a former fighter pilot proudly sporting a cap embroidered³ with the words Korea Vietnam veteran.

KATHY: We've been married...

ED: Are we married?

KAHTY: We are. We are 38 years.

ED: Whoa.

KAHTY: And so - yeah. And it's been a good marriage.

ED: Thirty-eight years.

BLOCK: Ed has Alzheimer's disease, which has progressed rapidly in the last few years. When we're alone, Kathy tells me that Ed can get very confused and agitated⁴, especially after dark. And so it was that one night about a year ago, they reached a turning point. For the first time, her husband didn't recognize her.

KAHTY: And then I realized that he was afraid of me.

BLOCK: So afraid that Ed walked into the bedroom, locked the door and said something ominous⁵.

KAHTY: He says, I have a gun. And the truth was, there was a gun in that room.

BLOCK: And Kathy knew it was loaded. She spent an anxious night in the hallway, afraid things would escalate⁶ if she called the police. By morning, Ed had calmed down and unlocked the door. To Kathy's relief, he hadn't found the gun. But the incident was so frightening, she immediately took the weapon to the basement, removed the ammunition⁷ and locked it away. In hindsight, she wishes she had been more vigilant⁸. Those who work with dementia patients say family members often don't want to think the worst.

JOLEEN SUSSMAN: Most caregivers tell us - yeah, I've been married to him for 50 years. He would never hurt anyone. And then it's talking to caregivers about - yes, he would not, but his disease might hurt someone. So we have to talk about this.

BLOCK: Joleen Sussman is a psychologist who specializes in dementia at the Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Denver. Of course, this concern doesn't apply just to veterans. The number of people with dementia in the U.S. is expected to double in the next 20 years, to about 14 million, the vast majority over the age of 65. Researchers also estimate that nearly half of people over 65 either own a gun or live in a household with someone who does. Joleen Sussman wants this safety issue to be top of mind.

SUSSMAN: I think if I had anything to say to health care professionals across the country, it would be, please, along with driving, please ask about firearms, too.

BLOCK: She suggests asking not just - do you have guns? - but also - how many? And where are they?

SUSSMAN: Once I ask about firearms, I'll say, so do you keep those at your bed stand within arm's reach while you're sleeping at night? Many veterans will say yes. Is it loaded? Yes. Does your wife sleep with you? Yes.

BLOCK: For many gun owners, their firearms are deeply entwined with their identity. So asking them to give up their guns can be really hard.

BETH KALLMYER: You know what they might say to you? I don't care. You're not taking my guns.

BLOCK: Beth Kallmyer is vice⁹ president of care and support with the Alzheimer's Association.

KALLMYER: But they might say to you, you're right. I want you to step in when I can't make that decision for myself anymore, and then that helps the family later on.

BLOCK: Kallmyer advises families not to wait, to have these conversations early. And Dr. Emmy Betz, who studies guns and dementia at the University of Colorado School of Medicine, suggests that families draw up a firearms agreement, a kind of advance directive for guns.

EMMY BETZ: To say, all right, like, who do you want to be the one to say, I think it's time? Who do you want to give them to? Is it your family member? Is it Joe down at the gun club - so that you're still the one making the decision, even if when the time comes, you're not aware of what's happening.

LLOYD BATES: My name is Lloyd Merrill Bates. I'm 87.

BLOCK: When I visit Lloyd Bates and his wife, Carol, at their home in Denver, Carol tells me about another family member with dementia and how hard it was to get his gun collection out of the house.

CAROL BATES: Because those guns were like a part of his persona and he would throw temper tantrums. He would say, nobody's going to take my guns.

BLOCK: Then Lloyd was diagnosed with dementia. But the conversation about locking up his guns was a lot easier.

L. BATES: I understood very well the dangers of having a gun in the house and what it could lead to.

C. BATES: We can't trust his brain right now to drive, so why would we trust his brain with a gun?

BLOCK: And Lloyd says he's OK with that.

L. BATES: I haven't seen my guns for years.

C. BATES: That's because he wrote down the combination, and he lost the combination. And I don't know the combination.

L. BATES: To the safe (laughter).

C. BATES: So they're safe.

L. BATES: They're safe in the safe (laughter).

C. BATES: That's a real simple solution to a complicated problem.

BLOCK: Melissa Block, NPR News, Denver.

(SOUNDBITE OF GLASS ANIMALS SONG, "POOLS")

1 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

2 aurora   

n.极光

参考例句：

• The aurora is one of nature's most awesome spectacles.极光是自然界最可畏的奇观之一。
• Over the polar regions we should see aurora.在极地高空,我们会看到极光。

3 embroidered   

adj．绣花的

参考例句：

• She embroidered flowers on the cushion covers. 她在这些靠垫套上绣了花。
• She embroidered flowers on the front of the dress. 她在连衣裙的正面绣花。

4 agitated   

adj.被鼓动的，不安的

参考例句：

• His answers were all mixed up,so agitated was he.他是那样心神不定，回答全乱了。
• She was agitated because her train was an hour late.她乘坐的火车晚点一个小时，她十分焦虑。

5 ominous   

adj.不祥的，不吉的，预兆的，预示的

参考例句：

• Those black clouds look ominous for our picnic.那些乌云对我们的野餐来说是个不祥之兆。
• There was an ominous silence at the other end of the phone.电话那头出现了不祥的沉默。

6 escalate   

v.(使)逐步增长(或发展)，(使)逐步升级

参考例句：

• It would tempt Israel's neighbors to escalate their demands.它将诱使以色列的邻国不断把他们的要求升级。
• Defeat could cause one side or other to escalate the conflict.失败可能会导致其中一方将冲突升级。

7 ammunition   

n.军火，弹药

参考例句：

• A few of the jeeps had run out of ammunition.几辆吉普车上的弹药已经用光了。
• They have expended all their ammunition.他们把弹药用光。

8 vigilant   

adj.警觉的，警戒的，警惕的

参考例句：

• He has to learn how to remain vigilant through these long nights.他得学会如何在这漫长的黑夜里保持警觉。
• The dog kept a vigilant guard over the house.这只狗警醒地守护着这所房屋。

9 vice   

n.坏事；恶习；[pl.]台钳，老虎钳；adj.副的

参考例句：

• He guarded himself against vice.他避免染上坏习惯。
• They are sunk in the depth of vice.他们堕入了罪恶的深渊。