in life, but this didn't happen very much. I've known of a very, very few that went to such facilities, for their collapsed mental state, and of them, a very, very, few of them (so in short, a very, very, very, very few end up in such facilities).
Perhaps today it's better, w/ perhaps better drugs, better (and more expensive care), etc. I'd say of all of the people I've known in my life (70 years now), perhaps two people were like this (out of 10s of thousands I've known throughout my career and personal life). It does happen but not often (recovering enough to function again in the 'real world').
It's sad and terrible in any event. I always had a hard time dealing w/ these people when the last time you saw them, they were the totally 100% normal, be happy personality and then WHAM! They're gone. No memories of who you were, etc. I had only one person who did remember me.
Remember the good parts about these people, and especially help those that are their companions, helping them out (in a few horrible cases, families stole all of these people's money (they didn't know what was going on of course), and cast them adrift. Other good friends, thank God, stepped in and took over care (former Exs, etc.).
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