Is my client [name withheld] a likely candidate to develop dementia because of her severe trauma history? Is such a liability more a function of an individual’s makeup and susceptibility as opposed to the severity of their trauma history?

She is a prime candidate for this to happen. She has spent years and years already, wishing to escape, as everything is a threat and often proves to be the case she is very much at risk. But this need not happen with continued healing to help her prevail. This will be a second great gift from you in helping her the way you have done. It would be ironic if her heart remains stable and she is physically healthy, but then she has her mind shut down, and then be cut off entirely from the world. In a sense, it would be the ultimate victory for her bullies to put her in the ultimate prison one can have, being in solitary confinement beyond reach. This is what is at stake. The figures are quite daunting, considering the frequency of the dementias in society. It is a huge, huge problem with few good answers because of the small number of individuals who can make a difference, truly. But this is a cause worth championing, to get the word out, and to help people understand what is taking place. The susceptibility is multi-factorial. There are some people more prone to choose this escape than others when faced with tremendous life difficulty. And then, of course, the magnitude of the underlying trauma is always a factor. This may be seen, or unseen, by outside observers. When a person has had a difficult life starting from childhood, one can make a clear connection, given the hypothesis that diseases like Alzheimer's are truly trauma-based. But, many people with otherwise normal-seeming lives are tormented within on a deep level within the deep subconscious by unfinished past life dilemmas. This may well be enough to create the need to escape and be a proximal cause of dementia. So it is a combination of both factors leading to appearance of the condition.