Discussing a Painful Situation.

• Author: Appiah, Kwame Anthony
• Position: Ethical Dilemma - Brief article

I'm a teenage daughter of a loving mother. I've noticed my mom frequently talks to herself as though she's engaging in a conversation. I did some research and found this could be dementia. Do I overstep my boundaries and hurt my mother by suggesting she suffers from some sort of dementia, or bite my tongue and hope it's nothing?

--Name Withheld

ANSWER There's no overstepping of boundaries when you express loving concern for a close relative, and it sounds, as you fear, like a symptom of a serious...