NIGEL Bates has been left for dead in horror attack in EastEnders today.
The vulnerable pensioner – who is played by actor Paul Bradley in the BBC soap – is suffering from young onset dementia and has been struggling to cope.
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In today’s episode he was forced to come clean to pal Phil Mitchell about his plans to end his own life before he loses a sense of himself totally.
But after Phil’s own suicide attempt and mental health struggles, he was horrified and lashed out – washing his hands of Nigel.
And while Phil tried to work through his emotions by speaking to Linda Carter, Nigel turned to Jean Slater and decided it was time for him to leave Walford.
As Phil returned home – ready to deal with Nigel’s own struggles – he found a note from Nigel saying goodbye.
It read: “I never wanted to be a burden to anyone. I’m sorry. Your friend, Nigel.”
As Phil searched the house desperately for his vulnerable friend, outside Nigel was accosted by a gang of thugs.
“Homeless loser, init,” they shouted to the confused man.
Nigel struggled to speak as they surrounded him and grabbed at his bag.
“Let go!” he shouted as they took it from him and pushed him to the ground.
EastEnders Phil in hospital after struggling with his mental health
But as he crashed down, he hit his head on the kerb and was left writhing in agony as the thugs ran off laughing.
Nigel was left for dead on the cold night but will he be found? Or will he get what he thinks he wants in ending his life?
Is it ageing or dementia?
Dementia – the most common form of which is Alzheimer’s – comes on slowly over time.
As the disease progresses, symptoms can become more severe.
But at the beginning, the symptoms can be subtle or mistaken for normal memory issues related to ageing.
The US National Institute on Aging gives some examples of what is considered normal forgetfulness in old age, and dementia disease.
You can refer to these above.
For example, it is normal for an ageing person to forget which word to use from time-to-time, but difficulting having conversation would be more indicative of dementia.
Katie Puckering, Head of Alzheimer’s Research UK’s Information Services team, previously told The Sun: “We quite commonly as humans put our car keys somewhere out of the ordinary and it takes longer for us to find them.
“As you get older, it takes longer for you to recall, or you really have to think; What was I doing? Where was I? What distracted me? Was it that I had to let the dog out? And then you find the keys by the back door.
“That process of retrieving the information is just a bit slower in people as they age.
“In dementia, someone may not be able to recall that information and what they did when they came into the house.
“What may also happen is they might put it somewhere it really doesn’t belong. For example, rather than putting the milk back in the fridge, they put the kettle in the fridge.”
