In this “People” magazine interview, actor Ryan Reynolds notes that his father Jim had Parkinson’s disease for 20 years. Jim, who died in 2015, experienced hallucinations. Ryan describes the challenges faced by his mother as a caregiver. Read some excerpts from the magazine article and watch a related video from the “Today” show.
The interview with Ryan Reynolds is in the August 14, 2024 issue of “People” magazine.
Excerpts:
“At the time I just thought, ‘My dad’s losing his mind.’ My father was really slipping down a rabbit hole where he was struggling to differentiate between reality and fiction. And subsequently everyone else in his life was losing the bedrock faith and trust that they had on his point of view. There would be conspiratorial webs that he would spin about ‘this is happening’ and that ‘these people might be after me’ or ‘this person is out to get me.’ And just stuff that was such a wild departure from the man that I grew up with and knew.”
“My mom, I think, lived a life of true isolation with my dad for many, many years. And when somebody is not necessarily speaking from their baseline or right mental state, they can make life really tough for the only person [present]. My mom was a backboard for my father during that time, but it really broke her. Caregiver fatigue is very real — it’s one of probably the most unreported side effects of diseases like this. I wish the resources that are available now to treat that part of Parkinson’s existed, or at least we knew about it then, because it would’ve really given a lot of hope.”