What’s worse than finding out your loved one has Alzheimer’s? Getting an Alzheimer’s diagnosis yourself. And the stigma and social isolation that comes with the disease is no help when the loneliness starts to set in, according to dementia patients.

“There is a big stigma. I think there’s a fear of, ‘How do I talk to that person?’,” said Pamela Roberts, 61, who has dementia. “But I’m still me, I can still hold a conversation, I can still recognize people and even when I can’t, I still want to be talked to the same.”