Dementia research has moved forward in recent years from understanding aetiology and pathology to the development of a psycho-social model to inform understanding of the condition. Younger people with dementia have been much neglected in the empirical field. The available literature on experience and coping with dementia focuses on older people with little available research examining solely the experiences of younger people. The first part of this thesis is a literature review detailing the current available research relating to the experience and coping styles of people with dementia. Reviewing and reporting this, it goes on to discuss implications and research for younger people who develop the disease. The second part of this thesis is a qualitative study exploring and developing an understanding of the experience of younger people. Using Interpretative Phenomenlogical Analysis to analyse 6 interviews with people with a diagnosis of young onset dementia the study describes the themes that arise as salient for participants. The paper discusses these findings in the wider literature context, discusses the clinical implications and future research.