Alzheimer's Care and Mental Health
Dementia is a chronic medical condition that affects the brain, steals memory, and eventually robs a person of their ability to function. While it can strike anybody at any time, Alzheimer's typically impacts seniors. Currently, there are over four million US citizens suffering from this disease, including a third of those over 65 and half of those over 85. At present, there is no cure for this insidious ailment.
Alzheimer's usually starts off with mild forgetfulness and simple confusion with names and basic tasks. It progresses into problems speaking and moving. In its final stages, people lose control of the ability to even hold up their head. There is no certain way of positively identifying the disease …show more content…
This is important because the average person with Alzheimer's lives approximately seven years from onset. Of course, some people have lived up to 20 years.
Mental Health Impacts
Because of the powerful impact Alzheimer's has upon a person's life, the terminal diagnosis, and the debilitating nature of the disease's progression, even the name elicits fear and anxiety. Most people go through stages of feeling hopeless, overwhelmed, and angry. If not dealt with, these feelings can progress to full blown depression with an estimated 50 percent of seniors becoming depressed and 25 percent falling into major depression.
One of the problems with Alzheimer's is that it changes a person's perception of reality, their ability to cope, and alters typical reactions to social stimulus. As a result, it can be very difficult to detect depression and other mental health disorders once the disease has passed its initial stage.
Help
Caring for somebody with Alzheimer's is very hard and frustrating. Watching your loved one slowly deteriorate can take everything out of you. Knowing that they could also be silently suffering from additional issues can simply be too
Dementia is a chronic medical condition that affects the brain, steals memory, and eventually robs a person of their ability to function. While it can strike anybody at any time, Alzheimer's typically impacts seniors. Currently, there are over four million US citizens suffering from this disease, including a third of those over 65 and half of those over 85. At present, there is no cure for this insidious ailment.
Alzheimer's usually starts off with mild forgetfulness and simple confusion with names and basic tasks. It progresses into problems speaking and moving. In its final stages, people lose control of the ability to even hold up their head. There is no certain way of positively identifying the disease …show more content…
This is important because the average person with Alzheimer's lives approximately seven years from onset. Of course, some people have lived up to 20 years.
Mental Health Impacts
Because of the powerful impact Alzheimer's has upon a person's life, the terminal diagnosis, and the debilitating nature of the disease's progression, even the name elicits fear and anxiety. Most people go through stages of feeling hopeless, overwhelmed, and angry. If not dealt with, these feelings can progress to full blown depression with an estimated 50 percent of seniors becoming depressed and 25 percent falling into major depression.
One of the problems with Alzheimer's is that it changes a person's perception of reality, their ability to cope, and alters typical reactions to social stimulus. As a result, it can be very difficult to detect depression and other mental health disorders once the disease has passed its initial stage.
Help
Caring for somebody with Alzheimer's is very hard and frustrating. Watching your loved one slowly deteriorate can take everything out of you. Knowing that they could also be silently suffering from additional issues can simply be too