Coping With Dementia

By Author: Jeremy Mervin
Total Articles: 5
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The moment a family member has been diagnosed with dementia, the family needs to look for ways and start learning on how to live with it. There are cases where three generations are diagnosed with same disease and it's even more challenging to face such situation. In such circumstances, the best help you can get is each family member supporting each other in tough times. It's normal if one family member might show anger upon diagnosis of dementia, or even emotionally breakup but it has to be understood and should be taken as a hit on entire life.

Everyone Needs to be Educated on this

The doctor taking care of the patient should be your resource of knowledge on dementia in the beginning. Since this disease is going to evolve with time, you need to look for change in the behavior of such patient and how you need to cope up with it. Every person with dementia will see specific change in him so physician should be able to tell you what things you need to take care with your family member. You or your family might have their concerns or doubts to ask, and this can be cleared at the same time.

Don't Get Overwhelm ...
... if You are Taking Care

Sometimes as a carer you think you are going to sacrifice your personal rights for the sufferer. As a result, you will ruin your way of living and might neglect other members of the family too. Remember, if you are not well how you are going to support the patient and other family members. Your health is as important as care for dementia's person. And if you need help at any point of time, please seek it, you don't need to hesitate simply because you are supposed to help and not take it. So, what is important is to maintain that balance in-between your happiness and responsibilities.

Setting up family meetings

It's quite normal that your kids and other children at home will reflect an attitude of anger and frustration. But this can be easily dealt if you are performing regular family meetings. Please remember to conduct such meetings before you think it's already too late and see breakouts. Such meetings can help reliving tensions and clean air. During such times they will get a chance to discuss their grievance or small concerns which will keep them in control. You must keep a small space in such meetings for appreciating each others effort which is motivating and you must highlight the improvements you have noticed in the patient. If you have something you could not deal with it, talk about it so that other member can give you a good and easy solution which you could not think. The discussion should be open and for everyone, there might be some questions left unanswered wherein you need to seek help from a physician.

Don't Disregard the Noticeable

It would be a disaster if you are seeing something happening in front of you and still it got ignored. You will need to teach your children so that they understand the patient's behavioral changes. If there is a real concern that you must work on and is till gets ignored and if a child notices this, he might see himself in shameful situation which will lead to emotional issues at later stages. Be open and talk about the issues, concerns pertaining to dementia's patient. You might want to take an appointment from doctor to solve queries which you did not find an answer for them.

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