5 Tips For Helping a Loved One Struggling With Alzheimer’s

There is little doubt that Alzheimer’s Disease strikes each person differently, so to offer the quality care to Alzheimer’s patients it’s essential for caregivers to understand how this disease is affecting their loved ones.

It’s an age-related disease that kills brain cells slowly, and due to which the brain starts functioning abnormally. Its inability to work effectively starts reflecting on the behavior of the patient gradually with time.

Patients with Alzheimer’s experience mild symptoms initially, but those symptoms start worsening with time when the disease starts affecting the brain more rapidly. Alzheimer’s disease not only impairs a person’s cognitive skills, but it also affects their behavior and mood. Apart from that, it also affects their psychological well-being.

Common Symptoms of Alzheimer’s Disease

• Gradual loss of memory that affects the patient’s ability to perform the activities of daily living
• Difficulty carrying out any task quickly due to concentration issues
• Problem working with numbers and following a plan
• Difficulty remembering time and dates
• Vision problems that make it hard to understand images
• Problem expressing thoughts due to the language problem
• Misplacing things frequently

People living with Alzheimer’s disease experience a lot of mental confusion, find it hard to generate new memories and fail to identify even the familiar things, which make it difficult for them to live a comfortable life.

People with this disease tend to become angry and upset quite fast when compared to others. They start hiding things from others and act depressed.

Apart from the changes that occur in the brain, the behavior of Alzheimer’s patients gets affected by stress, anxiety, and fear. Experiencing pain, and taking medications for chronic diseases can also have a massive impact on the behavior of Alzheimer’s patients.

The loud noise from TV and radio also enhances their irritation and frustration levels.

So if your aging parent is struggling with Alzheimer’s disease, here is how you should help them live a normal life.

Book An Alzheimer & Dementia Specialist

One of the best ways to offer quality care for your loved one is to book a skilled and experienced Alzheimer & Dementia Specialist, who knows it well how to behave with Alzheimer’s patients. Since they understand the nature of the problem, they will be able to offer better care for your loved one.

They will make the life of your aging parent simple by avoiding things that they hate. The caregiver (Alzheimer & Dementia Specialist) will not only offer consistent care for your loved one but will also form a strong relationship with them. The caregiver will try their level best to befriend your aging loved one so that they can share their thoughts and feeling with the caregiver when you are away from home.

Don’t Argue With Your Loved One 

Whenever you get an opportunity to take care of your loved one who is struggling with Alzheimer’s disease, make sure that you avoid arguing with them even if they do not make any sense. If you end up arguing with them, it will not only increase their frustration, but they will also stop trusting you. They will start believing that you do not understand them so they will begin distancing themselves from you.

So the key to making your loved one happy is to stop arguing with them.

Try to Understand Their Situation

It’s crucial for you to understand the fact that your loved one behaves in a certain way due to the disease they are struggling with, which means they are not doing anything intentionally to irritate you.  Once you understand the reason for their changing behavior, you will be able to help them in a better way. You will no longer get angry because of their weird behavior. Rather than getting frustrated because of the way your loved one behaves, you will focus on solving their problems and making them happy.

Don’t Go Against Their Wish

Don’t try to complicate the life of your loved one by going against their wish. Do what they say, but in case whatever they are saying is not at all practical, try to make them understand politely.

Keep Things Simple

Whatever you do to help your loved one, make sure they understand it. For example, if your aging parent has trouble participating in a conversation because they fail to express their thoughts due to their inability to find the right words, then it’s better to use simple words while talking to them.

Similarly, if they are experiencing memory loss, then it’s better to keep the things that they use daily in proper places that they can access without any problem.

Apart from that, you should try to make them believe that you care a lot for them (so that they can feel safe), crack jokes frequently to improve their mood, and play music that makes them happy.