Loud noises can be stressful to just about anyone, but they are even more so to patients with dementia. They can cause overstimulation or fear in dementia patients.
Attention: The ability to stay mentally engaged is compromised by dementia. This means it becomes harder to pay attention to completing a single task, or staying engaged in a conversation. Over time, they may be overwhelmed by overstimulation if there are too many things to look at or listen to.
Signs of overstimulation. Feeling disturbed by strange surroundings. Being overwhelmed by complicated tasks. Frustration because of the inability to communicate.
Dementia patients with frontal lobe dysfunction often react impulsively to tempting environmental situations involving sexual or other objects of interest without concern for the consequences (Mendez, Chow, Ringman, Twitchell, & Hinkin, 2000).
Dementia can cause a person to behave in a 'sexual' way that they and people around them may find challenging. A person with dementia may experience changes in how they respond to sex, be inappropriate or aggressive, mistake a person for someone else, or behave sexually in public.
Some people with dementia become hypersexual and need medication to decrease their sex drive. Inappropriate overtures to a nonspouse, verbal obscenities, and undressing in public are behaviors that may cause significant concern and challenges.
Try gentle touching, soothing music, reading, or walks. Reduce noise, clutter, or the number of people in the room. Try to distract the person with a favorite snack, object, or activity. Limit the amount of caffeine the person drinks and eats.
What are some other typical dementia behaviors? In addition to aggression, confusion, sleep problems and wandering, symptoms of dementia can also include delusions, hallucinations, paranoia, depression, apathy and sexual inappropriateness.
Restlessness and fidgeting
People with dementia often develop restless behaviours, such as pacing up and down, wandering out of the home and agitated fidgeting.
A person with dementia feels anxious and afraid in their own home, so they look for reassurance that they are not alone. The fear of being alone in an environment they no longer recognize results in extreme anxiety, so they find you, follow you, and may even cling to you for comfort. Be gentle when this occurs.
This is a brain dysfunction where the brain can no longer identify the many different sensations of touch. The behavior is part of agnosia, a condition that affects all five senses making the person unable to identify things for what they are.
For people with Alzheimer's disease or other forms of dementia, watching TV can help keep their brain active, which can stimulate positive memories, improve mood, and even increase socialization. However, the choice of program can be dependent upon the stage of dementia.
A healthy sleep routine can help the person with dementia to feel better, be less confused, be more co-ordinated and have more energy in the daytime.
Avoid asking too many open-ended questions about the past, as it could be stressful for a person with dementia if they can't remember the answer. While it might seem polite to ask somebody about their day, it's better to focus on what's happening in the present.
It can occur at any stage of the disease but it tends to peak in the middle stages of dementia and lessens as the disease progresses.
Administration: The examiner reads a list of 5 words at a rate of one per second, giving the following instructions: “This is a memory test. I am going to read a list of words that you will have to remember now and later on. Listen carefully. When I am through, tell me as many words as you can remember.
I'm going to discuss five of the most basic ones here: 1) Don't tell them they are wrong about something, 2) Don't argue with them, 3) Don't ask if they remember something, 4) Don't remind them that their spouse, parent or other loved one is dead, and 5) Don't bring up topics that may upset them.
Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease causes a type of dementia that gets worse unusually fast. More common causes of dementia, such as Alzheimer's, dementia with Lewy bodies and frontotemporal dementia, typically progress more slowly.
For individuals with dementia, human touch plays an important role in promoting overall well-being. Research has found that just five minutes of hand massage can induce a physical relaxation response and reduce levels of cortisol, a hormone released during times of stress.
Many people with Alzheimer's disease have visual problems, such as changes in color vision, and past studies have shown retinal and other changes in their eyes.
Aggression is one of a number of behaviours – often called 'behaviours that challenge' – that can result from dementia. These behaviours can be just as challenging for the person as for those supporting them. Others include agitation and restlessness, walking about, and being sexually inappropriate.