Behavioral disturbances in dementia are often globally described as “agitation” including verbal and physical aggression, wandering, and hoarding.
Behavioural disorders are a common feature in dementia, especially in the later stages of the disease. The most frequent disorders are agitation, aggression, paranoid delusions, hallucinations, sleep disorders, including nocturnal wandering, incontinence and (stereotyped) vocalisations or screaming.
When looking at individual symptoms in dementia patients, the most prevalent BPSD are apathy, depression, irritability, agitation and anxiety, while the rarest are euphoria, hallucinations, and disinhibition. The most clinically significant symptoms are depression, apathy, and anxiety.
Challenging behaviour can include tantrums, hitting or kicking other people, throwing things or self-harming. Behaviour is challenging if it is harmful to the person and others around them, and if it stops the person achieving things in their daily life, such as making friends or concentrating at school.
Some of the more common triggers for dementia like a change in environment, having personal space invaded, or being emotionally overwhelmed may be easier to handle if you mentally practice your response before you react.
In the early stages of Alzheimer's disease patients may experience behavior and personality changes such as increased irritability, anxiety and depression. Often times these changes are the motive why families decide to seek out medical help.
Keep well-loved objects and photographs around the house to help the person feel more secure. 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.
3P's: Help her save face. Simple steps. Give basic information (no verbal diarrhea) • Give SIMPLE single step directions • If no response, WAIT (silently count to 10) before asking again • Ask them to HELP you.
There is no specific “angry stage” in dementia. However, pronounced mood, personality, and cognitive function changes often appear during the middle or moderate stage of dementia.
As a person's dementia progresses, they may sometimes behave in ways that are physically or verbally aggressive. This can be very distressing for the person and for those around them.
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.
other long-term health problems – dementia tends to progress more quickly if the person is living with other conditions, such as heart disease, diabetes or high blood pressure, particularly if these are not well-managed.
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.
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.
Physical activity. Doing regular physical activity is one of the best ways to reduce your risk of dementia. It's good for your heart, circulation, weight and mental wellbeing. You might find it difficult to start being more physically active, or worry it means doing an activity you don't enjoy.
When the behaviour becomes a barrier to your child participating in family or school activities and/or poses a risk to their health and safety or those of other people, it is referred to as a behaviour of concern. There is an association between lack of communication skills and behaviours of concerns.
There are 4 main behaviour styles, which fall under various headings depending on what training method is used. DISC is a widely used method; these behavioural styles are Dominance, Influence, Steadiness and Compliance.
Examples of verbal behaviours that challenge include: • Shouting • Arguing • Screaming • Abuse, including use of offensive language • Threatening • Use of inappropriate terms, such as those that are sexist or racist • Name-calling.