Why do elderly people become child-like? Many reasons can lead to child-like behavior in seniors, but all the reasons stem from confusion, loss of control, or depression. Confusion could be from deteriorating mental health or loss of memory. Loss of control can include loss of health, cognition, and movement loss.
As dementia progresses, some patients exhibit seemingly childish behaviours such as mood swings, tantrums, irrationality, forgetfulness and vocabulary problems which are similar to behaviours seen in young children.
Memory loss and cognitive decline are two leading factors behind sudden or significant changes in personality. As the brain is affected by disease, loss of inhibition or even childlike behavior in elderly people can be the result.
Chronic pain, stress, and loneliness can lead to crankiness in elderly populations especially during times of transition, but seniors who are inexplicably cruel or aggressive may be suffering from deeper issues like physical pain, depression, or dementia that needs to be evaluated by a doctor.
Excessive talking, also known as garrulity, can be associated with dementia, or cognitive impairment. It is necessary that you take your father to a doctor who can recommend a neurologist and psychologist who can perform appropriate evaluations to determine if he might be suffering from some form of dementia.
Avoid hurrying older patients.
Try speaking more slowly to give them time to process what is being asked or said, and don't interrupt. Once interrupted, a patient is less likely to reveal all of their concerns.
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.
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.
A big reason that parents develop a more pessimistic attitude with age is boredom. Health conditions and weakness may leave older people sitting around for most of their day. This inactivity encourages them to act out more frequently because they are discontented with their daily lives.
The elderly most commonly will present with altered mental status due to stroke, infection, drug-drug interactions, or alterations in the living environment.
Personality may change somewhat over time, but not greatly. These changes do not seem to be systematically related to thinking skills or other common changes we experience in ageing. This suggests that we can retain our individuality as we age. Don't worry about your personality.
There is a link between the perception of time and memory function in those with dementia. Family members often report their loved ones with dementia sometimes live in the past, even reverting back to first languages. This is because memory is not just one process in the brain, but a collection of different systems.
Repetition. A person with Alzheimer's may do or say something over and over — like repeating a word, question or activity — or undo something that has just been finished. In most cases, he or she is probably looking for comfort, security and familiarity. Causes.
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.
The greatest known risk factor for Alzheimer's and other dementias is increasing age, but these disorders are not a normal part of aging. While age increases risk, it is not a direct cause of Alzheimer's. Most individuals with the disease are 65 and older.
Agitation (physical or verbal aggression, general emotional distress, restlessness, pacing, shredding paper or tissues and/or yelling). Delusions (firmly held belief in things that are not real). Hallucinations (seeing, hearing or feeling things that are not there).
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.
The Mini-Cog test.
A third test, known as the Mini-Cog, takes 2 to 4 minutes to administer and involves asking patients to recall three words after drawing a picture of a clock. If a patient shows no difficulties recalling the words, it is inferred that he or she does not have dementia.
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.
The five-minute cognitive test (FCT) was designed to capture deficits in five domains of cognitive abilities, including episodic memory, language fluency, time orientation, visuospatial function, and executive function.
Some states of mania, anxiety, or agitation make people talk non-stop. Talking is a way to express their anguish. Their restlessness keeps them from being quiet or listening. Their way of talking is compulsive, and often disordered.
Compulsive. Compulsive talking is when someone feels they cannot stop talking or they compulsively keep talking nonstop. This can occur for several reasons, including severe anxiety, the impact of substances, and ADHD.
A garrulous person just won't stop talking (and talking, and talking, and talking...). Garrulous comes from the Latin word garrire for "chattering or prattling." If someone is garrulous, he doesn't just like to talk; he indulges in talking for talking's sake — whether or not there's a real conversation going on.