Today is

By: Ikedi Ani-okoye.

Dementia therapy

The use of therapeutic fiblets (an untruth told to a person with dementia to make him feel better) is a helpful tool to reduce unwanted behavior and will make the dementia individual feel better. For example, he is feeling bad because he thinks he has to pick up his friend in town. In reality, his friend died ten years ago.

Tell him someone else is picking up his friend today or say, Before we go, lets pack a snack, or I have to do the dishes. Can you(the dementia person) help me. Get into a discussion about snacks or dishes or his favorite sports team or something else he is interested in. Never tell him his friend is dead. He will be devastated because he will think he is hearing this news for the first time.

Dementia background

Older people sometimes develop dementia, a somewhat common condition that results in mental and emotional confusion. Some of these people, often those who are institutionalized, display anger outbursts due to relatively mild provocations, such as an unwanted meal item. At other times the anger is warranted, as when another resident initiates a conflict. For reasons like these and others, anger management therapy for dementia patients is becoming increasingly important.

Dementia and natural aging

As we age, we naturally have difficulty remembering things or finding the right words to say. This is normal. However, Dementia is not normal. The condition causes mental changes that make it difficult to function and carry out our normal lives, not just remember names and dates.

Dementia causes a decline in mental functioning, particularly memory, which makes what was once a simple task into an impossible challenge. There is difficulty finding the right words, and confusion sets in when there are too many tasks at once.

Dementia treatment

Examples of this include dementia caused by drugs or alcohol, or hormone or vitamin imbalances. Because some causes of dementia can be cured or partially treated, it is very important that your doctor is thorough when making the diagnosis, so as not to miss potentially treatable conditions. The frequency of "treatable" causes of dementia is believed to be about 10%.

CONCLUSION

Since dementia is a condition that has been proven to worsen as it is allowed to progressed, it is critical for an individual who is showing signs of dementia or who have been diagnosed with dementia to immediately begin treatment in order to slow or even stop the progression of the disease.