What To Do If Your Senior Parent With Alzheimer’s Has Personality Changes
There are a lot of difficult things to accept when your senior parent has Alzheimer’s. But one of the toughest things to accept is when the disease causes personality changes in your senior parent. Your senior parent acting in ways that they have never acted before can be deeply upsetting for family members.
If you are caring for a senior parent with Alzheimer’s who is starting to show personality changes, consider getting Alzheimer’s Home Care for your parent. You need time and space to deal with the changes in your senior parent. And during that time, they need consistent care. Alzheimer’s care at home will provide consistent expert care for your senior parent while you take the time you need for yourself.
Some of the most common personality changes that occur in seniors because of Alzheimer’s are:
- Getting upset, worried, and angry more easily
- Acting depressed or not interested in things
- Hiding things or believing other people are hiding things
- Imagining things that aren’t there
- Wandering away from home
- Pacing a lot
- Showing unusual sexual behavior
- Hitting you or other people
- Misunderstanding what he or she sees or hears
These changes may disappear over time and your senior parent may return to their old self. But sometimes these changes are permanent. It all depends on how Alzheimer’s impacts your senior parent’s brain. Some of the things that you can do to cope with these personality changes are:
Remember The Best Of Your Senior Parent
Remember that your senior parent is more than just the disease they have now. Go through old photo books and home movies to remember the best attributes of your senior parent. Talk to your siblings and other family members. Write down old stories from your family history that celebrate your senior parent’s loving attitude, bravery, perseverance, and other great qualities. That will help you always remember that your senior parent wasn’t always the way they are now.
Love Them For Who They Are Now
It can be hard to love someone who is yelling at you, accusing you of trying to hurt them, or who doesn’t trust you. But it’s worth the effort. Accept your senior parent for who they are and love them for who they are. Remember that it’s a gift to have this time with them and make the most of it.
Take Frequent Breaks
One of the biggest benefits of Alzheimer’s care at home is that it lets you take the breaks that you need to deal with the changes in your senior parent. Arrange for Alzheimer’s Home Care for your senior parent and take a few days off whenever caring for your senior parent becomes too challenging. You need to give yourself the space to process and accept the changes that are happening.
Join A Support Group
One of the best things you can do for yourself is to join an Alzheimer’s caregiver support group. Sharing your story with others who won’t judge you and will understand what you’re going through can be incredibly healing. And there’s nothing more healing than connecting with other people who are going through the same thing you are.
If you or an aging loved one are considering Alzheimer’s Home Care in Del Mar, CA please contact the caring staff at A Caring Touch Home Care today. Call (619) 344-0528
A Caring Touch Home Care is a Trusted Home Care Agency providing exceptional home care in Coronado, Del Mar/Del Mar Heights, Bonita, East Lake, La Jolla, Torrey Pines, Mt. Helix/La Mesa, Carlsbad, Oceanside, Carmel Ranch, Rancho Penasquitos, Point Loma, Rancho Santa Fe, San Diego and surrounding areas.
