Ending Mental Illness Stigma
A one-hour educational program can reduce stigma around mental illness, finds a study in Stigma and Health. More than 500 students across the United States watched an hour-long slide and video presentation from the National Alliance on Mental Illness called “Ending the Silence,” which included information on the warning signs of mental health conditions, videos made by teens to encourage support for peers with mental illness and a talk by a young adult who discussed his or her own experience with mental illness. Students were assessed on their knowledge of and attitudes toward mental illness at three points: before the presentation, immediately after and four to six weeks later. Students who watched the presentation gained more knowledge about what to do if one of their peers showed signs of mental illness and had fewer negative attitudes toward people with mental illness, compared with a control group of peers at the same schools who had not seen the presentation. DOI: 10.1037/sah0000135
Challenges With Direction And Time
For people living with Alzheimers disease, details associated with time and space are frequently forgotten. They often lose track of dates, seasons and the passage of time. It also becomes increasingly hard to get a sense of direction.
A person with Alzheimers may get lost going home or not understand where they are, even when theyre in their own home. Or they may keep putting on a heavy winter coat although its a hot summer day.
In later stages, wandering becomes an issue for some Alzheimers patients. This is particularly dangerous if a patient wanders away from home unobserved or in the middle of the night and cant make their way back.
Things For Dementia Patients To Do With Their Hands
Seniors with dementia or Alzheimers disease often show agitation or anxiety through fidgety hands. Here are lots of ideas to keep their hands busy, reduce frustration, and improve their over all well-being.
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Seniors with dementia or Alzheimers disease may show agitation or anxiety through fidgety hands. Signs of this include rubbing or pulling at beddings or clothes, wringing hands, twisting fingers, rubbing hands together, and generally keeping their hands in motion.
Sometimes, they choose activities that are harmful, can cause injury, and decrease their overall quality of life. But, in this article, I hope to give you lots of ideas that improve their over-all well being.
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Common Ways People With Asd Engage In Self
Stimming was the most outwardly obvious sign of ASD in Carols case, and was the very thing that prompted her to get a diagnosis, and the treatment she needed.
Stimming is a hallmark sign of ASD. Actions such as head banging, sitting on the ground and twirling over and over, or hand-flapping are classic forms of stimming, but there are many expressions like Carols, that are a bit more subtle.
- Looking out of the corner of your eyes
- Flipping lights on and off repeatedly
- Random humming, shrieking, or making other noises
- Finger snapping, tapping or putting your hands over your ears.
- Tapping on ears or objects
- Covering and uncovering ears
- Repeating words or phrases including lines from a TV show, songs, or any other kind of repetitive verbalization
- Scratching or rubbing your skin in a repetitive manner.
- Any kind repetitive movement: spinning, pacing, twirling
- Tasting or licking including thumb sucking, finger sucking, or tasting something one wouldnt normally taste
- Unusual or inappropriate smelling or sniffing
When Someone Is Not Giving You Enough Eye Contact
Ever have a conversation with someone who just cant seem to meet your gaze? The whole situation probably made you feel pretty awkward, huh? Well, it turns out that the person that you were speaking with was surely just as uncomfortable as you were. They could be grappling with feelings of shame orsorry to break it to youcomplete boredom. Yikes.
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When Someone Crosses Their Arms
It probably comes as no surprise to you that crossed arms are almost always a sign of frustration and indignation. If a partner or family member is serving up this body language while they are delivering supportive words, they are likely attempting to communicate the exact opposite sentiment to you through this stance. Passive aggressive much?
Memory Loss Of Recent Memories
We all forget things occasionally, and forgetfulness often becomes more frequent as we grow older. There are a few reasons for this, firstly, the hippocampus the part of the brain that forms and retrieves memories naturally slows down over time. The hormones in the brain that protect and repair brain cells, keeping them alert and healthy also decline with age too. And, older people are more likely to experience decreased blood flow to the brain, which can impact how they recall information.
However, if youre finding that your loved one regularly forgets things that have happened recently, this could be an indication of dementia, and is something to talk to a GP about.
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When Someone Is Slouching
Bad posture can be a sign of poor health or even too much time on the old smartphone, but it can also mean that the person is trying to gain some sympathy from you. For instance, if an employee of yours walks into your office with a slouched posture, chances are they are going to deliver some bad news and, subsequently, may be in need of some positive reinforcement.
Take The Sage Test At Home
Anyone can take the SAGE test anytime. Its free and you can get it here on the Ohio State University website.
Print the test and take it with a pen or pencil. Theres no time limit, but most people finish in about 15 minutes.
Sample questions from the test:
- How many nickels are in 60 cents?
- You are buying $13.45 of groceries. How much change would you receive back from a $20 bill?
- Write down the names of 12 different animals.
- Draw a large face of a clock and place in the numbers.Position the hands for 10 minutes after 11 oclock. On your clock, label L for the long hand and S for the short hand.
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Disregarding The Law And Other Social Norms
Some people with dementia lose their sense of social norms. Shoplifting breaking into someones house inappropriate interpersonal behaviors, such as sexual comments or actions and even criminal behavior, according to a study published in March 2015 in the journal JAMA Neurology, all make the list of surprising dementia symptoms. This could lead to trouble with the law, too: Early-onset dementia can hit people as early as their thirties and forties, well before anyone around them would consider their out-of-character behavior as a sign of dementia.
What Is A Warning Sign Of Mental Illness
Each different type of mental illness has a distinctive pattern of thoughts, emotions, and behaviors. With the exception of trauma or brain injury, these signs of mental illness don’t just suddenly appear as severe disruptions in someone’s life and functioning. Rather, there are indications, some subtle and some not so subtle, that mental illness is brewing.
The hints that something is truly wrong come in the form of signs and symptoms. While symptoms are things that a person experiences and can talk about, they can’t be directly observed by others. Signs of mental illness, on the other hand, are things that can be seen by others.
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There Was A Whole New Use For A Table
The show featured a wide variety of tools for helping those with Alzheimers and dementia. Some, as weve already seen, were based on recognisable, lo-fi formats while others, like the Tovertafel, harness technology.
Tovertafel, which means Magic Table in Dutch, is a high-quality projector combined with infrared sensors, speaker and a processor, to project interactive games onto a table. The first aim of these games is to stimulate physical and cognitive activity among those with mid-to-late stage dementia. The further people are in the journey with dementia, the more likely they are to interact with the Magic Table, says Medhi Bedioui, one of the two directors of Shift 8, the company thats brought Tovertafel to the UK. Its other aim, Medhi says, is to create what they call Moments of happiness between loved ones.
Familiar Behaviors Of Alzheimers Patients
Alzheimers disease can be tough on caregivers, especially when difficult behaviors like aggression or wandering occur. Read about five common Alzheimers behaviors and what you can do to respond effectively.
Alzheimers disease leads to progressive deterioration in the brain, which causes problems with memory and cognition. Even more heartbreaking, these changes to the brain can cause a range of behavioral issues. Caregivers of Alzheimers patients may find their loved ones acting in unfamiliar, even disturbing or violent ways. Sometimes the behavior is so severe that families place Alzheimers patients in nursing homes or dementia care facilities.
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Alzheimers And Diet: Does It Make A Difference
Alzheimers Disease has been linked to many lifestyle factors, and diet is one that many researchers believe could make a difference. A healthy lifestyle is thought to help to lower a persons risk of developing dementia, and current recommendations include exercising regularly, eating healthily and not smoking. Experts also say that maintaining a healthy weight, drinking only in moderation and ensuring your blood pressure stays in a healthy range are also important.
Recurring Falling And Tripping
Before we even continue if you or anyone else who you know is falling or tripping frequently, you need to tell the doctor about it.
A study showed that the older adults who were falling the most during the research showed early signs of Alzheimers disease after they did the brain scans.
Have in mind, it is not a guarantee that someone who is on the floor a lot or simply becomes very clumsy will develop dementia, particularly Alzheimers disease.
However, cognitive problems may occur as it is not normal for a healthy human being to misstep and slip very often.
Always watch after yourself and act early enough when you discover something uncommon.
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On The Same Wavelength
Do you and your best friend laugh at the same jokes and share the same outlook on life? That similarity is reflected in your neural activity, suggests a study in Nature Communications. Researchers surveyed 279 students in the same graduate school program about their friendships with their classmates, and they used that information to create a map of friendship ties among the students. Then, 42 of the students watched a range of video clipscomedy sketches, science shows, music videos, political shows and morewhile the researchers used fMRI to record the participants brain responses. The researchers found that, on average, the closer the friendship ties between two people, the more similar those peoples neural responses to the videos were likely to be in brain areas involved in emotional response, attention and reasoning. The finding held even after controlling for age, gender, ethnicity and other variables. DOI: 10.1038/s41467-017-02722-7
Daily Tasks Become Impossible
People can often be distracted and forget to do something simple, like adding an item to their grocery list. However, someone with Alzheimers will begin to find performing regular tasks, such as grocery shopping itself, challenging. Routine day-to-day tasks that require critical thinking may become more challenging as the disease progresses. It can start with the most challenging tasks being impossible, such as creating a budget or planning a holiday dinner, to simple tasks like going to the grocery store becoming impossible.
You will notice that your loved one struggles with things that seem simple and obvious to you. They might also start to avoid these tasks altogether because theyve become so challenging. For example, you may notice rotting food in the fridge because your loved one cant make a grocery list or navigate the grocery store, or theyve forgotten how to cook their usual meals. These symptoms might seem like casual slip ups at first but will become more obvious and concerning with time.
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Difficulties With Words And Language
Its not uncommon to lose the thread of a conversation, especially for those with hearing or communication problems. However, when it occurs frequently, this can be a sign of something more serious. Those with Alzheimers tend to repeat themselves and have trouble joining in with conversations, as they lose their train of thought more easily.
Is Coloring Good For Dementia Patients
Coloring is a good activity for dementia patients since it shows positive outcomes, most notably a decrease in anxiety and agitation. The therapeutic value of activities like coloring partly comes from the persons need to concentrate and in participating so that they essentially stop thinking about their troubles while coloring.
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Alzheimers: What You Need To Know To Provide The Right Care For Your Loved One
A diagnosis of Alzheimers Disease can be painful and upsetting, both for the person receiving the news and for their family and friends. You will almost certainly be concerned about how this condition will impact their day-to-day lives, both now and as it progresses. Alzheimers Disease affects a persons memory but it can also mean they struggle with routine daily tasks such as washing, dressing, cooking and eating, and they may no longer be able to continue living independently. They might also exhibit challenging behaviour, which can be difficult to deal with.
How Do You Make A Dementia Patient Happy
If a person with dementia gets suitable surroundings, they can lead productive, satisfying, and most importantly, happy lives for many years after the initial diagnosis. The happier they are the less likely they are to get angry or start exhibiting worrisome behavior. Here are some effective tips for making a dementia patient happy:
- Providing emotional support and a relaxed environment
- Helping the person feel safe and comfortable
- Spending time talking to them and relaxing with them
- Adding fun activities
- Adding meaningful activities
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How Can You Choose Activities For People With Dementia That Are Safe
Activities are key to keeping a dementia patients hands busy to help with the fidgeting, but it isnt always easy to choose the right ones. Ideally, you should plan activities that the person with dementia enjoys in his/her daily routine.
To ensure that you only choose activities that are safe and help the person enjoy them:
- Match the activities with the persons capabilities and cognitive function
- Pick activities that are fun for all
- Watch to see whether or not the person becomes frustrated
- Determine whether the person can do the activity alone or needs help
- Avoid overstimulating the person try a new activity for only a few minutes the first time
- Focus on enjoyment as opposed to achievement
- If its more enjoyable, let the person watch
- Help the person get started
- Be careful with small items that can easily be placed in the mouth.
When Someone Touches Their Face
This can happen for a few different reasons. Perhaps the person with whom you are speaking feels either threatened by you or just generally insecure, two strong emotions that would make anyone want to hide their face.
On the other hand, it can also be a sign of attraction, especially for men who have facial hair. In this scenario, the rubbing of the face equates to a sort of come hither look. Strange, but true!
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Warning Signs Of Alzheimer’s
Memory often changes as people grow older. Some people notice changes in themselves before anyone else does. For other people, friends and family are the first to see changes in memory, behavior, or abilities. Memory loss that disrupts daily life is not a typical part of aging. People with one or more of these 10 warning signs should see a doctor to find the cause. Early diagnosis gives them a chance to seek treatment and plan for the future.
1. Memory loss that disrupts daily life: forgetting events, repeating yourself or relying on more aids to help you remember .
2.Challenges in planning or solving problems: having trouble paying bills or cooking recipes you have used for years.
3.Difficulty completing familiar tasks at home, at work, or at leisure: having problems with cooking, driving places, using a cell phone, or shopping.
4.Confusion with time or place: having trouble understanding an event that is happening later, or losing track of dates.
5.Trouble understanding visual images and spatial relations: having more difficulty with balance or judging distance, tripping over things at home, or spilling or dropping things more often.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Alzheimers Association have created the Healthy Brain Initiatives State and Local Public Health Partnerships to Address Dementia: The 2018-2023 Road Map.
8. being a victim of a scam, not managing money well, paying less attention to hygiene, or having trouble taking care of a pet.
When Someone Is Giving You Too Much Eye Contact
This can be a tricky one. Like the firm handshake example, many people have heard that strong eye contact communicates confidence, so they tend to mimic this behavior when they feel that they are around someone who is better than them.
On the flipside, it could mean that they are lying to you. You see, children have the tendency to break eye contact when they are fibbing, but adults, because they are aware of this tendency, tend to overcompensate with MORE eye contact. So, whats the takeaway? TOO much of a good thing rarely makes for a comfortable situation!
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