Sunday, April 7, 2013

Depressed Alzheimer's Disease: Are you being ignored?


Can Alzheimer's disease leave you feeling depressed? the answer is yes according to mental health officials in Holland. There are over 5 million people in the United States who suffer from this horrible brain robbing illness and the numbers are increasing rapidly, according to the Center of Disease Control (CDC) the numbers of people suffering will double in a decade. What is not often discussed is that there are many seniors living depressed with Alzheimer's but are not getting the help that they need.

Suffering in silence?

Due to the nature of the illness it is quite possible for a person with the illness to not have their emotional needs met, for a dementia sufferer it can be very depressing to lose the independence that they once had and this can lead to deep depression. Often we accept depression in dementia sufferers as a normal part of this debilitating condition and this can cause people to be left untreated. We cannot simply accept sadness and depression as a normal development from the illness, if the depression is not addressed it can lead to an increased loss of mental capabilities. Living in depression is not really living. 

Can anti depressants help?

It is rare for a depressed Alzheimer's patient to be prescribed anti depressants, usually they are relegated to “Live” with the depression. How often do we ask a person with Alzheimer's disease if they are depressed?

Are you being heard?

It is a sad and unfortunate fact that in the West many seniors needs are frequently not heard, when it comes to their feelings we do not really “listen” to how they say they are feeling, in many cases the adult children become the parent to their parents but are these adult children really listening? Are we really listen to the needs of the Alzheimer's sufferer? Are they depressed and do they need help? The loss of independence is the worst part of the illness, and this can be the root cause of the depression. Mal Alzheimer believes that there is more in your loved one than meets the eye...Why not give your loved one a fighting chance? Click the Blue Brain on the right side and fight back like people in 10 countries on the Mal Alzheimer's Diet  






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