How can I cope with worsening behavior in the middle stages of Alzheimer's?

During this phase of the disease behavioral problems tend to multiply. And if you are like most caregivers, you will find the behavioral problems far more challenging than “mere” memory problems. Some patients, but by no means all of them, may now experience episodes of anxiety, depression or agitation.

Even worse, you may see irritability or outright hostility expressed towards the caregiver. If this should happen with your patient, you will need to acquire a number of new skills and techniques to diffuse, redirect and stop the undesired activity. Examples of these might be the following: When a patient first begins to express hostility towards the caregiver or even threatens to hit the caregiver, immediate strong countermeasures need to be taken: First of all, protect yourself at all costs, and in any way you can.

Being hurt or injured by the person you are caring for is not part of your agreement to be a caregiver. Amazingly, barking back at the patient in the manner of a drill sergeant often aborts the angry attack. Or you may even need to call for help from a neighbor or even the police, or you can threaten to stop being the person’s caregiver.

One caregiver said to her angry husband: “If you ever do this again, I am going to send you to a nursing home.” The patient stopped attacking her, and she never had to say it again. You may want to distract or redirect the patient.

Redirecting is more effective than distracting. Redirecting means inviting the patient to enter upon an entirely different activity: “Let’s go for a walk. Let’s go to McDonald’s or some other suggestion that might be appealing to the patient.

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