Alzheimers Disease and How it Affects Families - Free Essay Example

There are about five million families around The United States alone that are affected by Alzheimers disease. This disease affects not only the person with the disease but also their family. By gaining too much stress as the family member or loved one taking care of this person it can cause health issues for ones family. Families with a loved one that is affected by Alzheimers Disease endure many effects that involves emotional, physical, and financial instability. To start with, Alzheimers is a type of dementia which causes trouble with memory loss. Alzheimers disease is severe memory loss due to the death of brain cells. The disease destroys not only memory loss but several crucial mental functions. Alzheimers affects so many people around the world. There are about 60 to 80 percent of alzheimers cases around the United States. Starting off the patient may feel quite confuse and experience a hard time to remember important details. As it gets more serious the patient may not remember a loved one or a family member. After a while the patient personality may start to go under severe changes. The caregiver of the alzheimers patient could develop many symptoms that would make you sad or depressed from losing a loved one.The caregiver of the patient has a large impact on the patient. Watching someone you love being affected by alzheimers disease can lead to great deal of pain and sorrow on a person.The caregiver is required to stay with the patient 24/7. Considering this the main caregiver can go under an extreme amount of emotional stress. It also can affect their overall health. Therefore it is important for the caregiver to understand the risks as they care for their loved one. While taking care of your loved one is very important remember not to neglect yourself. By organizing certain times to do whats necessary for your loved one it can take a lot of the emotional stress off. When someone that you love is affected by this disease it is equivalent losing someone that is still there.A 2008 study carried out at the University of Indianapolis found that grief was, in fact, the heaviest burden that those caring for a loved one with Alzheimers disease had to endure. The study focused on the idea of anticipatory grief, and mourning the loss of someone before they actually die, and ambiguous loss,(anticipatory grief) which arises when you are dealing with someone who is no longer psychologically or socially present. When dealing with someone you love who is affected by this disease it can cause frustration when they start to forget those theyve loved before. This is can be classified as an ambiguous loss. A caregiver might be having a feeling of anger or frustration, but it is very important to stay calm in these situations seeing that it is not their fault.You may feel frustrated or angry at the patient but it is important to understand that they dont understand what theyre doing. It is normal to feel frustrated or upset when taking the role as caregiver. By talking to other people who have had experience in these situations can help by expressing your feelings. As these days can get harder for a caretaker remember not to hold in any anger or emotions, always communicate. Remember that it is important to talk to others about what your feeling. In order to reduce some of the stress of the caregiver splitting up days and months on who has to take care of patient could cause a large amount of relief. Reducing stress when working with a patient is vital to maintaining healthy. Splitting up the tasks that you might have to do for the patient with someone else could help with any anxiety problems. When the main caregiver is put under too much stress it can lead to physical illnesses. When a caregiver is devoted to help the patient it most likely leads to physical and emotional illnesses. In order to reduce some of the stress of the caregiver splitting up days and months on who has to take care of patient could cause a large amount of relief. Reducing stress when working with a patient is vital to maintaining healthy. Splitting up the tasks that you might have to do for the patient with someone else could help with any anxiety problems. When a caregiver is devoted to help the patient it most likely leads to physical and emotional illnesses. When a caregiver is devoted to help the patient it most likely leads to physical and emotional illnesses. Unfortunately the main caregiver when under a great deal of stress can cause problems with their own health. Being a caregiver for a loved one is good for the patient but it can also affect your social life. Caregivers often lack social contact and support and, as a result, experience feelings of social isolation. (Clarity Pointe) Dealing with someone with Alzheimers disease can take up most of your time and not have time for yourself. When taking care of someone with Alzheimers remember to not take out anger on the patient for the things that cant be done, considering that they are going through something unimaginable. By having more than one person taking care of the patient it will be easier to manage time by splitting the tasks up evenly. By saying these things it is important to not forget the patient completely and just focus on yourself. Even though self care is very important by neglecting your loved one when sick is very dangerous for them. While taking care of yourself you are not forgetting everyone else around and you and focusing on yourself, you have to also help those around you while taking care of yourself. Having a loved one with alzheimers could cause not only emotional instability but also financial instability. It is important to begin mapping out strategies for meeting the increasing financial demands placed on the family as the disease progresses. Alzheimers disease can cause a big hole in your pocket. In order to avoid losing a great deal of money financial planning can help save money. By setting aside money for certain things that is needed it can help save money. It is always best to be patient and kind with the patient. Keep in mind that the loved one does not know or remember what is happening to them, anyone could feel confused in situations like this. Though when dealing with the patient it important for the individual to not spend all of ones time stressing over how to make the sick patient comfortable. An individual should always remember to take time for himself. Alzheimers disease is a dangerous disease not only to the person but also to the families. The disease causes stress on the caregiver as the try their best to take care of their family member. Keep in mind that when taking good care of your loved one remember to not neglect yourself. By neglecting yourself it can cause physical and mental health problems.