Mental illness is a family disease– that’s what I learned today 🙁
It’s 9: 35 PM on day 291 of my journey towards independence and I’ve managed to brush my teeth, – feed myself an egg sandwich for breakfast, tweet about my Clean Water For All Campaign – no luck – help make 40 sandwiches as part of Virginia’s Sandwich Run – I am SO proud of myself 🙂 – feed myself rice and curry for lunch, prepare my Kid of the Week feature for Sunday and brush my teeth once more.
As you know my grandma and I are very close and in honour of the person she used to be I am going to share with you the symptoms of “her” disease in the hopes that it will help you and your family. Take a look:
The Signs of Dementia through All Three Phases
Early
- Word-finding difficulty – May be able to compensate by using synonyms or defining the word
- Forgetting names, appointments, or whether or not the person has done something; losing things
- Difficulty performing familiar tasks – Driving, cooking a meal, household chores, managing personal finances
- Personality changes (for example, sociable person becomes withdrawn or a quiet person is coarse and silly)
- Uncharacteristic behaviour
- Mood swings, often with brief periods of anger or rage
- Poor judgment
- Behaviour disorders – Paranoia and suspiciousness
- Decline in level of functioning but able to follow established routines at home
- Confusion, disorientation in unfamiliar surroundings – May wander, trying to return to familiar surroundings
Intermediate
- Worsening of symptoms seen in early dementia, with less ability to compensate
- Unable to carry out activities of daily living (eg, bathing, dressing, grooming, feeding, using the toilet) without help
- Disrupted sleep (often napping in the daytime, up at night)
- Unable to learn new information
- Increasing disorientation and confusion even in familiar surroundings
- Greater risk of falls and accidents due to poor judgment and confusion
Behaviour disorders – Paranoid delusions, aggressiveness, agitation, inappropriate sexual behaviour
- Hallucinations
- Confabulation (believing the person has done or experienced things that never happened)
- Inattention, poor concentration, loss of interest in the outside world
- Abnormal moods (anxiety, depression)
Severe
- Worsening of symptoms seen in early and intermediate dementia
- Complete dependence on others for activities of daily living
- May be unable to walk or move from place to place unassisted
- Impairment of other movements such as swallowing – Increases risk of malnutrition, choking, and aspiration (inhaling foods and beverages, saliva, or mucus into lungs)
- Complete loss of short- and long-term memory – May be unable to recognize even close relatives and friends
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Stan’s very sweet for saying so, but feel free to write what reflects you best.
Thanks to all my friends out there who are helping me make my dream come true: to make a better world for all of us!