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Introduction
The most common types of psychiatric illnesses are depression, delirium, and dementia. All of them have a biological explanation behind brain changes, genetic predisposition, and neurotransmitters’ issues. Nevertheless, dementia is the only one that is actually not treatable. According to Cavanaugh and Blanchard-Fields (2018), dementia is a “family of disorders” that involves behavioral and cognitive deficits due to permanent adverse changes to the brain structure and its functioning. It is usually related to older people, but dementia is not an element of normative aging, it is rather a mental illness. The main types of dementia and their behavioral implications would be discussed further in order to devise a proper care plan.
Main body
There are more than a dozen different types of dementia. Nevertheless, dementia with Lewy bodies, Alzheimer’s disease, and Vascular dementia are the most common ones (Oh & LaPointe, 2017). Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is caused by rapid microscopic changes in the brain, including neurofibrillary tangles, neuritic plaques, and abnormal cell death. According to Oh and LaPointe (2017), there are direct correlations between neuroanatomical conditions of different parts of the brain and patients’ behavioral functions. For instance, tissue loss in the cingulate cortex, frontal gyrus, and prefrontal cortex was correlated with disinhibition, apathy, eating disorders, and digressive motor behavior. Other behavioral changes in the early stages are irritability and depression. In later stages, patients may be aggressive, emotionally distressed, restless, suffer from hallucinations, delusions, and sundowning.
Vascular dementia (VD) is usually caused by brain damage following a stroke or heart attack, which leads to numerous small cerebral vascular accidents (Cavanaugh & Blanchard-Fields, 2018). As a result, the patient suffers from a rapid cognitive loss, but it is usually limited to specific abilities. The behavioral symptoms can differ because they depend on which part of the brain was impaired. However, the main symptoms are impaired judgment, memory, and motivation loss, deteriorated ability to plan. The third most common cause of dementia is Lewy body (DLB). It is a progressive illness that is usually combined with Parkinson’s disease and visual hallucinations. The white matter is more intensive in the brain of a patient with AD than with DLB, which points to behavioral changes (Oh & LaPointe, 2017). People who suffer from DLB have oscillating cognition with significant shifts in alertness and attention and experience spontaneous “parkinsonism.”
Despite being incurable, behavioral issues and cognitive deficits of AD can be alleviated with the help of medication and behavioral intervention strategies. The latter strategies are believed to be more appropriate due to their positive outcomes. Person A, a 72-year-old male, has AD and particularly suffers from aggressive outbursts, sleep problems, anxiety, and loss of planning. In that case, the caregiver has to apply a specific daily routine schedule with reminders that the affected person can easily follow. Taking into consideration that Person A is a retired sportsman, sports activities, such as walking in the park and playing active games outdoors, should be included. It will provide joy, a sense of accomplishment, and will significantly decrease anxiety. The differential reinforcement of incompatible behavior techniques can be applied to decrease aggression of the patient by rewarding calmness and accomplishment of other tasks that distract attention (Cavanaugh, & Blanchard-Fields, 2018). The caffeine intake has to be limited and bedtime established to solve the sleep issue.
Conclusion
In terms of hygiene, Person A fears taking a bath, so the bath should be prepared beforehand and contain a limited amount of water. Rails also can be installed what will bring about a sense of safety. Person A’s shaving should be supervised because he used to a traditional razor, which is dangerous in his current condition. Moreover, potentially dangerous items, such as tools, weapons, equipment, gas, and toxic materials, have to be locked up to increase patient safety.
References
Cavanaugh, J. C., & Blanchard-Fields, F. (2018). Adult development and aging (8th ed.). Cengage Learning.
Oh, C., & LaPointe, L. (2017). Where is dementia? A systematic literature review exploring neuroanatomical aspects of dementia. Perspectives of the ASHA Special Interest Groups, 2(15), 9-23.
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