Mental Health | A talk about Dementia | by @wase1234 || Thursday 4th October 2021

Introduction

Mental health is a very important aspect of our lives we need to be vigilant about. Without that brain the body can do almost nothing. I will be talking today on dementia, it’s causes and treatments. I will be giving my experience on taking care of a dementia patient and I will be sharing some tips on how to manage living with a dementia patient.

What is dementia?

Dementia is a persistent mental disorder of the mental processes caused by brain disease or injury marked by memory disorder, personality changes and impaired reasoning.

Causes and treatment

Dementia is caused by a series of things, most commonly severe head injuries and Alzheimer’s disease ( a progressive disease that destroys memory and other important mental functions)
Dementia cannot be treated but can be managed through therapy and some drugs like cognition enhancing medications that improves mental functions, lower blood pressure and may balance mood.

My experience with a dementia patient

Dementia affects mostly the aging. One thing I learned taking care of this dementia patient is that she has gone through a lot of traumatic experiences and this trauma became worse with the dementia. She had speech impediment because she couldn’t remember what to say and performing a single task on her own became more and more impossible. I had to help this lady do almost everything. She had impaired reasoning and a lot of mood swings just like I mentioned earlier. I had to teach her almost everything and the sight of someone going through that was very hard to see.

How to manage living with a dementia patient

• You have to be very patient with them and help them in doing what they want to do.
• Explaining what they have forgotten confuses them more so it’s rather you just treat the topic like it’s the first time u guys are discussing about it.
• Take them outside and site seeing, show them things that make them happy.
• Don’t yell at them for doing something wrong for they only get more confused.
• Make sure they always take their medications on time and sleep with the lights off.
• And also make sure they exercise and eat healthy.

Conclusion

Guys let’s take care of our mental health as much as we can. Avoid fights and harmful substances. Let’s say no to depression and anxiety. Do things that make you happy like going out, seeing nature, raising a pet, listening to music and much more. If you feel like you can’t express your feelings to someone you can write them down or draw or just do whatever positive thing to get it out of your system.
Don’t forget to eat healthy and exercise.

Cc: @thegreens, @steem-cameroon, @b-naj