Alzheimer's DIY - How to Handle Agitation and Aggression from Dementia

[Music] hey guys today i'll be talking to you about the dementia related behaviors of agitation and aggression this can be especially distressing to families if these personality traits were not typical for their loved one and if their loved one is now biting kicking yelling really getting upset and frustrated easily it can be very very hard to handle and hard to know what to do but together we can navigate the situation and i'm hoping today i can share some tips that you will find to be helpful so if this starts to occur in your loved one there are a few things you might want to check in on is there some physical discomfort or pain that often can cause agitation or aggression maybe there's something in the physical environment something around you a loud noise maybe you're in a crowded place so check in with the environment to see if there's anything that can be eliminated or maybe you can move your loved one out of that situation and then finally maybe there's a communication breakdown a misunderstanding maybe they're not understanding you you're not understanding them that can create a very frustrating situation there are some things you can do proactively to try to prevent these dementia related behaviors from happening a few tips include simplifying the task sometimes you just have to break it down into easy steps so it's more manageable for your loved one also give simple choices for example at breakfast don't just say what would you like for breakfast say would you like toast or cereal and you can even present them both options so they can visually see it also sometimes you just need to bite the bullet and apologize and take the blame this can be easier said than done but a lot of times a quick apology can defuse the situation and then finally try redirecting redirection works in a lot of scenarios redirect them to their favorite activity their favorite tv show maybe turn on their favorite song give them their favorite snack that type of redirection often does wonders now i realize that you might get into a situation you've tried those proactive tips but they are agitated they're being aggressive what do you do it can be very frightening in some situations first stay calm the person with dementia often will feed off of your body language and your tone of voice so make sure you maintain a calm tone of voice make sure that you have a calm demeanor you might need to physically take a breath just to calm yourself down but that will really help in this situation also make sure to maintain dignity and respect it can be kind of our automatic response to yell back or to get defensive uh maybe even to scold the person try to correct them that might not work in these situations so try to maintain dignity and respect also approach them slowly especially if they're getting a little combative they're really worked up do do not approach them from behind that can be scary just think about if anyone's approached you from behind and do not approach from directly in front that's a scene is a little confrontational so try to approach from the side but in their line of sight and make eye contact you might even want to get down at their eye level so that they know you're talking directly to them and that you're there to reassure them and that comfort and reassurance is something else that you can do you know make sure you let them know i see you're frustrated i see you're a little bit nervous i'm here for you i'm here to help you those types of reassuring phrases can be really comforting to the person also you need to keep yourself and the person safe you know if the person's getting combative really aggressive if they're okay to be left in the room for just a few minutes by themselves step out of the room take a few deep breaths and then come back into the room with a smile on your face and a positive attitude sometimes the passage of time is your best friend in helping to defuse the situation so hopefully those tips can all be helpful and again my heart goes out to you as a family caregiver if you're experiencing this and know there are resources out there to help at home instead we provide these types of services by our trained caregivers to support families as they work with their loved ones on these dementia related behaviors so don't be afraid to ask for help and then finally you might want to try to journal uh keep track of what is agitating your loved one when they become agitated kind of some notes on the situation because you might start to see patterns in your agitation of your loved one i want to share a quick example we were working with a woman who was really getting agitated every day at three o'clock and we had to kind of put on our detective hats to get to the bottom of it and we realized that long ago she was the one that would pick her children up from the school bus every day at 3 pm and we started to assess the environment and realized that every day at 3 pm she was sitting in the living room and a school bus was driving by and she was getting anxious and nervous because she thought she needed to pick up her kiddos from school so what we tried to do was to create a way that would eliminate her seeing the school bus so we just closed the shade which is so simple uh and then we also redirected her to her favorite activity at that time and you would we were amazed that it it worked i really helped to ease her agitation and she also got to engage in a meaningful activity so you might have to try a few things a few different ways but again journaling can help you uh and putting on that detective hat to get to the bottom of things can really make a big difference so i hope you have found these tips to be helpful i'm sure there are things you have tried that i would love to hear about so please comment thank you for joining me and for watching this video [Music] you

Channel: Home Instead

Views: 23,659

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Id: 30wCJwjILHE

Length: 6min 31sec (391 seconds)

Published: Wed Oct 27 2021