Ask NAN blog
Teachings and tips for family caregivers navigating the needs of their aging loved one.
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Cómo hacer respiraciones de relajación
Si se siente ansioso, el primer paso a seguir es romper el ciclo de respuesta al estrés de su cuerpo. La respiración de relajación es una técnica poderosa para lograrlo.
How To Do Relaxation Breathing
If you're feeling anxious, the first step to take is to break your body's stress response cycle. Relaxation breathing is a powerful technique to achieve this.
Caregiver Burnout: How to Cope
Caregiving for someone suffering from Alzheimer’s disease is one of the most challenging jobs in the world, and it comes with a risk of what is known as “Caregiver Burnout.” With caregiver burnout, you are in a state of physical, emotional, and mental exhaustion that may also be coupled with a change in your attitude towards your caregiving role, from one of positive, caring, and rewarding to one of feeling negative, unconcerned, and resentful.
If Your Loved One Wanders
While having your loved one wandering around the house might be challenging to you as a caregiver, it’s not necessarily unsafe. However, some wandering can be dangerous, including going into areas of the house such as stairwells, decks, hot tubs, or swimming pools. Also dangerous is your loved one leaving the house, yard, or property alone. To address the challenges of your loved one wandering, you can try some of these tactics.
Sundowning and How To Manage It
Sundowning is a state of increased agitation, activity and negative behaviors which happen late in the day through the evening hours. When sundowning, the person may become demanding, suspicious, upset, or disoriented, see or hear things that are not there, and believe things that are not true. They may pace or wander around the house while others are sleeping. Here are some tips for potentially reducing the occurrence of sundowning and softening its effects when it does happen.
Understanding Clinging and Shadowing
For caregivers of people with Alzheimer's disease and related disorders (ADRD), clinging and shadowing behaviors happen more often than not over the course of a day. Being followed everywhere and being repeatedly interrupted when trying to complete a task is a common source of frustration for many caregivers of loved ones with ADRD.
Strategies to Reduce Caregiver Anxiety
It’s important to understand that anxiety is triggered by physical reactions to stress signals the body receives. Here’s how to reduce these effects.
Anxiety and Alzheimer’s Disease
For people with Alzheimer’s disease, anxiety can complicate their course and significantly reduce their quality of life and interpersonal relationships. Here's how you can help.
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