Sunday, June 23, 2013
Blog #3 Chapter 5 Reflection
This chapter covered many factors in the aging process that most people would not think about, including how to rid yourself of the stress that is causing you to age quicker, how to slow down the different types of dementia, and how to care for the elderly who are experiencing mental illness.
According to Sarah Mahoney (2005), ridding the body of stress does not take a lot hard work, just a little desire to add some joy and happiness to life by playing games, adding some humor with jokes or things that bring on laughter, being optimistic, getting a job doing what you love to do, and doing something for someone else without expecting something in return. Other ways to get rid of stress is by exercising, listening to music, and through prayer (Hillier & Barrow, 2011). One thing that is a result of aging, for some, is dementia. Although dementia does not affect everyone, it can have a effect on a great number of people. Dementia comes in many forms, including Alzheimer's Disease, Parkinson's disease, Huntington's disease, and Wernicke-Karsakoff's syndrome. The dementia process can be slowed by doing things such as maintaining an active interest in life, keeping one's mind stimulated, and getting regular checkups.
Caretakers of the elderly should work to make sure these things are being done, as well as making sure the elderly, or affected individuals, are involved with other people by getting them to attend group activities, make friends with others, or get involved with arts and craft projects (Hillier & Barrow, 2011).
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Valerie - I also thought this chapter was extremely interesting. Before I started volunteering in an assisted living facility, I did not know much about dementia or understanding why some people may be affected and others may not. I was also under the impression that all "old" people will eventually suffer from memory loss. Some of the activities we would engage the residents to partake in where working jigsaw puzzles, playing memory games, and physical activity. Like you indicated in your post, possessing a positive outlook on life and participating in activities that being joy and happiness are essential to one’s mental health. Taking steps to alleviating stress from a person’s life can be beneficial not only mentally but physical as well. This chapter provided me with a better understanding of the various diseases such as those you listed such as Parkinson’s disease and Huntington’s disease, as well as, Creutzfeld-Jacob Disease; one I have never heard of before.
ReplyDeleteI like how you talked about getting rid of stress. Yes it's easy to get rid of stress but it's not easy to prevent it. I am a strong type B personality, I am very easy going but even I get stressed out. Now, I have friends that are type A personalities and they have a very difficult time letting things slide by or "going with the flow". People with type A personalities needs to be more aware of how they deal with stress because their personality can put them at a higher risk of developing dementia in later life. I agree with you and Eva, this chapter opened my eyes to other types of dementia that I have never heard of. I too have worked with the elderly and it is a terrible disease. There was one woman with Huntington's disease that was particularly hard for me to deal with. She was an amazing woman, but watching her suffer from it was hard for me to bear. I hope someday soon a cure is made possible.
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