It can be difficult and even frustrating to look after an person with Alzheimer's disease or a associated dementia. Frustration is a normal and valid emotional response to many of the difficulties of being a caregiver. While some annoyance as a caregiver can be part of daily life, feeling intense anger can have significant consequences for you or the person you care for. Frustration and stress can affect your physical health negatively, or cause you to be physically or verbally violent towards your loved one.
Caring for a parent or friend with dementia can have a profound emotional effect, with carers expressing feelings of remorse, sorrow, rage, lack of control and worry Carers can also experience distress when caring, both for themselves in terms of loss of companionship, personal independence and power, and for the person with dementia in terms of loss of personhood. It has been found that anticipation and uncertainty about the future, rage, disappointment and guilt are normal and can occur at any stage; from diagnosis to admission to residential care and beyond
Warning Signs of Anger You can intervene and change your attitude until you lose control, if you can identify the warning signs of anger. Some typical anger warning signs include: shortness of breath Knot in the throat Stomach cramps Chest pains Headache Compulsive drinking Excessive alcohol intake
Seek to rethink the situation in ways that may anger, while you take time out to gather the thoughts. What you always think determines what you feel. Sensations of irritation of course emerge from challenging circumstances. However, if you evaluate your reaction to a stressful situation, you will typically find some sort of ill-adaptive – or negative – thought that raises your anger, prevents you from looking critically at your situation or seeking a better way to deal with it.
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