Stress Management for Alzheim... Video Transcript

Participants

Peter Davies PhD, David R. Marks MD, Norman Relkin MD, PhD, Della Rios RN

Summary

It's difficult to watch a loved one suffer from Alzheimer's and caring for them can be an intense challenge. Our panel of experts will address the pressures that come with this responsibility and discuss strategies for coping with them.

Webcast Transcript

DAVID MARKS, MD: Hi, and welcome to our webcast. I'm Dr. David Marks. Alzheimer's disease affects not only the patient but the caregiver. In fact, more than 80% of caregivers are stressed out, and almost half of them are depressed. Joining us to talk about stress and the Alzheimer's caregiver, are two guests. First is Dr. Norman Relkin. He's Director of the Cornell Memory Disorders Program at Weill Cornell Medical College. Welcome.

NORMAN RELKIN, MD: Thank you.

DAVID MARKS, MD: Also, we're happy to have Della Rios. She is a nurse, and the director of education and training at the Alzheimer's Association. Thanks for being here.

DELLA RIOS, RN: Thank you.

DAVID MARKS, MD: Dr. Relkin, let's start off by talking about Alzheimer's is to begin with.

NORMAN RELKIN, MD: Alzheimer's is a degenerative disease of the brain. It's slowly progressive. It happens to be the most common form of dementia in the elderly. An estimated two to four million Americans are currently affected. At the population ages, more and more can be expected to succumb to this disease.

DAVID MARKS, MD: Now, the patient succumbs, but what happens to the caregivers?

DELLA RIOS, RN: One of the things that we know about Alzheimer's is that it's a long illness. Through the course of this illness, as the person starts out with mild symptoms, over the course of the illness the person will, with the illness, eventually becomes totally dependent on the caregiver for everything. So, of course, for the caregiver, it's an enormously draining experience, emotionally, physically and financially.

DAVID MARKS, MD: Is this usually one caregiver that follows the patient throughout the whole process?

DELLA RIOS, RN: Most often it's one caregiver with, hopefully, the support of family and friends and organizations like the Alzheimer's Association, and their physicians, etc.

DAVID MARKS, MD: Those statistics I mentioned at the beginning really are staggering. What are the warning signs that can tell you if a caregiver's getting into trouble themselves?

NORMAN RELKIN, MD: I often, as a physician, will use the number of telephone calls I get each month as an indicator of how distressed a family may be. It varies greatly, and I think we have to understand that most of the people who come to the job of being caregiver are forced into it. They're not really, no one, of course, asks to take on this role. Many people do it very, very willingly. They're paying back their parents for what they did for them for many, many years. But no one is truly prepared for it. And, as a consequence, there's a learning curve and a certain amount of stress to be expected in every case.

When you see an individual breaking down, when you see them unable to cope with the day-to-day management of their loved one's affairs, that's where an association like the Alzheimer's Association and other caregiver-based support can be a tremendous help.

DAVID MARKS, MD: What are the symptoms you see of this type of breakdown in the whole caregiving process?

DELLA RIOS, RN: Certainly one of many things you see is some sleeplessness, anxiety. You see depression. Anger. Sometimes loss of appetite, anxiety. There are a number of telltale signs. And the trick, of course, is to figure out what the cause of all of that anxiety is, and to address it so as to ameliorate some of that.

DAVID MARKS, MD: Dr. Relkin mentioned paying back parents. I would think, just intuitively, maybe it would be a little easier for the children to deal with it than the spouses, who may be elderly themselves.