The 36-Hour Day: A Family Guide to Caring for People Who Have Alzheimer Disease, Other Dementias, and Memory Loss (A Johns Hopkins Press Health Book)

by Nancy L. Mace

The best way to manage catastrophic reactions is to stop them before they happen. The things that trigger these outbursts vary from one person to another and from one time to another, but as you learn what upsets your family member, you will be able to reduce the number and frequency of outbursts. Some of the common causes of catastrophic reactions are needing to think about several things at once (for example, all the tasks involved in taking a bath) trying to do something that the person can no longer manage being cared for by someone who is rushed or upset not wanting to appear inadequate or unable to do things (for example, if the doctor asks a lot of questions that the person cannot answer) being hurried (when he thinks and moves more slowly than he used to) not understanding what he was asked to do not understanding what he saw or heard being tired (none of us are at our best when we are tired) not feeling well not being able to make himself understood (see also the following section) feeling frustrated being treated like a child feeling sick and not knowing why