EP42: How to Manage Repetitive Behaviors in Alzheimer's Disease

<p><em><span style="font-weight: 400;">How to Manage Repetitive Behaviors in Alzheimer's Disease</span></em></p> <p><strong><em>“Look for a reason behind the repetition.”</em></strong><strong>— Melissa Batchelor, PhD, RN, FNP, FAAN </strong></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Are you wondering why a person with dementia develops repetitive behaviors like asking you the same question, telling you the same story, or doing the same thing over and over again? Knowledge is power. In this episode, I’ll walk you through brain development, what’s lost and retained in Alzhiemer’s disease, and help you problem-solve how to manage repetitive behaviors in a person with dementia using the C3P Problem-Solving Framework to explain.</span></p> <p><strong>Part One of ‘How to Manage Repetitive Behaviors in Alzheimer's Disease’</strong></p> <p><strong>To put it simply, your brain develops from the back to the front.</strong><span style= "font-weight: 400;"> </span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The back part of your brain is where your feelings and emotions are (the amygdala). The amygdala controls our emotional responses when we encounter anything threatening, and activates the sympathetic nervous system with the fight, fright, or flight response.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;"> The front part of your brain is called your frontal lobe, and it doesn't fully develop until you're about twenty-five years old. This part of your brain is basically the “stop sign” - meaning when something comes to mind that you want to say, your frontal lobe might say,</span> <em><span style="font-weight: 400;">"No, don't say that quite yet (or don't say it at all)."</span></em><span style= "font-weight: 400;"> </span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">What happens with Alzheimer's disease is the brain loses its ability from the front to the back. So you lose your ability to control impulses, use and understand language but  your emotions remain intact throughout the disease process.</span></p> <p><strong><em>“Focus on th