Dementia and aggresive behavior

Dementia and aggression There is a lot of advice out there for coping with aggressive behavior but anyone who has worked in the care system or is looking after someone with dementia knows it is easier said than done. A client of mine 93 went for a days respite recently and was attacked so badly by another client she was left with stiches in in her arm she doesn't remember what happened but has since been wandering and walking with purpose meaning she is unable to settle ,the sad thing is the person who did this will not remember either and in a past life (before this horrible disease ) would be absolutely heartbroken about doing such a thing! I Myself have been punched ,kicked had poo thrown in my face and bitten so badly I had to visit the hospital, on more than one occasion a very lovely lady would decide to throw all the library books at me because she couldn't get out of the dementia unit its hard to distract some one when your being bombarded by flying books. but an hour later she would be back to her lovely smiley self with no knowledge of what had just taken place. Someone I know was actually assisting a chap in the shower who turned round and knocked her out she was using red body wash at the time and he thought it was blood luckily assistance was at hand. I looked after a lady who used to get picked up by bus every morning to visit a day center to get to the front door she had to pass a large mirror where she would stop and question who the hell that was in her house (her reflection) she would get so angry and upset about this she would sometimes not get on the bus because she thought the person in the mirror was taking over her house .in the end I had the family remove the mirror as it was her trigger point.

The frustration of losing your capacity to think for yourself must be extremely frightening in the begging and then I guess the frustration sets in when you no longer know who you are, where you are or who anyone else is for that matter. all we can do is our best . When someone is being aggressive towards you verbally keep your voice low and calm speak slowly unfold your arms put your glasses on your head so they can see your eyes I don't know why but I have always find this helps don't disagree with them if they say something happened to them it did say I'm sorry that happened what can i do to help shall we make some tea while we decide what to do this is deferring the situation and the chances are they will forget what the problem was while your making the tea.

Tips make sure there not in pain if you can soft lights and music Soft cushions A favorite blanket lavender oils go for a walk Take deep breaths maybe leave the room for a few minutes until you a both calmer. Physical aggression is of course much harder to deal with and I will leave that to the experts however try to get yourself away from the situation and call the emergency services it might be that there medication needs changing

Marina Barker