It is estimated that in 2017, the number of people affected by neurodegenerative diseases will increase by 10%. Its detection is difficult news for both the patient and his or her family. Knowing how to cope with this situation is essential in the development of this type of dementia. Here, Dr. Augusto Zafra explains what role families should take.
Knowing how to cope with neurodegenerative diseases
When a person is diagnosed with a serious mental disorder or a degenerative brain pathology, it is necessary to make a change and an adequate adaptation to the new situation. Not only from the medical point of view, which involves accompanying the patient during visits or supervising the treatment, and which in a certain way involves integrating the professionals into the daily routine, but also maintaining the serenity that the functional repercussions or loss of skills that sometimes occurs must entail, providing adequate emotional and affective support.
Role of the family
The family should avoid falling into paternalistic behaviors or attitudes, overprotection or high emotional expressiveness. Nor is it advisable to play the role of police and hypercontrol of the patient’s life. Therefore, the attitude that in the long term gives the best results is that of support in all dimensions of the patient, making an approach based on trust and accompaniment, being silent supervisors and the eyes of the professional at home who is the one who advises and sets the therapeutic objectives.
Psychotherapy
The role of the psychiatrist is very broad. From the clinical point of view, he/she must know how to evaluate and diagnose the pathology in the sick person. After this, the most suitable therapeutic alternatives of proven efficacy are proposed, always with the aim of reducing the burden of the disease and maintaining the maximum functionality of the patient in terms of autonomy and independence.
This entire medical process requires communication with the patient, caregiver and close relatives in terms of truthfulness, clarity and transparency. The information should be provided progressively, according to the wishes of the patient and his or her relatives, and with a clear and understandable vocabulary, avoiding unnecessary technicalities and exaggerated catastrophisms. To this end, it is essential to build trust beforehand and to develop an appropriate doctor-patient relationship.