Personality as you aged never changes the personality you have as a child all the way up to when you get older. There might be a few changes as you get older but if you were a very nice person when you were younger there is a chance that you are going to be that way when you get older. However there are diseases that can cause a person’s personality to be completely different. Maybe they enjoyed a certain activity when they were younger but as Alzheimer’s and dementia start to kick in they forget all the things they loved.
People with this disease experience behavior and personality changes like depression. There personalities fluctuate they can be confused, fearful or even suspicious. That person may have never been fearful in their life but this disease makes their whole personality different.
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According to Cummings (2003) Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is often associated with behavioral and psychological symptoms (BPS) and personality changes.
The prevalence of BPS is high and impacts substantially on the quality of life of both the demented and those who support them. Neuropsychiatric symptoms of dementia take on many forms and can be grouped into affective, psychotic, behavioral, and personality disorders or changes. (Cummings, 2003).
Behavioral and psychological symptoms in people with AD are commonly seen as a consequence of brain degeneration, a vantage point assuming a direct causal relationship between neuropathology and behavior. Bird and Moniz-Cook (2008) state however, this biologically orientated level of explanation appears to have only partial theoretical and empirical support and ignores both the individual experience of the demented and their socio-cultural context (Bird and Moniz-Cook, 2008).
According to Downs, Clare, and Anderson (2008), AD phenomenology resulting from interactions between the neurological, psychological, and social factors receives increasing attention in research (Downs, et al.,
2008). Each individual with Alzheimer’s will experience personality change differently not one person will experience the same thing. One person may not experience that much confusion compared to someone who experiences a lot. An individual personality may influence how that person will go through AD. Some researchers like Balis, Carpenter, and Storandt (2005) said that with the older patients some retain most of their older personality. If they do have personality changes most of it has to do with their Dementia. The disease is explained that with this it can affect their personality traits (Balsis, et al., 2005). A disease like Alzheimer’s or Dementia can really take a toll on your personality. Someone could have been a really nice person but maybe they forgot because of their disease. I think that something like this can have a major impact on how someone acts when they inquire one of these two diseases. According to O’Donnell, Lewis, Dubois, Standish, Bedard, and Molloy (2007) between 20% and 92% of elderly with this disease have experienced some type of personality change at least once. Some say that not all elderly experience personality change. Someone living with this type of disease face some challenges with their personality. It can also affect their life and for the people who support them (O’Donnell, et al., 2007). Helping out a loved one who has Alzheimer’s or Dementia can be hard to see what kind of person they are becoming. When you start to see how this disease is affecting their lives you can start to get very worried. It’s hard to see them as they once were before they got the disease. You have to make sure you are there for them and try not to treat them any different than they were before. If they have Alzheimer’s maybe you could help them remember what they were like or things that they used to enjoying doing. Ballard, O’Brien, James, and Swann (2001), said that personality is as essential to understanding challenging behavior. Not only does Dementia affect an elder’s individual personality but it is also a leading cause in challenging behavior. Research states that out of the Big Five personality traits only two of those were pretty stable traits. As we grow older our personalities should not change, however openness and agreeableness have found to be very stable traits. On the other hand you have traits like extroversion, neuroticism, and conscientiousness which are more likely to change with Dementia (Ballard, et al., (2001). Behavior in Dementia is more of an interaction with personality, history, cognitive status, environment, and mental health Ballard, et al., 2001). As people get older your personality stays with you until the end, but you know you never know how much different you might be after you get a disease like Alzheimer’s or Dementia. A disease like this can alter your personality just a little bit. It is very important to treat these loved ones, or a patient like nothing is wrong with them. They just live their life as if nothing is wrong, sometimes they even think they don’t have that disease and they are just going about life as if they were younger. Some of them believe that they are the same person they were before they retired and everything went downhill. Some don’t believe that this is happening to them so they are in denial. The more they are in denial the more frustrating it is for everyone else. According to Hertzog, Kramer, Wilson, and Lindenberger (2008) elderly that have a higher intellectual, physical, or social engagement is associated with a decreased risk for cognitive decline (Hertzog, et al., 2008). Scarmeas and Stern (2003) stated that when the elderly take part in exercise that helps out their brain might help maintain their cognitive process (Scarmeas and Stern, 2003). Elderly that participate in more activity help with cognitive decline then elders who don’t. Elderly with who have a higher mental attitude were more mentally active when they were younger and through their life. Sharp, Reynolds, Pedersen, and Gatz, (2010) data says that levels of Openness predicted a maintained rate of higher cognitive function over time. Baker and Bichsel (2006) mentioned Openness has also been identified with cognitive functioning in territory more than intelligence. For example, it was predictive of visual processing in cognitively intact older adults (Baker & Bichsel, 2006). Ayotte, Potter, Williams, Steffens, and Bosworth (2009) said that people who have a higher Openness had overall better psychomotor speed, cognitive flexibility, and working memory in the elderly who were depressed and in elderly who weren’t Ayotte, et al., 2009). According to Beurs, Beekman, Deeg, Dyck and Tilburg (2000) there are also other personality traits like Neuroticism that have said to elderly having poor cognitive functioning. With Neuroticism more elderly experience negative emotion which then leaves to a negative life (Beurs, et al., 2000). Wilson, Barnes, Mendes, Aggarwal, Schneider, Bach and Bennett (2003) said older adults have a higher risk of getting a disease like Alzheimer’s if they have a higher Neuroticism (Wilson, et al., 2003). When the elderly lose their cognitive process they lose a bit of their personality because they don’t realize who they are or what is going on. Also they think that they are much younger so they think that they are still the same person that they were before when in reality they are not. They don’t want to think that they have a disease and that they are the same person. According to Vasterling, Seltzer, Foss, and Vanderbrook (1995), people with Alzheimer’s disease (AD) often show profound unawareness of their deficits (Vasterling, etal., 1995). Seltzer, Vasterling, Yoder, and Thompson (1997) that understanding awareness in dementia has important implications, as it has been found to be associated with greater perceived burden of care by their caregivers (Seltzer, et al., 1997). According to Harwood, Sultzer, Feil, Monserratt, Freedman, and Mandelkern (2005) awareness has been commonly conceived as reflecting damage to a neural system which may underpin “self-awareness”. For example, awareness has been shown to worsen with disease progression, and has been found to be associated more frequently with impaired functioning in certain anatomical sites (Harwood, et al., 2005). According to Mangone, Hier, Gorelick, Ganellen, Langenberg, Boarman, and Dollear (1991) other studies have found awareness to worsen with disease severity (Mangone, et al., 1991). On the other hand Michon, Deweer, Pillon, Agid and Dubios (1994) would have to disagree on that. Weinstein and Kahn (1953) originally proposed a “prototypical denial personality” which would describe someone who was “conscientious, reserved, highly work-orientated stubborn, dogmatic and unwilling to admit mistakes” and who “regarded illness as an imperfection, weakness or disgrace” (Weinstein and Kahn 1953). According to Weinstein, Friedland, and Wagner (1994) reported significantly higher, so-called, “denial personality” ratings in patients who denied illness than those who did not (Weinstein, et al., 1994). Seiffer, Clare, and Harvey (2005) investigated a group of mixed dementia (but mostly AD) patients and reported that increased conscientiousness was associated with reduced awareness of level of functioning (Seiffer, et al., 2005). Chatterjee, Strauss, Smyth, and Whitehouse (1992) say the self-report measures of personality may therefore be inappropriate for individuals who are characterized by little insight, impaired judgement, with cognitive, particularly mnemonic deficits and who may have undergone personality changes (Chatterjee, et al., 1992). According to Kondo and Yamashita (1990), some features of premorbid personality may modify the disease process or its phenotypical trait (Kondo and Yamashita, 1990).Meins and Dammast (2000) say that studies of the Big Five personality traits of people with AD have shown the AD is associated with high levels of premorbid neuroticism (Meins and Dammast, 2000). According to Ohm, Muller, Braak, and Bohl (1995), previous studies of the association between premorbid personality and AD have relied on small samples and imprecise definitions of the premorbid period (Ohm, et al., 1995). In this case study according to McKhann, Drachman, and Folstein (1984), they had 160 females and 57 males who were diagnosed with probable late onset AD. The AD group was aged 67-98 years with a minimum age of Dementia onset of 60 years. Participants in the study investigating AD genetics, biomarkers and links between AD and personality. In conclusion there is lots of research that says that as people aged and become older and start to develop Alzheimer’s or Dementia their personality can change. Usually as people reach
( what is the main symptom of Dementia and how does this affect a person ? )
Alzheimer's affects people in different ways, each person will experience symptoms or progress through Alzheimer's stages differently.
Dementia is common among a large population of elderly people. The disease affects not only the individual diagnosed, but also the caregivers that work towards making their life comfortable in the end. Understanding and learning about the disease is crucial in helping those that experience or live with someone who has dementia. The services and support that are currently in affect for elderly people with dementia and the caregivers is poor, and ineffective because of the lack of research and information on the topic.
AD is a form of dementia, a disease, that according to the Alzheimer's Disease Education & Referral Center is defined as:
The human brain is extraordinary organ. It stores our memories, vision, hearing, speech, and capable of executing executive higher reasoning and functions setting us apart from animals. Today we know more about the human brain because of medical advances and the development of technology. These brain disorders have been studied for years and many others would classify dementia as a mental illness because it causes cognitive impairments. The following paragraphs will discuss what dementia is, what the types of dementia are, perspectives of patients with dementia as well as the perspective of a caregiver to a dementia patient.
Delirium, Depression, and Dementia are some of the most common psychological diagnoses in the elderly today. The three D’s are difficult to differentiate between in older adults because they overlap with each other and can all exist in the same patient at once. Delirium, Dementia, and Depression all affect the elderly’s quality of life and often increase the risks for one another (Downing, Caprio & Lyness, 2013). For the purpose of this paper I will be focusing primarily on the diagnosis of Dementia, the prevention, and nursing measures associated with it, but first I would like to differentiate between Delirium and Depression because Dementia is often associated with the two in the older adult population.
This usually occurs in older adults aged above 65; however, it is a disability and not a normal symptom of aging. Chances of inheritability are present, but it depends on the individual and the type of dementia (Alzheimer Australia, 2011). The Global Deterioration Scale provides a detailed explanation of the seven stages of cognitive decline in dementia (Alzheimer’s Association of Canada, 2005). Types of Dementia There are four main types of dementia, with AD being the most widespread form. It accounts for almost two thirds (50 -70 percent) of the cases and thus more extensively studied (Miller, 2009)....
I believe that personality can change over time. This I believe, because I don’t think that anyone ever grows up and doesn’t change at all. For example, when I was young, I was extremely reserved, anxious, and stringent, but now, in my senior year of highschool, I have become more relaxed, but serious, and I still am quiet and introverted, but to a lesser extent than I was before. I have also become much more focused and more mature than I was just a few years ago, which is all because of the curriculum here at my school. I have also seen people I know change over the years as they grow older and mature. I've also witnessed close friends change as we've grown up over the years. My close friend Nick used to be a flamboyant, go-with-the-flow kind of kid, but now as he entered his senior he has become more mature, responsible, and more caring than he
Dementia is a major neurocognitive disorder that interferes with the independence of the elderly by inhibiting memory and thinking skills. Fifty to eighty percent of dementia cases constitute of Alzheimer’s diagnoses; consequently Alzheimer’s disease is the most common type of dementia and currently affects 5.2 million Americans. Most of these cases are patients above the age of 65 and by 2050; 13.8 million Americans in total will suffer Alzheimer’s due to aging of the general population, specifically the baby boomers. Total cost to society ranges from $157- $215 billion (Associated Press). Some would assume the cost of Alzheimer’s to be incurred by pharmaceuticals or medical costs, however RAND Corp suggests dementia cost to society is from care rather than treatment. Therefore, assistance provided by informal providers and directs caregivers incur a majority of the financial and social cost. Currently, the workforce does not have the capacity or training to care for these unique patients; the delivery system needs to address Alzheimer’s as the population ages and more and more fam...
The clinical picture in dementia is very similar to delirium, except for the course. Delirium is an acute transitory disorder. By contrast Dementia is a long term progressive disorder (with the exception of the reversible dementias). The course of AD can range anywhere from 1.5 to 15 years with an average of about 8.1 years (Terry , 1988). AD is usually divided into three stages mild, moderate, and severe. Throughout these stages a specific sequence of cognitive deterioration is observed (Lezak, 1993). The mild stage begins with memory, attention, speed dependent activities, and abstract reasoning dysfunction. Also mild language impairments begin to surface. In the moderate stage, language deficits such as aphasia and apraxia become prominent. Dysfluency, paraphasias, and bizzare word combinations are common midstage speech defects. In the severe stage the patient is gradually reduced to a vegetative state. Speech becomes nonfluent, repetitive, and largely non-communicative. Auditory comprehension is exceedingly limited, with many patients displaying partial or complete mutism. Late in the course of the disease many neuropsychological functions can no longer be measured. Also primitive reflexes such as grasp and suck emerge. Death usually results from a disease such as pneumonia which overwhelms the limited vegetative functions of the patient.
... and duration varies from person to person. It depends on multiple factors, including the age of diagnosis and other medical conditions. The signs and symptoms start with cognitive disturbance as all other forms of dementia begin. We should refrain from being prejudiced and judgmental because of not taking the time to truly understand this disorder and how it may affect one’s life. Education and patience are the best ways to tackle this issue. In this paper, relevant topics involving dementia were discussed. Part one covered the pathology and staging of dementia. Part two explained the most common types of dementia that many people are diagnosed with. Part three summarized the treatment methods used to manage the disorder. We should apply a professional, respectful, and empathic approach while maintaining specific culture traditions to achieve a successful outcome.
Personality is the study of an individual’s unique and relatively stable patterns of thinking, feeling, and behaving over time and across situations and it is what distinguishes one individual from another. In the past changes in personality were thought to have only occurred in the developmental stages of childhood and solidifies in adolescence. After the teenage years it was thought to be set like plaster or the change seen to be inconsequential or absent( Srivastava, John, Gosling, and Potter, 2003). However, recent studies have suggested that changes in personality traits continue to occur throughout an individual’s lifespan due to multiple reasons.
Of life. My research question is that do people personality change as they age? I think the
One way my personality has changed in 5 years was my confidence, I can look at myself in the mirror and not notice the “flaws” in front of me, I used to pick out everything that I thought was wrong with me and try to fix it. I couldn’t care less about what other people think about me and I am able to wear what makes me feel comfortable with confidence. I will now wear sweat pants to class or out in public, if I please, and not feel afraid to look messy or gross. I had many friends in middle school but a lot of them weren 't true friends, we would all talk about each other and do cruel things to each other. I now have a few close friends and we all treat each other with love and kindness. I think of my friends and family more than myself, I make
Nurture has a more stronger influence on your personality than nature does. They both have a huge role in contributing to your personality development, it is a proven fact. Identical twins have a lot of differences, but also many similarities. Your personality can keep changing while you're growing up. Studies have shown that your personality is based off your surroundings and how you have been raised. From now on when you watch how people act, be sure to remember this debate and think about what their personality is based