Alzheimer's includes behavioral characteristics that extend beyond its cognitive explanations. These behaviors require study because of the influence on both the patient and caregiver. Treatment often look

Each family member experiences a similar process of coming to terms with the changes. This process includes three stages: describing how the victim is the same, and/or different, prior to disease onset, rewriting the individuality of the victim, and redefining the relationship with the victim. During the first stage, family members look for behaviors that still represent the victims' "true" self, and those that the person with Alzheimer's no longer has. In the second stage, the disease and individual with the disease must be seen as two in one. Part of the struggle in this stage is to maintain the adult identity of the victim while managing their child-like needs.

The victim attempts to make sense of a seemingly new and hostile world, and this leads to dubious and uncharacteristic changes in behavior, personality, decision-making, function, and mood. Certain symptoms that are often associated with depression may be observed in patients who are cognitively impaired but not depressed. Professionals must be aware of all the symptoms the patient is experiencing, and reports from family members must also be taken into account. The patient usually reports fewer negative feelings or mood problems than are identified by caregivers.

A committee at the St. Louis Chapter of the Alzheimer's Association developed Project Esteem to provide emotional intervention for people with Alzheimer's in the Forgetful phase. Its purpose is to provide opportunities to share thoughts and feelings with peers and professionals, and to have some fun.

Relatives of deceased victims can be compared to those whose family member is still living. Wives and husbands display similar feelings of burden, but the husbands report more social limitations. On the contrary, sons and daughters are different in their descriptions of burden. Sons report less social limitations than daughters do, and less affective limitation when the demented parents had died. The sons of the deceased elderly also report less conflict with others than the daughters do.

Patients often attempt to cover up their disease by modifying the behaviors of others, rather than identifying their own inevitable retrogression. Fears of the unknown, fears of abandonment, lowered frustration tolerance, and loss of impulse control may result in problematic behavior. Also, appropriate behavior may simply be forgotten, and faces of family members and friends unfamiliar. However, the victim of Alzheimer's often denies these symptoms. More obvious, even to themselves are the expression of emotions such as panic and deprivation. Experiences such as early retirement and anticipated changes in the responsibilities of daily life are never realized. The inability to drive a car is especially painful and frustrating for some. Self-esteem and sense of worth plummet. Individuals with Alzheimer's lose their capability to plan, postpone, wait, or predict the outcomes of their actions. Family members very often fail to attribute losses similar to those previously mentioned to a disease. They tend to deny the existence of the disease.

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Approximate Word count = 3418
Approximate Pages = 14 (250 words per page double spaced)