Alzheimer's and Anger

Alzheimer's patients can get angry. In fact, once they enter the later stages of the disease, it seems as if they are crabby all the time. It sometimes can be difficult to tell the difference between talking out loud and real anger developing from a situation.

If breakfast is not served in a timely manner or served in a way that the patient doesn't like, the world can quickly explode. In later stages of the disease, societal controls previously instilled by parents or others, begin to fall away.

The patient has spent a lifetime building control over personality issues best not seen in public. As the disease progresses, those personal controls begin to be lost. A woman, who in her younger years might have had a very strong feeling of how a woman should act, might now become an entirely different woman.

A woman in the advanced stages of Alzheimer's might think nothing of brazenly walking up to a man whom she doesn't know and begin to kiss or fondle him. If her amorous advances are rebuffed, she can become terribly angry. There is no explanation for this type of anger. She might be angry from the rejection or she might be angry because she thought the man was her husband. The thought might even be, how dare a man reject a woman such as me. The human mind will continue to hang onto whatever shred of self respect that it can find.

Later stage Alzheimer's takes away rational thought. The person who is the constant care giver becomes very important in the patient's world. The care giver can take on many different roles as the day wears on. They might be seen as, care giver, lover, spouse, or a rival for some imagined conquest. The opportunities for anger to rise and destroy, are practically endless.

The morning is a toss-up. The care giver could exactly what they are and the patient recognizes them as such. Often, morning time brings much confusion. The patient might be waking up in strange surroundings with no idea of whom they themselves are. When that much confusion exists, the patient will desperately latch onto whatever thought helps them to make sense of the world that is left to them.

As the day continues and the patient gets tired, more personality changes are in store. Later in the day is when most personality mishaps happen. The strain of keeping up appearances for the patient can begin to tear the patient down. With no energy left to impose control on the outward personality, anger can happen.

An angry Alzheimer's patient can reach out and slap, bite, pinch or clench a fist and knock you off your feet. If your Alzheimer's charge becomes angry, try to redirect them. Sometimes you can say something really stupid such as, hey, we forgot our ice cream. Let's get some. This weird statement is enough to make them completely lose the angry moment.

Forget unpleasant incidents as quickly as they do. Alzheimer's patients in the advanced stages don't carry grudges. They don't remember them. It's in your best interest as a care giver to model that behavior.

Sources
helpguide.org/elder/alzheimers_behavior_problems.htm