Ways to Discourage the Mentally Handicapped from Drinking Too Much Water

No one can argue that drinking water is beneficial.

However, drinking too much water can lead to what is called water intoxication. This means that water is being consumed at a rate faster than the kidneys can process it. Too much water can actually rupture the cells and lead to death.

What is there to do, then, for those mentally handicapped men and women who, for one reason or another, don't seem to realize when they've had too much water? Are there ways to discourage them?

Create Substitutions

Part of the reason that mentally handicapped--or developmentally disabled-- people are likely to drink too much water is because they associate it with some daily reward. For example, if they see water being put in the same glass as the soda pop they get after a full day of cooperating with others, they might learn to see water as something just as pleasurable.

One of the ways, then, to discourage mentally handicapped people from drinking too much water is to create a substitution for the soda pop. The daily treat that rewards good behavior doesn't have to come in liquid form. The reward that reinforces good behavior can be some game or other pleasurable way to pass the time.

Create a Schedule for Water

Another way to discourage those who suffer from developmental disabilities from drinking too much water is to create a deliberate schedule for drinking it. This by no means implies that these people should be deprived of water when they are thirsty.

Creating a schedule where water is consumed in the morning with medication, for example, creates an association between taking medicine and drinking water. The benefit here is that water is drunk in a practical way that is advantageous instead of some chaotic way that will lead to problems.

There can also be a schedule where drinking water in the morning is encouraged since this might help to eliminate the enuresis (bedwetting) that the developmentally challenged can suffer from.

In sum, there are benefits to drinking water, especially for those who engage in strenuous activity.

But, for the mentally handicapped, who often live sedentary lifestyles, there is the tendency to drink too much water. If too much water floods into the cells, the person can actually die.

On the bright side, there are ways to discourage developmentally disabled people from drinking too much water. These ways have to do with changing the mentally handicapped perception of water so they learn to think of it as something practical they drink at certain times of the day.


Source: Personal experience