Alzheimer's Caregiver - Recap

The joy and stress of being an Alzheimer’s caregiver was our focus on Tuesday’s show. Our guest, Barry Green, shared his account of watching his father struggle with the brain disease.

Barry reminisced about the good times he spent with his father, but explained those good times quickly turned into difficult times with the onset of Alzheimer’s Disease. A stressful part of caring for an Alzheimer’s patient is dealing with the patient's failing memory. As Barry and his mother soon found out, arguing about material facts of his dad's life and current events was a fight they were not going to win. With a positive mindset, Barry decided to stop arguing and dialed into his father's current thoughts and beliefs on a day-to-day basis.

Barry has a very encouraging and unorthodox way of coping with an Alzheimer’s patient. He is now a motivational speaker who travels all over to deliver speeches on success and happiness. You can find more information about our guest at www.barrygreen.ca.

Dr. Croft joined us via webcam from a conference in Dallas to talk about the emotional turmoil caregivers may experience. He explained that if you are caring for an Alzheimer’s sufferer, chances are that you are also holding down a full-time job and maybe even raising a family of your own. That pressure, coupled with the pain of your loved one exhibiting a new persona, can be dangerous to your health. Dr. Croft provided the warning signs of caregiver stress.

You can catch Barry’s story and Dr. Croft’s advice on how to care for yourself while caring for your loved one by watching the HealthyPlace Mental Health TV Show ‘on demand’ on the player. We also invite you to go to visit our Alzheimer’s Disease Community to try and make sense of your emotions.

We will take a break from our show the week of August 24 but we will return on Tuesday, September 1 at 7:30 CST. We will discuss Dissociative Identity Disorder (D.I.D.) and the difficulty of being in a relationship with someone who suffers form it. If you, or someone you know, is in a relationship with someone who has D.I.D. and they would like to share their story, please contact me at producer AT healthyplace.com.

Take care and see you back here next month!