Lesson Outline

The behavioural, emotional and psychiatric symptoms that may occur with dementia can be particularly distressing for care partners.
Apathy is a lack of feeling, emotion, interest and concern. It’s a state of indifference, or not showing emotions and there is often a lack of motivation or drive to initiate activities. Apathy is a result of damage to the brain. There are no treatments for it. By understanding that apathy is not a choice that the person with dementia makes, it may make it easier for their care partners to cope with it.
Depression is a mood disorder that can affect a person’s thoughts, behaviours, feelings and sense of well-being. Anxiety is an emotion characterized by an unpleasant state of inner turmoil. It is often accompanied by nervous behaviour, abnormal feelings in the body, and an inability to control what we are thinking about. There are drug and non-drug treatments for both depression and anxiety for people with dementia.

Learn the answers to the following questions:

What is apathy and how can care partners cope with it?

What are depression and anxiety and how are they treated in people with dementia?