Anxiety and Worry | Management Strategies
- Think carefully about your home environment. Are there some common or reoccurring factors which repeatedly result in anxiety? Try to reduce or eliminate noise level, visual clutter or anything that seems to trigger anxious feelings.
- Identify what soothes the person you care for, whether it be music, a drive, a warm bath, or a visit with a pet. Try and integrate these things into their daily routine to help build a comfortable and relaxing environment.
- A regular exercise routine often helps to relieve stressful feelings. If they can to do so, encourage physical activity such as a short walk or dancing.
- The person you care for may benefit from relaxation therapies, such as breathing exercises, calming music or massage.
- The signs of anxiety such as pacing Pacing
Aimless wandering, often triggered by a feeling of pain or boredom or some distraction in the environment, such as noise, smell, or temperature. or repetitive questioning may be irritating to the caregiver. If you find yourself unable to cope or unable to sleep, you may need to take yourself out of the environment for a short period of time. This would be in the best interest of yourself and the person you care for. The Alzheimer society in your area will know what respite care Respite care
Services that provide people with temporary relief from tasks associated with caregiving (e.g. in-home assistance, short nursing home stays, adult day care). is available to you and how to obtain it.
- If the person you care for is anxious about forgetting an appointment or a task, try memory Memory
The ability to process information that requires attention, storage, and retrieval. aids such as white boards listing their weekly activities up around the house to remind them. If the person you care for is often worried about a task which has already been completed, include a place on the white board where they can check off an item when complete.
- Talking about overwhelming anxiety with family and friends is common and comforting. Sometimes it is also helpful to share with others by talking to a member of the clergy, psychologist Psychologist
A health professional that specializes in structure and function of the brain and related behaviors or mental processes. Provides treatment through counselling sessions, not drug therapy., family doctor Family doctor
A doctor who provides generalized, primary care to their patients., or other counselor. This helps to provide social support, as well as providing information on ways to best manage the disease. Counseling services are also offered by the Alzheimer Society in your area. Often times, they have early support groups for people who have recently been diagnosed. This can give the person you care for the chance to talk to other people with similar problems, and by sharing their burdens to lessen them.
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