One-third of people with dementia “feel like giving up” after the effects of lockdown

One-third of people with dementia are apathetic and want to give up after their mental and physical deterioration during the blockade of the coronavirus. Charity research suggests.

According to a June survey of 1,831 people with dementia and their caregivers, a similar percentage now feels less confident to go out, as deregulation is beginning to be relaxed.

According to the Alzheimer’s Association, nearly half (45%) of respondents said that blockades worsened their mental health, and 1 in 10 (11%) had since social distance requirements imposed. I have lost a friend.

And 46% of unpaid caregivers said their loved ones are now stressed, anxious, or depressed.

Charity support services were accessed more than 500,000 times during the lockdown and 15,000 calls were made to the Alzheimer’s Association Dementia Connectivity Support Line.

According to the National Bureau of Statistics, dementia and Alzheimer’s disease are the most common pre-existing states of approximately 20,000 nursing home residents who died of Covid-19 between March 2 and June 12.

Charities say that the knock-on effect of the virus on normal life disruption and mental health “may have resulted in a significant increase in “unexplained” deaths not related to the virus.”

Unexplained “excessive” deaths for dementia patients in April were 83 percent higher in England and 54 percent higher in Wales, a charity added.

The study also found that half of people with dementia do not have more detailed conversations than they did before lockdown.

Three out of ten dementia patients spent more than 5 minutes without speaking for at least 4 days. It has risen to 46% of those who live alone.

And one in eight (12%) revealed that they spent a week without talking to anyone for more than five minutes.

Chris Maddox, who had been diagnosed with dementia and had to quit his job in 2016, said he has been struggling with memory, concentration and confidence since the lockdown began.

Former police officers were also very sensitive to noise and were very worried after the experience on the beach where people were not socially separated.

A 64-year-old man from Eastbourne told a news agency in PA: “It took me four years to rebuild and rebuild my life. And suddenly when you’re in lockdown, you think, “Well, I don’t have anything right now.”

“It regained the feeling that it was useless. I felt the same after I really diagnosed and lost my job, and I was doing what I was doing before the lockdown, so I felt useful from a useless feeling. And then from hopelessness to hopefulness, and it was with the support of the Alzheimer’s Association that I arrived there.”

People with dementia, who Ms. Maddox says are “embarrassing,” are not considered part of a very vulnerable group, so she and her partners struggle to get online food delivery quotas I only succeeded in down for two months.

One said she had distributed crackers and biscuits because they couldn’t get slots.

She added that another person, who used to be able to take a bus to the day center, was unable to do this and lost the ability to dress and talk.

“For most people with dementia, I think the blockade certainly had a negative effect on their mental health. So many people are completely unsure about going out, and until they find a vaccine, go out. I’ve heard that some people don’t mean it.”

After shaving her head in June, she raised over £1,500 for the Alzheimer’s Association.

Karen Beatty, a 24-year-old husband with Alzheimer’s disease, said she was “terrible” over the past few months because she had seen her partner worsen.

The pair, originally from Abergere in northern Wales, have been shielded at home to deliver food, but Mr. Beatty’s gait has declined due to a lack of daily outings.

She, 66, cannot make Mrs. Beatty (59) a glass of tea from a glass bottle currently being delivered, so she regularly transfers it to a plastic container.

She told the PA: “He’s depressed, he’s always watching Terry, and sometimes he doesn’t talk to me for a few days. I have to persuade him to talk, it really got worse, and that’s what I think it will get worse.”

She added: “We were spinning with (program) dementia friends everywhere in colleges such as Wales and schools, and Rob was wearing his uniform, and he was wearing his uniform. He’s a completely different person when he wears a matter of words or something, so he’s missing that social side because he can’t go out and do what we once did. “

“The Alzheimer’s Society is very pleased to hear that,” said Katley, CEO of the Alzheimer’s Association. .. “