by Debra E Andrew
It happens out of the blue. There you are, going along with what appears to be a somewhat normal moment in time, when suddenly the irrational rears its ugly head! It isn't that you have never seen this before. It is that even though you have seen it, you are still caught off guard. One second your loved one who has Huntington's Disease seems rational then suddenly, they are anything but. How does one cope with irrational behavior? First, let's talk about the why. Knowing the why won't change the behaviors you see. It may help you to wrap your head around what is going on. The brain of the person with HD is being attacked. We could go into all kinds of medical and scientific descriptions about that, but rather than do that, let's understand it in simple terms. The brain is being attacked, injured, damaged, and brain cells are being murdered. When that happens, in the frontal lobe of the brain, it impacts behaviors. Some factors that trigger irrational behaviors in HD are: Anxiety A person with Huntington's Disease can feel very anxious when their brain isn't working for them like they realize it should be. Their ability to cope, is undermined, they feel a loss of control, and the anxiety begins to rise. This isn't the basic anxiety that a person without Huntington's Disease faces. This is an intense, all consuming, anxiety that begins to overwhelm them completely. Being overwhelmed With so many emotions swirling around all at once it is confusing and extremely overwhelming. There is no way for a person with Huntington's Disease to sort through all of those extreme emotions. It becomes so overpowering that it removes rational thought from them. Just coping with those emotions is more than they can do, forget adding rational thought to that. Even if the processing of their brain allowed rational thought at that point, this extreme mixture of emotions would hijack it. Impulse control Frontal lobe damage erodes impulse control. At times we may all have some irrational thoughts, but our impulse control allows us to get rational again and to get control of any irrational thoughts. That is an impossibility for someone with Huntington's Disease who is experiencing irrational thoughts or irrational understanding. Their brain has taken off on its own direction of thought and what the brain believes to be true is true to them. To them, every one of those thoughts are real, and true. And they behave accordingly. Confusion of thoughts and emotions Part of the person with HD will fight to find what is true, what is going on, and even what is rational. Much like being in a room full of mirrors with hundreds of reflections, they are seeing all of these thoughts, and emotions, and trying to figure out which is real. They may doubt if any of them are real, yet then believe all of them are real. Imagine how overwhelming that would be. The only survival available is to choose, to decide what is real and hang on to it. Unfortunately, that often can be the irrational thoughts that take over. Frustration Things just aren't adding up. Things aren't working like they should work. And there is no way to understand why, or to sift through them, and get them lined up again like they should be. That is where the frustration begins. A loss of control. A loss of understanding, that is frightening, and overwhelming. It often comes out as frustration because acknowledging the fear that they truly are “losing their mind” is too much to process or accept. Unmet Needs Being hungry, thirsty, or having pain, or other unmet needs isn't something that a person with HD can always express or process. Their body may hurt, but their mind may not tell them what they are feeling is pain. They may be hungry but can't express their hunger. Gnawing at them, is some feeling they can't communicate, process, or meet for themselves. And yet, the feeling is relentless. They are at a loss of what to do. Remember, that HD erodes the ability to know how to choose, or how to do an act. The desire to act is there, yet all that comes out is to be frozen, unable to act on what they want to act on or choose how to do it. Perception, Unawareness, Lack of Emotional Recognition Adding to this terrifying scenario, is the inability to perceive exactly the responses around them. They may be unaware of others responses, emotions, and much more. Although the facial cues that we normally would see and understand are there, they can't pick up on those cues. They are left without understanding of any response, or become extremely confused at the responses being received. When responses are negative, or unexpected, and they are all unexpected, it's like being hit in the head by a two by four. The person with HD is caught off guard, and now, added to all of the above extreme confusion they are going through, they are baffled, and confused. Even though it is natural to attempt to rationalize with a person who is behaving irrationally, all of these factors make a rational discussion or reasoning with them futile. This may sound hopeless, but it isn't. Thankfully there are ways to manage and to cope with irrational behaviors. Those will be discussed in a follow up article. © 2017 HD INSIDER All Rights Reserved.
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Debra E Andrew
Debra E Andrew is happily married, has 7 children, 4 step children, 23 grandchildren, and 1 soon to be great grandchild. Her love of health and wellness has led her to empower others in all 8 areas of health and wellness in her daily life and businesses. Archives
November 2017
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