 | Jennie M. Maison began her nursing career as a Candy Striper at Grace Hospital in Hutchinson, KS. She has worked as a Certified Nurses Aide, Certified Medication Aide, and Patient Care Assistant in long term care facilities and hospitals. Jennie earned an Associate Degree in Nursing from Hutchinson Community Junior College. The last 20 years have been spent nursing in intensive care, rehabilitation, and specialty hospitals. With her emphasis in Geriatric Nursing, she has served in the capacity of Charge Nurse, Supervisor, Assistant Director of Nursing, and Director of Nursing in long term care and assisted living facilities. Jennie is currently the Director of Nursing at Chaucer Estates in Wichita and can be reached at (316) 630-8111. |
Senior Living
1969-12-31 18:00:00
Post traumatic stress syndrome
: My Grandfather has Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome and is now showing signs of Alzheimer's. Are the two somehow linked?
ANSWER: Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome (PTSS) is a disorder in which an overwhelmingly traumatic event is re-experienced. This causes intense fear, helplessness, horror, and avoidance of stimuli associated with the trauma. In most cases the traumatic event will have occurred in childhood or young adulthood. People who suffer from PTSS "relive" the experience intermittently throughout their lives. These events are triggered by external environmental factors, internal physical factors, or another life-altering event. PTSS is a psychological disorder and can be treated.Alzheimer's disease is an organic disorder affecting the brain. Initially we recognize memory deficits, but the progression of the disease is both devastating and fatal. Increasing deficits in cognition are accompanied by changes in behavior and personality. Eventually, the patient loses the ability to perform the tasks of daily living, and finally, a complete inability to function.A patient experiencing PTSS may parallel Alzheimer's patients with episodes of depression that will render the PTSS sufferer unable to perform daily living tasks, but that inability is secondary to a lack of motivation initiated psychologically, meaning the ability to perform tasks remains intact-the desire to do so is lacking. In PTSS one may observe behavioral changes in an individual. Alzheimer's patients also experience behavior changes, but they are part of a physical disease process, whereas the changes seen in PTSS are of an emotional nature. Memory loss is another parallel between PTSS and Alzheimer's. Often the memory loss related to PTSS is an intentional suppression of past events. Alzheimer's patients have no intention of forgetting anything. Again, PTSS is a psychological process; Alzheimer's is an organic disease process.Physical debilitation is certainly a factor in both disorders. The severely depressed individual may not ingest food or oral fluids, resulting in malnutrition and dehydration. It is a choice made by that patient with PTSS in the darkest hours of his illness. Alzheimer's patients simply forget they need nutrition and hydration, and do not recognize hunger or thirst.The cause of PTSS is known to be a horrific event of some sort in the life of the patient; it can be treated when diagnosed and the event or series of events identified. We are blessed to have state-wide a multitude of counselors, social workers, psychologists, and psychiatrists to aid those who suffer from psychological disorders. Sadly, the cause of Alzheimer's is unknown, and currently there is no treatment modality offering a cure.Both PTSS and Alzheimer's disease are serious illnesses with devastating consequences. There may be mirror images of some of the by-products of the two processes, and certainly some parallels noted, but there is no physical "link" which unites to form one disease. In either milieu, patients and families require and deserve emotional support, compassionate caregivers, and professional expertise to promote the highest quality of care.
