Crying Archives - Alzheimers Support

Does Mom with Alzheimer’s Need a Baby doll?

Does Mom with Alzheimer’s need a Baby Doll?

I use to wonder if Mom (with Alzheimer’s) might like a baby doll of her own? She was so drawn to babies. Any sort of baby, actually; Baby kittens, baby pictures, real live babies or even baby dolls. She would oooh and ahh over my granddaughters baby dolls like they were the real thing.

My mom loved to shop. It wasn’t that she liked buying things but she loved shopping. The soft elevator music in the background, the busy aisles filled with friendly, smiling people. The scramble to find the perfect item before her best friend bought it.

Mom and I could shop for hours and sit for even longer watching other people shop. Some of my favorite conversations with Mom happened at the open-air Pizza Pub inside the mall where we always stopped to catch our breath.

Then Alzheimer’s came visiting and gradually our shopping venues shrank. From the busy bustling super Malls to smaller and smaller shopping centers. Eventually Mom was quite satisfied with the neighborhood Dollar Store. Fewer aisles meant less walking for mom and fewer people to watch.

Still, I can’t count the times I’ve lost track of her. She would wander away trailing a young mother with child or any baby stroller with a tiny bundle inside.

Mom loved babies. And her mother loved babies too. During Mom’s younger years she would tell stories of Grandma and her final days with Alzheimer’s.

My grandmother had roamed the halls of a nursing home for two years searching for her lost, newborn baby. Constantly distraught and agitated, Grandma was certain that her baby was in distress and needed her to be nursed back to health.

For several years during the late stages of dementia, my Grandma cried endless tears for a “need” that could have been so easily met. And I feared the same for my own Mother when her love to be around small children escalated right along with the progression of dementia. Eventually, Mom forgot the stories she had shared with me about Grandma’s depression and desperate search for a newborn baby that was only a vacant memory.

Then, near the end of Mom’s battle with Alzheimer’s and dementia, those sad memories returned and Mom began to pine for her own lost baby that did not exist.

I’d read an article that seemed silly at the time, but decided to try it when nothing else salved Mom’s sadness. I found the perfect, cherub faced, plump little baby doll that smiled broadly from morning to night. Mom carried and loved that baby, proud that her baby had such a sweet disposition. I was relieved as well, and only wished I could have done the same for my grandmother all those many years ago.

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The Real “feel like” baby dolls

Paradise Galleries Lifelike Realistic Weighted Baby Doll, Tall Dreams, 10 Piece Ensemble, 19-inch, Ages 3+Check Price Baby Doll That Looks Real, Baby Layla, 21 inch Flex-Touch Vinyl, with Weighted BodyCheck Price Andrea Arcello Ashley Breathing Lifelike Baby Doll: So Truly Real – 17Check Price

And more life-like Baby Dolls any Mom would love

JC Toys La Baby 11-Inch JC Toys La Newborn JC Toys Lots to Cuddle Babies Twins Dolls Little Mommy Bedtime Baby Doll

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Five Clues That Your Loved Ones’ Unpredictable Emotional Outbursts May Not be Depression

10/06Leave a Comment

Five Clues That Your Loved Ones’ Unpredictable Emotional Outbursts Could be Pseudobulbar Affect (PBA) instead of Depression due to symptoms of Alzheimer’s Disease

As Alzheimer’s Awareness month in November approaches, caregivers are recognized for the critical role they play for loved ones with this disease.

Caregivers wear many hats and may notice symptoms or behavior changes that could otherwise go unnoticed.

One such condition that can be often overlooked or misdiagnosed as depression is pseudobulbar affect or PBA.

There are five clues/signs designed for caregivers to help distinguish this condition as a separate one to address at an upcoming doctor’s visit.

Five Clues Which Could Predict Pseudobulbar Affect (PBA) include:

The patient bursts out crying or laughing for no apparent reason.
The patient cries or laughs at inappropriate times.
The patient experiences outbursts of emotion that are exaggerated or inappropriate for the situation.
Patients can’t control their tears or laughter, even when they try to.
Patients socially isolate themselves out of fear of having an episode in public.

What is PBA?

PBA is a neurological condition that affects people with an existing primary neurological condition, like Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, multiple sclerosis (MS), Lou Gehrig’s disease (ALS), stroke or traumatic brain injury. People with PBA have sudden outbursts of involuntary emotional displays they cannot control.

Charles Darwin first described this health condition now known as PBA more than 130 years ago, but many patients and members of the medical community don’t realize that this debilitating disorder may affect approximately 2 million people in the U.S. The episodes of involuntary crying and/or laughing occur unpredictably, and can be frequent and severe. Since laughter and crying are two of the most basic human emotions, it’s extremely difficult for people with PBA to interact with others without being able to have control over these emotions, which often leads to social isolation.

Author: Erik P. Pioro, MD, PhD, FRCPC, director of the Section for ALS and Related Disorders at the Cleveland Clinic, says in the company’s news release that pseudobulbar affect is “a disabling neurologic condition found in patients with underlying neurologic diseases or injuries” that often causes embarrassment “due to their unpredictable emotional outbursts, leading to disruption of their interpersonal relationships as well as isolation from other social events.”

To learn more about PBA, please visit www.pbainfo.org and talk with your neurologist or primary care doctor about you or a loved one if you notice any of the above symptoms.

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Pseudobulbar Affect (PBA): Information for Caregivers & Patients The Depression Cure: The 6-Step Program to Beat Depression without Drugs The Mindful Way Through Depression: Freeing Yourself Depression : Coping With Depression, Beating Depression and Be Happy How to Help Someone with Depression (Updated)Overcome Depression and End Your Suffering Now