Blunted Emotion
Understanding and knowing how to respond to someone’s feelings can be a very challenging thing. We have all been in situations where we did not understand another’s emotional response. Odds are, if you are reading this article, that you are more than familiar with this situation. Those afflicted with Alzheimer’s or dementia show difficulty with emotional expression, as well as mental process. This article provides information on a recent study through The University of Florida, and explores what is to be learned from this report.
Patients that suffer a progressive brain disorder are known to experience cognitive decline. It’s obvious to the caretaker that the regular mental process is disrupted. What new studies suggest is that Alzheimer’s may also inhibit those affected emotionally. The article has coined the phrase “blunted emotions”, meaning that the highs and lows of emotion have been lessened, leaving those experiencing this in a withdrawn and apathetic state. It is easy to see how emotional and mental decline would go hand in hand, and how one would certainly affect the other. The effect of blunted emotions is often confused with depression. Exactly why this occurs is not yet known, though it has been attributed to the decline of function is areas of the brain that experience/control emotion.
What the finding suggests is that as the memory goes, so does some emotion, said Dr. Gary Kennedy, a geriatric psychiatrist at Montefiore Medical Center in New York City, who reviewed the findings.
"Emotion and memory go together," he said. "The more emotion you can attach to an event, the more likely you are to remember. I think what this paper is telling us is that the disease is causing the emotional response to become more and more shallow over time."
Apathy seen in Alzheimer's patients is often reported by family members, Kennedy said. "Apathy is a heartbreaker for the family," he said.
Even so, both Kennedy and Heilman had a positive message for family members. For family, it's not to take it personally if a loved one with Alzheimer's is apathetic. "Don't interpret it as being done willfully," Kennedy said.
Heilman said families can try to make information more explicit when talking to those with Alzheimer's, in an effort to help emotions kick in. If you show a loved one a picture, for instance, give verbal details about the person or object in it, he suggested. You may see less apathy in response.
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