As you read studies on Alzheimer’s disease and spend more time around individuals who’ve had the condition for extended periods of time, you may start to wonder how your loved one’s personality may (or may not) be affected as the disease progresses. Since many individuals with Alzheimer’s disease do undergo changes in personality and temperament, have every reason for concern. Unfortunately, some of these changes are for the worse, and the new personality or characteristics that emerge may make living situations increasingly stressful for you or other caregivers.
Changes in personality, however, don’t always result in negative or overly stressful living situations. In some instances, individuals with Alzheimer’s disease end-up better adjusted than they may have been prior to onset of the disease. While this may seem like an absurd suggestion initially, and certainly no one wishes for a loved one to develop this terrible disease, there are those individuals with previously diagnosed personality disorders whose mental stability and general behavior markedly improve. For instance, individuals who’ve been alcoholics for years will occasionally begin to stop drinking because they simply forget to do so. Consequently, they experience some general improvements in physical health and all the benefits that come along with those improvements.
While a few people may find that their loved one’s personality improves slightly because of a condition such as Alzheimer’s disease or dementia, not everyone is so lucky. If you have concern that the disease has affected your loved one to the extent that his or her behavior seems erratic or even dangerous, then you may want to seek the advice of a qualified Ohio elder law attorney. While you may not have an immediate need to address, keeping yourself informed of your options and how those options relate to the law may be key in averting issues that may arise further down the road.
