A few years ago a Parkinson's patient wrote a letter to a well-known medical journal saying, "My mind in tandem with my limbs seems to go through the same 'ons' and 'offs', which can make the management of life quite chaotic."
Her quote captures a common frustration that friends, family, and medical personnel often overlook as they consider the life that a person with Parkinson's disease leads. The emotional and psychological aspects of PD are extremely taxing.
Depression is the first emotional condition that most people think of when they consider the psychological effects of PD. It affects approximately 50 percent of Parkinson’s disease patients. Anxiety affects another 25 percent of the PD population. Depression and anxiety range from mile to extreme.
Some people associate depression and anxiety with the stress or discouragement of the challenges presented by PD. However, the larger contributor may be the changes occurring in the patient’s brain. Those changes hinder the brain's ability to maintain the chemicals that regulate mood. Depression and anxiety are often the result.
However, depression and anxiety are just the beginning of the discussion about the emotional side of Parkinson's disease. About one-third of people with PD also eventually confront some type of dementia like hallucinations and delusions. Apathy and emotionalism are also common.
Talk about your experiences and emotions with your neurologist. Neurology is strongly related to psychiatry, and your neurologist is well prepared to address the problems you confront.
Related content:
Parkinson's Disease Dementia Concerns
Apathy: The Emotional Symptom of Parkinson's Disease
Emotionalism in Parkinson's Disease
Trade off between motor movement and sanity in Parkinson's disease
Strange People and Places: Parkinson's Disease Delusions
Source:
BMJ, December 2004