Current research indicates...
The risk of people with dementia developing behavioural or psychological symptoms is between 50 and 90 per cent.
"Responsive Behaviours" is an umbrella term used throughout the healthcare system to describe a wide range of dementia-related symptoms.
With dementia, we know that malfunctions happen within certain regions of the brain as it begins to atrophy (wither) and brain cells die causing parts of the brain responsible for what we think and do or how we act and feel to change.
The damage to the brain caused by dementia changes a person’s ability to understand the world. They begin to:
- See things differently.
- Hear things differently.
- Interpret things incorrectly; and
- Have trouble communicating their needs.
Because dementia is a brain illness people may develop symptoms beyond cognitive signs. A person may begin to act quite differently than they acted earlier in life. They may develop changes in:
- Personality.
- Behaviour.
- Emotions.