Older adults may exhibit unusual irritability, mood swings, or other changes in personality. These shifts can result from various factors, including dementia. Caregivers who observe such changes can take prompt action to address underlying issues and help prevent potential health complications.
What Are Common Behavior and Personality Changes?
Aging can bring a variety of changes in personality and behavior. Common shifts include social withdrawal, heightened anxiety, agitation, mood swings, and impulsive actions, and even changes in self-care habits.
While many of these changes are part of normal aging, sudden, drastic, or unexplained personality shifts should prompt medical evaluation. Professional attention is especially important if the senior becomes aggressive, confused, or begins neglecting self-care, as these may signal underlying health issues.
What Causes Personality and Behavior Changes in the Elderly?
Personality and behavior changes in older adults can stem from a variety of factors, ranging from normal aging to medical conditions. Understanding the potential causes helps caregivers recognize warning signs and take appropriate steps to support their loved one’s health and well-being.
1. Dementia
Dementia is behind many cases of shifts in personality. A senior diagnosed with this progressive brain condition no longer feels or acts like their “old self.” While the changes are hard on the older adult, friends and family also feel concerned.
Behavior changes in dementia patients are due to a loss of neurons. Personality changes depend on which part of the brain loses cells. The frontal lobe, for instance, controls impulses. If the cells in this part of the brain are lost, the senior may behave rudely or insensitively.
Poor judgment and decision making are symptoms of dementia. The older person may engage in inappropriate social behavior due to their condition. Leisure pursuits or social activities a dementia patient once enjoyed may no longer deliver the satisfaction they once did.
2. Cognitive Decline
Cognitive decline, which is distinct from dementia, may also be responsible for personality changes in seniors. It is a gradual deterioration in cognitive functioning, such as memory, problem-solving and attention. Cognitive decline may occur due to normal aging or a health condition.
When cognitive abilities weaken, the elderly are vulnerable to experiencing confusion and an increased difficulty with daily activities. Frustration ensues when seniors are no longer able to complete everyday tasks as they once did. Similarly, agitation results when the older adult faces challenging scenarios.
3. Physical Health Conditions
Health issues can likewise impact an aging person’s temperament. Chronic pain, whether due to arthritis or another ailment, can increase a senior’s irritability. Chronic illnesses also lead to changes in the older person’s emotional state, and when they can’t express their pain, they may act out angrily.
Urinary tract infections, for instance, can cause sudden confusion. The inflammatory response affects brain function. Plus, a senior with dementia is unable to explain or describe their pain, causing them to be less active or unleash their anger inappropriately.
4. Medication Side Effects
Prescription drugs can come with undesirable side effects and manifest as changes in the senior’s behavior. Antidepressants, drugs used to treat overactive bladder, and even allergy medications can cause confusion, memory loss, or delirium, since they affect the brain’s chemicals.
Drugs used to treat mental health conditions, like depression and anxiety, can cause restlessness and mood changes in the elderly. Seniors who combine prescription drugs with over-the-counter medicines can experience the negative effects of the drug interactions, including behavioral changes.
How Do Caregivers Respond to Personality Changes?
Sudden behavior changes should prompt the caregiver to take the senior to the doctor. A healthcare provider can determine if the personality shifts are due to an infection, pain, or medication side effect and provide a course of treatment.
Caregivers should interpret behavior changes as expressions of the senior’s pain, fear, or confusion. Identify what triggers the personality shifts, whether it’s an unexpected visitor, a change in routine, or a circumstance surrounding bath time. Address the trigger to see if it reduces the negative reactions.
Be aware of coping mechanisms when the senior displays anger. If the older adult behaves in a threatening manner, give them time and space to calm down. Carry a phone in case the need to call for help arises. Offer words of empathy and reassurance.
Caregivers might respond to awkward behavior with a sense of humor. Forewarn friends and family members about the senior’s condition and tendency to lose control of their impulses; advise them on how to respond.
Alertness to behavior changes is critical to addressing health conditions early. For instance, caregivers who notice unexplained personality shifts can take the senior to the doctor, who may adjust medications to prevent dangerous interactions. If a UTI is diagnosed, the physician administers treatment.
Families that are unable to observe their aging loved ones should turn to the caregivers at Assisting Hands Home Care. Our caregivers watch for behavior changes and take action for the early prevention of health conditions. Attentive home care is the solution for seniors.
Senior Home Care from Assisting Hands
As a leader in quality senior home care, we provide compassionate care to older adults in the comfort and familiarity of their home. Our hands-on care is non-medical in nature but fulfills the daily care needs of seniors.
Caregivers are tasked with supervising your loved ones so they do not wander or get lost. As we monitor the elderly care recipient, we also remain vigilant for behavior changes. Our skilled professionals understand that seniors are not always able to express pain or discomfort.
Included in our in-home care services are respectful help with hygiene, light housekeeping, medication reminders and transportation to the medical center. We are pleasant companions who alleviate seniors’ loneliness, isolation, and boredom by holding conversations, playing games, and taking them on outings.
Personality changes in seniors are managed by the dedicated caregivers of Assisting Hands Home Care in Schaumburg, Palatine, Hoffman Estates, Elk Grove Village, Inverness, Rolling Meadows, Des Plaines, IL, and the surrounding areas. Call at (847) 448-0844 to schedule a free in-home consultation today and learn how our dedicated senior home care improves quality of life.
