Main description:

This text approaches the care of dementia patients via the experience of a psychiatrist as well as a caregiver, offering a holistic approach to care that is unlike any other book in the market. Laced with her experiences from both her professional and personal life, Huffington Post columnist and psychiatrist Dr. Carol W. Berman aims to educate mental health professionals on topics that they continue to grapple with, including diagnosis and treatment, behavioral challenges among patients, working with non-professional and professional caregivers, hospice care, and many other difficulties professionals face when caring for dementia patients. With the same easy-to-read yet informative tone Dr. Carol W. Berman is known for among her various clinical and lay resources, professionals find that this tool is an excellent resource for structuring care plans with the non-professional caregiver struggling with care management.
Surviving Dementia: A Clinical and Personal Perspective is an outstanding resource for psychiatrists, psychologists, nurses, social workers, and other physicians interested in models of dementia care.

Contents:

Chapter One: The Comfort of Denial:Before the patient is diagnosed everyone is in denial. This includes doctors, family members, caregivers, and of course the patient himself. I give examples, including my own denial of my husband's LBD. At the end of the chapter, I discuss ways in which the clinician can recognize the signs of the various dementias.
Chapter Two: Fear: The Catalyst That Breaks Denial:I describe two incidents that broke through my denial. Then I take the reader to the neurologist's office with me when he made the diagnosis of LBD for my husband. The chapter explains how to break through the fear surrounding dementias to obtain the best treatment for patients.
Chapter Three: Anxiety: Easier Than AngerI compare various dementias. I share my shortcomings in caring for my husband due to anxiety about his condition. I present ways in which doctors and caregivers can deal with negative emotions that interfere with coping.
Chapter Four: DepressionInevitably the families of patients with dementia will be experiencing repressed anger in the form of depression. How to deal with the caregivers and family members as they struggle with these states will be explained.
Chapter Five: AngerOn the other hand, when anger is not repressed, it distorts the care of dementia patients. Family dynamics explode all around the patient. I explain how the clinician can handle these explosions.
Chapter Six: BargainingIn this chapter, I deal with the legal issues that arise with a patient who needs a living will, power of attorney, and a health care proxy. I will explain how to obtain these documents before the dementia patient is too incompetent to sign papers.
Chapter Seven: SomatizationFamily members and caregivers will start to have physical problems if they are not able to discuss their feelings about the dementia patient. I provide the clinician with tips about how to identify and process these emotions in himself and others before they turn into somatization.
Chapter Eight: Acting OutSelf-destructive behaviors, e.g., substance abuse, can plague family members as they try to care for their loved one. Although it is all too common, we know acting out is a poor alternative to processing feelings about the dementia patient.
Chapter Nine: Control: Coping and Self-AssurednessOnce dementia patients settle into nursing homes, more problems arise. This chapter details how to maintain control as clinicians face all the systems in place that work against proper treatment of dementia patients.
Chapter Ten: IntellectualizationThis chapter describes the constant degradations and conflicts families face as they endure the deterioration of their loved ones. I explain how to help them steer away from just rationalizing or intellectualizing the conflicts. Tips on how to stay real and focused on the patients' care conclude the chapter.
Chapter Eleven: HumorIt might seem like there is nothing humorous about caring for dementia patients. However, a sense of humor is essential in maintaining sanity in these stressful situations. Patients are capable of enjoying a good laugh and those around them will benefit from humor as well.
Chapter Twelve: AcceptanceEventually everyone has to accept the fact that the dementia patient will not get well or recover. The basic psychology of doctors and other caregivers makes it difficult for them to admit this. These attitudes must be addressed and ameliorated.
Chapter Thirteen: Death: Hospice and BeyondThis chapter deals with hospice situations and beyond. When the dementia patient dies, there is a lot of psychological work that must be done to recover. The grieving process is complicated and can take years in some cases. I explain how to start and continue this process.
Chapter Fourteen: ResolutionThe final resolution of all those years of care is not simple. I provide tips on how to survive the patient's death.