Why Do People With Dementia Repeat Themselves? (3 Reasons)
Is your loved one or client repeating themselves constantly or doing the same thing over and over? If you have tried to ask them to stop with no avail, this video is for you.
In this post, we are going to learn the 3 most common reasons why repetitive behaviors happen, hint, it isn't just to drive you crazy and much like all the other challenging behaviors are ways to meet their needs.
Once we have an idea of the root cause of repetition, it is that much easier meet the need by replacing it, stop the behavior and restore peace in your home or in your workplace.
By the way, when you do get that win, comment it down below so we can celebrate you and while you're at it, join our facebook group so a LOT of us can celebrate you.
1. They repeat words or behaviors is to comfort themselves or self-soothe
A lot of folks with dementia find comfort in the familiarity in a repeated phrase or behavior because so much of their life is confusing and unfamiliar to them.
This familiarity or predictability they can create for themselves can help them cope with the outside world being so unpredictable.
The way to overcome this is meet their need for something familiar to verbalize or do as a replacement. If it is a phrase, a familiar song can be a more pleasant replacement for everyone around them or replacing the behavior with something that is both familiar and comforting to them.
An example of replacing the behavior would be if they are tapping their hands, have them help you by holding an item for you as you do a task in the kitchen or shredding paper for recycling.
That way they are getting the comfort of using their hands to let out some anxious energy are feeling useful and connecting with you and are no longer doing it in a way that is annoying to you.
#2: Communication in the absence of words of their anxiety or unmet physical needs
For the first need of unmet physical needs, the way to discover if this is the case you can ask them 2-3 questions at a time about their physical comfort or simply hand them things like water, a blanket etc and see if the behavior stops.
For the second need, If they are using a repeated phrase or behavior to communicate their anxiety like not knowing what to do these 2 steps:
1) You want to address their feelings of anxiety first by asking 1-2 simple questions about what they need or what they are looking for or by simply saying that they are looking for or need will be taken care of
2) Then immediately engaging them in a task or activity will take you much further
Example:
When your Dad is pacing or wandering around the house or repeating something like:
"I need to go to work" over and over, saying:
"You don't work anymore dad"
“Cut it out, Dad.”
tends not to work.
Instead, say:
"Hey Dad, you're right, work is really important.”
“I think it might be the weekend though, let's check so you don't waste a trip."
"Ok, yeah, it's definitely Saturday, right Dad?
“It's better because I really need your help with a few things around here."
#3: An expression of boredom
Something like tapping their hand on a table, making a smacking noise with their mouth or anything else that can be considered annoying to you can be happening because they no longer have the cognitive or sometimes physical ability to create productive or amusing things for themselves the way they used to.
So in a way, these repetitive behaviors or noises can be a creative solution to that problem.
Replacing the behavior with something less annoying will help meet their need for amusement and stimulation. Some examples of things you can replace this with are some leisure activities they would have done when they were younger.
Did they enjoy puzzles or crafts in their downtime before dementia? Was your loved one a mr fix it and liked to pull apart household items?
Looking back to what they would have done to amuse themselves before dementia and simplifying it for them so they can be successful with it now is the best replacement
So there you have it, 3 reasons and ways you can replace the repeating words or behaviors by:
Giving them the comfort & familiarity they need with a song or familiar activity
Calming their anxiety by giving them a purposeful activity
Stimulating their boredom by doing high energy leisure activities
Try at least 1 of these 3 strategies and see if you can get yourself a win with your loved one or client.
If you do, make sure to comment that win down below and while your at it, join my facebook group and share it with our community as well by clicking the link below.
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