Whether your elderly family member experiences anxiety every single day or just now and again when she's in unusual circumstances, it's important to know how to proceed. Having a plan and understanding how anxiety affects your aging adult can help her to feel more supported when she's wrestling with anxious feelings.
Talk to Your Senior's Doctor
Some anxiety can have a medical cause. It's also possible that some of the medications your aging adult takes for other health conditions contribute to her feelings of anxiety. If that's the case, starting out with her doctor can help you to find a solution that works for her rather quickly. Sometimes a simple medication switch can make a huge difference.
Stay Calm When Your Aging Adult Is Anxious
When your elderly family member is feeling anxious, it's important that you're able to remain calm. If you immediately jump into anxiety, too, then you're going to feed on each other's anxiety and make each other worse. Walk your aging adult through some deep breathing exercises or do something that helps her to feel calmer.
Keep a Routine, but Leave Some Flexibility
For some people with anxiety, knowing what to expect each day is essential to helping them manage those feelings. Work with your senior to come up with a general daily plan that feels good for her. Keep in mind, however, that if the routine is too strict, then it's going to feel even worse for your aging family member when she's off schedule. Leave plenty of flexibility to account for the unknown.
Give Her Time to Adapt to Changes
Change is a necessary part of life, but that doesn't mean that your aging adult enjoys it. When you do need to introduce changes, give your elderly family member plenty of time to adapt to them. That can help to ease the anxiety that change can bring with it.
Let new people, such as new elder care providers, know how to help your senior deal with her anxiety, too. That way they can help her as well as if you were right there.
If you or an aging loved-one are considering elderly care in Manhattan Beach, CA, CA, please call Mom's Home Care and talk to our friendly, knowledgeable staff.
Our number is 323-244-4789.
