Dementia, a brain condition, can severely impair an individual's intellectual and social skills, according to the MayoClinic.com. People with dementia experience impaired judgment, memory loss, aggression and a decline in speech. Aggression can appear during any stage of dementia, but it usually occurs during the later stages of the condition. People who suffer from dementia tend to use aggression as a way to express feelings of resentment, despair anger or frustration.
Depression
Depression can trigger aggression in people who suffer from dementia, according to The American Journal of Psychiatry. Dementia patients experience depression because they can no longer perform their routine daily tasks such as taking a bath, fixing a meal or paying bills. These patients lash out because they have a hard time asking people for help with things that they used to handle independently. Feelings of worthlessness and helplessness can cause someone with dementia to become physically aggressive towards family, friends or a caretaker.
Brain Chemistry Imbalance
Dementia patients have an imbalance in neurotransmitters--chemical messengers used to communicate with other brain cells--that causes them to exhibit physically aggressive behavior. The website Mental Health Matters states that when a dementia patient has too much or too little of the neurotransmitters, dopamine, serotonin or norepinephrine it prevents the brain from regulating the areas of the brain responsible for emotions.
Pain
Dementia patients use aggression as a way to alert people that they feel pain, according to the United States Department of Veteran Affairs. Many dementia patients experience both emotional and physical pain as their condition progresses. People with dementia often feel frustrated and humiliated because they live in a constant state of confusion and as the condition worsens, they exhibit anger and aggression because they no longer remember the things they used to remember. During the later stages of the condition, dementia patients display aggression as a way to alert their caregiver of the pain they feel due to frequent bouts of constipation, urinary tract infections and abscesses--open wounds.
Caregiver Burden
Caregiver burden can trigger aggression in dementia patients, according to the website Dementia Guide. Family, friends and social workers usually take care of dementia patients as the condition worsens. People with dementia often lash out at the people who care for them because they believe they have become a burden or liability. These patients believe that they disrupt the caregiver's life by requiring so much time and attention. In addition, dementia patients may become aggressive towards their caregiver if they notice a change in the patient-caregiver relationship. These patients may exhibit aggression towards the caregiver if they feel judged for taking too long to complete a task or criticized for not remembering things that used to know.
References
- The American Journal of Psychiatry: Physical Aggression in Dementia Patients and Its Relationship to Depression
- Mental Health Matters: The Chemical Imbalance in Mental Health Problems
- The United States Department of Veterans Affairs: VA Study Identifies Causes of Aggression in Dementia Patients
- Dementia Guide: Aggression
- MayoClinic.com: Dementia
