YOUR LIFE HAS CHANGED

Dealing with Parkinson’s disease is not easy. Periods of postural rigidity and the temporary inability to move (freezing) are troubling. Tremors come and go for no reason. Balance issues can put you at risk for falling, and require constant vigilance. Your voice can fail you, and that can easily lead to feeling frustrated, isolated or helpless. Disrupted swallowing reflexes complicate eating. Even rest can become a struggle. One report noted that sleep patterns are disrupted in up to 90% of cases. Many patients experience occasional difficulties with sleepiness. Difficulties with memory recall, moodiness and apathy can surprise you. Of course, this is how almost everyone reacts to discovering they have a new disease.  However, these issues often persist because they are also brought on by Parkinson’s, a chronic neurodegenerative illness that does not go away.

NEUROSCIENCE – Recent neuroscience studies have focused on Parkinson’s. Many aspects of the “psychological” problems found in Parkinson’s have been directly linked to biochemical and neurobehavioral changes in brain function. Reduced dopamine levels have been implicated in motor problems. Serotonin levels are also affected. Serotonin deficits cause neuronal changes linked to unexplained anxiety and moodiness. Similarly, acetylcholine production is often disrupted and can trigger unexplained bouts of apathy, hopelessness and/or fatigue.

STRESS and PD – These changes put Parkinson’s patients at greater risk for stress overload. In particular, some Parkinson’s patients experience so much internal disruption that they have little awareness of their level of stress, and may not be able to detect stress levels accurately.  We can conduct a 20 minute Structured Psycho-Physiological Stress Profile to examine how difficult it is to recover from common stressors. Many patients, for example, do well during the stress challenge, but have difficulty with recovery, often ruminating over the task. Others feel anxious or avoidant for no known reason. Because they feel more anxious, some Parkinson’s patients experience more stress from ‘support groups’ designed to help them, which frustrates and puzzles caretakers. We can help.

Drs. Robert Grove and Julie Madsen are now in the PRO WELLNESS VILLAGE under the category Neuroscience. Please visit their page and leave them a comment or a question.