Responsibility and decision making help to minimise effects of AD.

Abstract

People with Alzheimer's disease (AD) are affected not only by changes in the brain but also by the way they react to the effect of these changes and the way they are treated by others. When treated by 'healthy others' in a way that could be described as 'malignant social psychology', the person with AD can become depressed and angry and lose their sense of self-worth. This article discusses the importance of the sense of self-worth in all older people; they perform better on memory tests after being exposed to positive subliminal messages about older people.