Customer Reviews

Coping With Alzheimer's: A Caregiver's Emotional Survival Guide

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
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1 star:		(0)

 

 

This is a remarkable and extremely useful book for all caregivers and family members of Alzheimer's and Dementia patients. It utilizes principles of "RET" or Rational Emotive Therapy pioneered by Dr. Albert Ellis. Simply put, the concept holds that one's perception of events will determine the corresponding feeling or emotion. A deceptively simple but powerful concept in battling depression, anger, and frustration. In the case of Alzheimer's caregivers, this premise can be a literal lifesaver and Drs. Oliver and Bock use their own case histories of treating caregivers to demonstrate pratical, powerful "inner dialogues" that can be used when the daily stress and frustrations of dealing with this challenging condition come to bear. Specific chapters are devoted to: Shame,Guilt, Anger, Depression, and even Self-Pity. This book not only provides the means to lift the spirits and emotions of caregivers, but by doing so, potentially change for the better the necessary interactions between them and their stricken loved-one. Highly recommended!

Coping with Alzheimer's is a very practical survival guide for caregivers of patients with Alzheimer's. It is very well written and easily readable, not preachy or "textbooky." Highly recommended.

If you're caring for an Alzheimer's patient, you already understand how demanding, and often frustrating, the job can be. Olive and Bock understand as well. They approach the problems with true help for the caregiver.

If you don't understand the problems of caring for Alzheimer's, read this book! If you do, read this book! There's real help in these pages!

Phyllis Staff, Ph.D.
author, "How to Find Great Senior Housing"
and
"128 Ways to Prevent Alzheimer's and Other Dementias"

so many books out there focus on the person with alzheimers and very few address the caregiver adequately. My ailing mother is caring for my father and her inability to do a good job was fodder for all sorts of of emotional issues - she needed more than a small chapter in the back of a book. This book was wonderful and validated all her feelings and let her know she was not alone. Too bad it's so difficult to find. It has a question and answer format with questions like "I feel so bad when I yell at him for not remembering. I know he's sick but I just get so frustrated! What can I do?". Practical, useful, and true to life.

The Q & A /interview writing style approach was great. I learned a great deal about redirecting and how to reduce the likelihood of my godmother becoming agitated or violent. It is comforting to know that her exhibited behavior is not atypical. The soundest piece of advice I learned was that it is normal for demented people to act dementedly. To expect them to act rationally is, well, irrational.

This book was very helpful and took away a lot of the fuilt feelings that go with looking after someone with Alzheimer's.

This book is the best that I've seen or read for caregivers. It really puts things in perspective and offers useable solutions. I've read it so much it fell apart. I highly recommend this book to anyone who has a love one with Alzheimer's. It would also be helpful for friends and loved ones other than the caregiver. Thumbs Up. A Big Thank You to the Author's.

This book addresses most of the emotional issues for spousal and chilren who caregive someone with dementia. It shows how you can think your way out of the deep hole you put yourself in while caring for your loved one. Change your thinking and you will automatically make things better for both you and your whole family. Buy this book!!!

The first book I found that addresses the Caregiver rather than the patient! We need to know how to care for the patient, but we also need to understand and know how to take care of the emotional toll that Caregiving puts on the Caregiver!!! Read this during the last few months of 10 years of dealing with Lewy Body Dementia. WISH I had found it at least 5 years earlier!! The phrase that made the most impact was the term "married widow." I suddenly realized that was what I truly was!!!