Fear of dementia: Hypnotic good tips against anxiety

As you get older, you may start to worry about age-related illnesses, such as the fear of dementia or Alzheimer’s disease. It’s also very stressful when you think your brain is no longer functioning properly and you expect things to only get worse.

But how real is this fear? And can dementia or Alzheimer's-like symptoms be caused by other things?

Find out in this blog article and get helpful hypnotic tips to eliminate anxiety.

Fear of alzheimer's and dementia

Many people as they age develop fears that they may develop Alzheimer's or dementia. As a result, they actually anticipate the disease even though nothing is happening yet[1].

If Alzheimer's is in your family, you are even more likely to have the fear of this disease. In itself, this makes a lot of sense, but it has been researched how this fear is now in people between the ages of 50 and 85.

This shows that the younger people in that group, with experience with someone with Alzheimer's, were often more affected than older people with experience.

While those without experience actually became more fearful of Alzheimer's as they aged.

Another factor contributing to this anxiety was the belief in negative stereotypes about older people.

If you yourself were also not good at performing mental tasks related to memory, there was also more anxiety, even though those tasks still say nothing about whether you have the disease or not[2].

Norwegian research also shows that people under the age of 50 are often more afraid of Alzheimer's than those who are a bit older[3].

These fears aren’t necessarily limited to the disease itself and the lack of a cure, but also extend to the loss of identity, the impact of the illness on their lives, the impact on their family, and the question of whether there will be anyone to help them if they need it in the future—or whether they will be excluded by loved ones because of stigma (prejudice)[4].

If you fear alzheimer's or dementia, chances are you also fear other health issues or concerns that life may bring[5].

How fast does dementia progress?

When it comes to the disease, it is good to know how quickly dementia then progresses. There is a lot of variation in the speed of the disease in people. This is also one of the reasons why treatment is hard to find.

Aging comes with a slight decline in your cognitive abilities anyway, but there is a big difference between normal forgetfulness due to getting older, Alzheimer's and eventually dementia.

The differences can vary by years in the progression of the condition in how quickly you move from one stage to another (there are 7 stages in total). In fact, that variation is so great that sometimes it can take decades to get to the final stage[6]. So it all doesn't have to happen quickly, but it can.

Differences also come from the different forms of dementia. Prefrontal dementia, for example, is somewhat different from Alzheimer's and has a different (often faster) disease course[7].

Signs of dementia (or something else after all)

But how do you know if you suffer from dementia or if it's just something else after all? After all, your thinking skills decline somewhat anyway as you get older, but with dementia this process is faster and the reduction is greater[8]. Often 5 years before a diagnosis is made there is already a reduction in mental abilities, but so this happens even in people without dementia.

So what they normal old age symptoms and when is it dementia after all?

And can other factors cause you to have problems similar to dementia?

Memory loss and other symptoms similar to Alzheimer's disease

People are most afraid of memory loss, but dementia or Alzheimer’s-like symptoms can also stem from other causes.

For older people with memory loss or strange behavioral changes, you can also look into:

1. Delirium caused by drink or medication.
2. Chronic Infection (AIDS HIV)
3. Thyroid Problems.
4. Vitamin B12 or folic acid deficiency.
5. Hearing problems.
6. Trouble seeing.
7. Insomnia.
8. Side effects of medication.
9. Effects of long-term alcohol abuse[9].

So even with a little memory loss, you can always check to see if it is due to your diet, other medications or problems such as poor sleep.

Reducing anxiety

One way to reduce anxiety is to double check that it is not due to one of the above problems that you are suffering from dementia-like symptoms, which could also be due to something else.

In addition, there are several ways people can reduce their fear of Alzheimer’s and dementia. These include adopting preventive behaviors, eating a healthy diet, avoiding deodorants containing aluminum, and exercising regularly (source 4).

Research also shows that healthy eating and regular exercise slow or prevent brain decline[10].

But sometimes just the double check and behavior to prevent dementia and Alzheimer's is not enough to reduce anxiety.

In that case, you can also explore other psychological techniques, such as hypnosis and hypnotherapy, to prevent anxiety.

It is already being used for fears of medical treatments[11] and other anxieties. It works because hypnosis affects neurological connections in the brain, which are also important in changing your fear response[12].

Reduce specific fears

There are several fears you can have in the face of dementia. These can range from the fear of losing yourself, to the fear of whether your family will continue to care for you.

Essentially, all of these fears are based on beliefs you hold about the world, how things “should” go, and how “bad” it is when things don’t go as they should.

In the preliminary consultation, a hypnotherapist can explore exactly what fears exist in relation to dementia or Alzheimer's and in what areas of the person's life those fears play a role.

Improve social connections

For example, if you worry about whether your family will take care of you, chances are you don't have a good relationship with your family. So what is stopping you from having that good bond? Are there alternatives to family, such as friends, who can also be there for you?

Working with the social panorama helps you better prioritize people who are important to you and those who are less important.

As a result, you will subconsciously change your behavior toward those people, improving bonds and thus knowing you have people who are there for you when you need it.

Changing obstructive beliefs

What beliefs are currently holding you back from getting your social circle in order? Once you identify those limiting beliefs, you can work on them so that you worry less about who will be there for you when you need them.

For example, if you have been walking around with the feeling that you are alone for a long time, regression can help you find out where this feeling comes from, to remove that belief.

Especially if you do have children, and family and friends who could be there for you.

Dare to ask for help

Sometimes people also just wait for a request for help before taking action for someone else.

For example, when have you interfered in someone's life uninvited? People don't.

But when someone asks for help, people often step up and are happy to do something for you.

Is there something holding you back that’s preventing you from asking for help? That, too, is something that can be addressed with hypnotherapy.

For example, have you experienced something scary at the time you asked for help? Then the fast-phobia technique can help you let go of that moment, so you can again ask for help from people you trust without weird feelings.

Learn Hypnosis

Want to help yourself or others deal with the fears and worries that come with aging? Then knowledge of hypnosis can be incredibly valuable. You can use it as a hypnocoach, hypnotherapist or in support of other techniques you use to help people.

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