What Types of Situations Lead to Personality Changes in Seniors?

People don’t remain the same their entire lives. They learn new things, they grow, and their personalities change and adapt. By the time they’re older adults, though, most people have settled into their personalities. When seniors experience big personality changes, that can be a surprise for the people around them. Learning what might contribute to those changes can help families to offer the best possible support to the seniors they love, including solutions like companion care at home services to battle loneliness.

Hearing and Vision Changes

Changes to major senses, like hearing and vision, affect how seniors experience the world around them. When seniors aren’t able to hear well or have trouble seeing, they may experience embarrassment. They might withdraw from situations they used to embrace, like engaging in hobbies or social activities. The loss seniors experience can change so much as they continue to move through life.

Medications

Prescription and over-the-counter medications help seniors in so many ways, but they can have unexpected effects, too. Many different medications can cause behavior and personality changes in seniors, especially if they’re taken over a longer period. The more medications seniors take, the more likely they are to experience changes they may not expect.

Social Isolation

Spending too much time alone, including feeling isolated, makes seniors experience the world differently as well. The lack of companionship can create changes in personality that cause seniors to continue to withdraw, which eventually can become dangerous for them. Spending time with companion care at home is an easy way for seniors to reduce loneliness and stop feeling so isolated.

Depression or Other Mental Health Challenges

Feeling depressed affects so much of how the brain works, including how memories form. Anxiety and other mental health challenges also have an impact on seniors and their brain function. All of these issues also contribute to personality changes that seniors want to reverse. Figuring out what helps them can give them a path to move forward, so it can help to start with medical providers to rule out causes related to health. Home care providers can help with transportation if that has kept seniors from talking to their doctors.

Cognitive Illnesses

Memory loss, cognitive decline, and dementia can all cause big personality changes for aging adults. It’s important to talk with medical providers about risk factors seniors might face for developing cognitive illnesses. If there’s a family history of cognitive illnesses, this increases the risk factors. Because these illnesses are progressive, seniors may not be able to reverse the personality changes they experience because of the cognitive illnesses.

Personality changes can feel scary for seniors and for the people who love them. There are so many different reasons seniors might experience personality changes, so it’s important to look at what might be impacting their daily lives. Companion care at home offers a no-pressure solution to help seniors get the social engagement they need regularly. Professional caregivers can also help families notice possible causes for the changes they’re seeing.

If you or an aging loved one are considering Companion Care at Home Services in the Lenexa, KS area, please contact the caring staff at Elder Care of Kansas City today.

Proudly serving Jackson, Clay, Platte, and Cass Counties in Missouri, as well as Johnson and Wyandotte Counties in Kansas for over 30 years. Call us at 816-333-3322.

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Kevin Edwards

Owner at Elder Care of Kansas City

Kevin’s life and the lives of his immediate family have been impacted by caregivers – either as a patient or a caregiver - for as long as he can remember.He watched his mother take care of his grandmother until her death at the age of 97.Five years later, his father passed from a neurological disorder that was subsequently confirmed as Lewy Body Dementia.In 2007, his wife, Lori, was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis.The symptoms of Lori’s disease required Kevin to hire a caregiver during the periods of her relapses.

Prior to purchasing Elder Care, Kevin spent over 20 years in the health insurance industry.In his most recent position, he was in a financial operations role with Humana where he worked with doctors, nurses and other health professionals developing programs to keep Humana members healthy.Their focus on primary care and medication adherence improved the lives of thousands of seniors in Kansas City and the surrounding area.

Kevin and his wife, Lori, have three children.Kevin has Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees from the University of Missouri.

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