Highlighting the I in difference
A while back, I wrote a post about how to take a few minutes to jolt yourself out of a bad mood. Sometimes, though, we don’t have the luxury of removing ourselves from a situation. When your boss is chewing you out, customers are yelling at you, your kids are having a tantrum, or lots […]
via Worth Trying: Dealing with Stress in the Moment — Amanda Cade
Do you know what inspires you most?
Decision Making – It is something that we take advantage of in day to day life but did you know that it can help slow the rate of deterioration in diseases such as Alzheimer’s? that is exactly what we are going to be looking at in today’s blog, Decision making and how it impacts illnesses such as Alzheimer’s.
Hello and Welcome to Sweeney’s Blogs!
Today/s blog is going to be the eighth blog in the Alzheimer’s Avoidance series and is going to be about Decision Making. Although it is an often overlooked thing in life, the ability to make decisions does have a large effect on us and our bodies. In my opinion, this is because it causes the brain to think and plan decisions out before making them.
Mental Stimulation is an entity that we talk a lot about in this series and it is down to the fact that it is one of the largest factors when it comes to Alzheimer’s. Keeping the brain active and going seems like an easy thing to do when in reality, if not executed well, it can become really difficult. It is why I draw so much attention to it in this series. Tasks like puzzle games and indeed making decisions do make a difference, I am not saying that the difference is always huge, but a difference still is a difference.
So the question arises, how do we get someone with Alzheimer’s to practise decision making?
When it comes to decision making, there are a lot of different avenues you can take. there is no right or wrong answer in regards to which route you choose, it is all down to personal preference. One of the things that I find curious is how everyone seems to undervalue the smaller decisions that we make in life. Although the smaller decisions seem small and unimportant at first, when they build up they make quite the difference.
One of the main routes you can take is smaller and more frequent questions/ decisions. Ask regular questions like how are you feeling? Or maybe questions like what did you do yesterday or how did yesterday go? Although the questions seem really basic they do at least gauge some stimulation from the other person which can make the world of difference.
if you go out for a meal then it gives you the perfect chance to practise decision making. if the person you are with has Dementia/Alzheimer’s then really think about how you go about speaking to them.instead of just assuming that they want what they usually get, use the chance to ask questions. Ask them what would you like? or maybe questions more like, would you like the cod or the steak?
What you may start to notice is the actual question you ask is not important. it is the mental stimulation that is generated from asking the question that is the important thing. If you just sit in the same four walls in complete silence then you are increasing your chance of getting illnesses such as Dementia and Alzheimer’s. Take some time out of your day to really think about how you are going about your day to day life. Make a change sooner rather than later, when you still have time to change.
That is all I want to talk about in today’s blog! Thank you all for reading! What do you all think? Do you think decision making has an effect on someone getting Alzheimer’s? Do you know any tips or tricks to reduce your chance of getting Alzheimer’s? if so please let me know! Feedback is always appreciated – be it negative or positive!
Thanks for reading,
Sweeney’s Blogs
Any money donated here will be put back into the business. This can be through marketing campaigns, upgrades to plans or for setting up future events!
£5.00
James
Hello and Welcome to Sweeney’s Blogs!
Today’s blog is going to be a little bit different from my usual blogs. Today we are going to be looking at which blog series has been your favourite. In my opinion, evaluation is one of the best things that you can do on a blog page and I feel like it is time to see what everybody thinks of the different series that have been launched on the page.
Have you got a particular series that you really enjoyed reading? Is there a series that you wished I wrote more blogs on? Are there any that you feel went on too long? Now is the time to say it!
To help answer this question we are going to have to look at all the series that I have done on the page. This will include series such as Looking Into Male Mental Health, Stuttering in Mainstream Media and Being Different. Every series that I have written up to now will be included in the questions. So the question stands which one was your favourite?
There’s no right or wrong answer to this question so please answer honestly. Would you like to see an old series come back? Do you want the current series to end? Do you want a completely new series on a completely new topic? The only way I can find out what you all want to see is by you telling me!
That is all I wanted to talk about in today’s blog! Please let me know what your favourite series is in the comments or via our Facebook page!
Thanks for reading and I hope you have a great day,
Sweeney’s Blogs
Any money donated here will be put back into the business. This can be through marketing campaigns, upgrades to plans or for setting up future events!
£5.00
James
Similar to most illnesses and conditions in life, Early Identification can make the world of difference. AT the end of the day if we do not know that we have something, how are we meant to try and cure/treat it? Today’s blog is going to look at how early identification can be a great thing to do when it comes to Alzheimer’s and Alzheimer’s Avoidance.
Hello and Welcome to Sweeney’s Blogs!
Today’s blog is the seventh blog in the Alzheimer’s Avoidance series and is going to be about Early Identification. Early Identification is the process of identifying if you do have Alzheimer’s/Dementia, or indeed any other medical condition, at an early stage to ensure that you can plan out your treatment plan carefully and you can take steps to try and reduce the risk of it getting worse.
To many, the concept of knowing that they have Alzheimer’s is a daunting one but is it really a bad thing? I fully understand that learning that you may have a condition such as Alzheimer’s can be absolutely horrifying news but it is still better to identify earlier rather than later. We need to try and flip the negatives we have about identifying it earlier to really see the positives.
Firstly if you do unfortunately have a condition then you will be put on the system. I know that being on the system doesn’t always help but it can make a big difference for things such as medication. If you find out that you do have Alzheimer’s then you can talk through possible medication that you can take with your doctor.
I am no medical expert but there are a lot of different types that all do different things. Some are designed to slow the speed that your mind deteriorates whereas others are designed to calm you down and relax your mind before you go into phases such as sundowning. Medication isn’t guaranteed to work or isn’t definitely going to help but isn’t it better to try and see?
As well as the medical positives, early identification can be a massive help to your family and friends. Even though it will be a massive shock for them at first, after they have processed what is happening, they will have more time to try and help you. There are things that family and friends can do to try and slow down the rate in which Alzheimer’s deteriorates and with early identification, they will have more time to try and figure out which methods work and which don’t.
In regards to what methods family and friends can use to try and reduce the rate in which Alzheimer’s deteriorates, I would advise following some of what the other blogs in this series say. Doing things such as regular exercise and puzzle games aren’t guaranteed to work but it is still better to try them in the chance that they do work.
Now briefly onto how you can identify if you have Alzheimer’s at an early stage. The one thing that I would say here is if you start noticing that you are forgetting things more than usual or your mind is going funny, go and see your doctor. The same goes with family and friends if you see someone you know start to lose their memory and forget things like their names, the date, etc, then advise them to go to the doctor. The doctor can then book them in to do a memory/Alzheimer’s test and appropriate measures can be taken from there based off of the result. If it comes back that you do not have Alzheimer’s then that is an added bonus, it is better to be safe than sorry!
That is all I want to talk about in today’s’ blog! Thank you all for reading! What do you all think? Do you think early identification is important? Do you want this series to keep going or should I end it soon? Let me know what you think to those questions and any other questions you have in the comment section below!
Thank you all for reading and I hope you have a great day,
Sweeney’s Blogs
Any money donated here will be put back into the business. This can be through marketing campaigns, upgrades to plans or for setting up future events!
£5.00
James
When you look at your future in terms of your business and/or professional career, do you see unlimited potential or do you see a lack of opportunities? Recently, many of my clients have asked me how I remain so upbeat and optimistic about the future. They cite the predictions that claim there won’t be enough…
Short Term Memory is one of the first things that gets affected by Alzheimer’s. As Alzheimer’s disease progresses, short term memory is one of the more visible signs that there is something wrong. It begins with you not being able to remember what happened yesterday, then last week, then last month and so on. It is a very important topic to look at and it is what we are going to be covering in today’s blog.
Hello and Welcome to Sweeney’s Blogs!
Today’s blog is the sixth blog in the Alzheimer’s Avoidance series and is going to be about Short Term Memory. As I said in the introduction to this blog Short Term Memory is one of the more visible signs that someone has Alzheimer’s or that their condition is deteriorating. It is something that we have to pay close attention to and something that we need to try and identify sooner rather than later.
This short video introduces the topic from a professional’s point of view:
Larry Lawhorne tells us in the video that the first thing that people forget is what someone has just told them. Short Term Memory is affected first and foremost in nearly all Alzheimer’s patients. People start to forget their partner’s name, who they are, where they are and so on.
This progresses into affecting language skills, such as forgetting certain words. The example used in the video was surrounding a pen. A person with Alzheimer’s could forget what a pen is and have to explain what it is to you for you to tell them the word. As we saw in the video Larry describes the pen as something you hold in your hand to write with. Now I fully understand that if you do not know someone with Alzheimer’s then this might not sound real, but it really is.
When planning this blog out I thought of two different angles that I could take. The first one was to go into great detail about what happens to short term memory when it is affected by Alzheimer’s. This was the one I was going to go with when I realised something. This series was designed to talk about how we can reduce our chances of getting Alzheimer’s, not just about how memory is affected by the cruel disease. That is why I have instead chosen to go with the second plan.
The second plan was to talk briefly about how Alzheimer’s affects short term memory and then talk about how we can use this to our advantage in trying to reduce our risk of getting Alzheimer’s. This is the plan that I am using for this blog. We have already gone over how it affects short term memory and the video goes into a little more detail by talking about how it affects the Hippocampus part of the brain.
So the question arises now, how do we try to maintain our short term memory?
There are a few different ways that we can try to maintain our short term memory. Firstly is by simply asking questions about what happened recently. What you could try to do is recap what has happened over the past day, then the past week, then the past month. This will help ensure that you are keeping your brain stimulated and are constantly thinking and recapping what is going on.
The second way is by keeping in touch with the recent news. News is a great way of keeping in the loop of not only what is going on in the world but what is going on in your local area and what is happening with your friends and family. These ways are just about remembering what has happened but there are a lot more ways to improve short term memory.
One of the ways is through mental stimulation games and memory tests. You only have to search memory tests on youtube and you can see millions of different results. There are youtube videos, websites and apps that are all designed with the intent to help you improve your memory. Use the resources that are available. They are there for a reason so make the most of them.
There are a lot of extra methods that I have not spoken about but if you do want to learn more you can always search online or message me and I’ll look into it and get back to you!
That’s all I wanted to talk about in today’s blog! Thank you all for reading! What do you think? Do you think short term memory is something we can improve? How would you improve your short term memory? Do you know any other techniques to reduce your chances of getting Alzheimer’s? Let me know what you think in the comments or on our Facebook page!
Sweeney’s Blogs
Any money donated here will be put back into the business. This can be through marketing campaigns, upgrades to plans or for setting up future events!
£5.00
James
I am very proud to say that as of the start of this week I had the honour of writing a blog that has been posted on the Henley Careers blog page! It is a huge honour and achievement for me and my business and it is a massive step in the right direction for my developing career. The blog itself is all about Stuttering and as National Stuttering day was on the 22nd of October I feel like it is a great time to learn more about Stuttering and how it can affect people in the world of work.
I want to say a massive thank you to Sarah Chorley and the rest of the Henley Careers team for giving me the chance to write this blog and I hope we can work together more in the future! The blog is live now so if you are interested, please take a look. If you read the blog and enjoy it there are plenty more blogs on both my page and the Henley Careers page!
Stuttering affects approximately 68 million people in the world, but do we ever stop and think about how a stutter will affect someone in and around the world of work?
Stuttering is a condition that I think doesn’t get the focus that it needs. People think that a stutter just affects how you speak but it can affect you at a much deeper level too. In this blog, we are going to be taking a closer look at what exactly a stutter is and then we are going to look at stuttering in the world of work, how it affects people in interviews and how employers could potentially behave if they are interviewing someone with a stutter.
Stuttering is a condition that has a lot of different definitions. Personally I like the definition provided by the NHS, as it breaks stuttering down into three separate definitions:
View original post 1,472 more words
Music – one of the biggest art forms in the world is, on average, listened to by people for around 5 hours per day. people who listen to music do so for a whole number of different reasons. Some people listen to music to help them relax, some to help them focus and some to just simply pass the time. People use and listen to music near;y every day but has anyone stopped to think about how listening to music can affect your chances of getting Alzheimer’s?
Hello and Welcome to Sweeney’s Blogs!
Today’s blog is going to be the fifth blog in the Alzheimer’s Avoidance series and is going to be about how listening to music can help reduce your chance of getting Alzheimer’s/ Dementia. Listening to music can help trigger emotional memories and is a real help to people with Alzheimer’s but also to people who do not have the condition.
I could go into detail describing the ways that music helps people with Alzheimer’s but I have found a few videos that do a much better job. the two videos in this blog are both fairly short but add so much more value in comparison to the words that I could use.
This first video always makes me smile. The sheer difference that music makes to Carol’s confidence and memory is astounding and the emotion that you can feel from her and her husband is a great feeling. Watching how a person can go from barely speaking to singing along to a song due to the power of music is a pleasure to watch and goes to show the effect that music can have on a person with Alzheimer’s.
The reaction and recognition that the music brings is really interesting to look at and to think about. Although the video is aimed at people who do have Alzheimer’s it does also apply to people who do not have the condition. triggering old memories can be a really good thing to do and is something that I highly encourage if you are dealing with someone who is or isn’t at risk of getting Alzheimer’s!
The second video that we are going to watch goes into a bit more depth and covers more of the educational side of music and Alzheimer’s.
I found that this video was a very interesting watch and there was one part that I found was worded excellently. This part is when one of the children is speaking near the end. he says that memories make us who we are and without them, we start to lose meaning. he says that it is really nice to have the chance to bring that meaning back to the lives of the old people who they are helping.
I could go into more detail on the topic but I feel like the videos really do it justice. they show not only the logic behind music and Alzheimer’s but also show the emotional reaction that the music generates. It really is an interesting theory to look into and there are a lot more videos and posts available if it interests you.
The happiness and smiles that you can see in the elderly people when they start listening to music is a pleasure to see and helps us see that there is still something there. There is still a part of the person left and that is something worth holding on to! Watching videos on music and Alzheimer’s helps me see that even though Alzheimer’s is a terrible condition that destroys lives, we can still be happy and enjoy music through it.
That is all I want to talk about in today’s blog! What do you all think? Did you know that there is a connection between Music and Alzheimers? Do you know any other techniques used to reduce the risk of getting Alzheimer’s? What sings would you have ion your playlist?
Thank you all for reading and I hope you enjoyed the blog. See you in the next one!
Sweeney’s Blogs
Any money donated here will be put back into the business. This can be through marketing campaigns, upgrades to plans or for setting up future events!
£5.00
James
“You never know how strong you are… until being strong is the only choice you have.” – Cayla Mills I’m going to tell you something no motivational speaker would ever dare tell you: genuine strength can’t be taught, learned, bought, borrowed, or understood. Genuine strength, defined as the ambition, courage, and stamina to do whatever you […]
A good social life can have lots of different benefits but have you ever thought of what it can do for your mind? Quite a lot of people talk about how a good social group can help you with motivation and support but have you ever thought that it can help reduce your chances of getting Alzheimer’s? That’s what we are going to be talking about in today’s blog.
Hello and Welcome to Sweeney’s Blogs!
Today’s blog is the fourth blog in the Alzheimer’s Avoidance series and is going to be about how a good social life can help reduce your risk of getting Alzheimer’s. One of the biggest variables when it comes to Alzheimer’s and Dementia is how much you are stimulating your mind. The first three blogs in this series have all discussed topics in relation to stimulating your mind even if they haven’t been specifically labelled as doing so.
Stimulating your mind does keep it active and that is the most important thing to do to help lower your chance of getting Alzheimer’s. An example of how the other blogs link to mental stimulation can be as simple as follows. Take last weeks blog all about puzzle games. Puzzle games are designed to test your mind and make you think of creative solutions to problems. This problem-solving skill that you have to put into practice will no doubt keep your mind active, hence stimulating your brain.
So now back to how a good social life can help stimulate your mind and reduce your chance of getting Alzheimer’s. Getting out of the house for a day or two can work wonders for your mind in a number of different ways. Firstly, the fresh air itself will do your body the world of good.
Secondly and the most important part is communicating with people. Communicating with people, as you can imagine, requires you to think about what you say and have opinions based on the topic of conversation. The process of thinking about what you are going to say or talk about next does keep your mind constantly active. It allows you to relax and speak to people while ensuring you that your mind is still working as it should.
As stated in the previous blogs in this series, I am not saying that you have to go out every day to experience the benefits of a good social life. Even if you only go out once a week then you are still getting that little bit extra time of mental stimulation compared to other people. Going out once a week is still much better for you than not going out at all.
Where you will see the most difference is if you do not go out at all and don’t communicate with people. Being stuck in the same four walls, day after day, does not help you out at all. It severely affects both your Physical and Mental Health and is simply not that good for you. If you can’t go out for one week for a specific reason that is completely fine, if you purposely isolate yourself from the world, for whatever reason, it won’t help you in the long run.
In regards to what you can do with your social life, it is completely up to you! If you like playing bingo then try and go to the bingo once a week, if you like something else then try that! The actual activity that you do doesn’t really matter, it’s getting out of the house and doing something which is important!
That’s all I want to talk about in today’s blog! What do you all think? Do you think a good social life lowers your chance of getting Alzheimer’s? Can you think fo anything else that can help lower your chance of getting Alzheimer’s? DO you have a good social life? Are you going to try and have a better one? Let me know what you think of the above questions and any other questions you have in the comments below or on our Facebook page!
Thank you for reading! I hope you enjoyed the blog and have a great day! See you in the next one!
It’s Mental Illness Awareness Week and tomorrow, October 10, is World Mental Health Day. So let’s talk about it! Yesterday I had a wonderful opportunity to speak to a group of elementary, middle school, and high school counselors about mental illness. I’m a presenter for Ending the Silence, a mental health awareness program by the […]
via We ALL Have Mental Health: Let’s Talk About It — Peace from Panic
This has been my all-time valued question. How are you? Sometimes, we have to ask this more frequently, even when we hear “I am fine.” Seriously, there is so much more to ‘I am fine.’ ‘I am good.’ ‘Leave me alone.’ Sometime back, I happen to write a one-liner observing how this person has been […]
Puzzle Games, some people love them some people hate them but have you ever stopped and thought about how they can be good for you? It is said that if you do puzzle games regularly then you are less likely to get Alzheimer’s/Dementia and that is what we are going to be looking at in today’s blog!
Hello and Welcome to Sweeney’s Blogs!
Today’s blog is going to be the third blog in the Alzheimer’s Avoidance series and is going to be about how puzzle games help lower your risk of getting Alzheimer’s/ Dementia. Puzzle games, as inclined by the name, are usually challenging and do encourage you to think. They encourage you to constantly stimulate your brain to think of the right answer. To most people this is common knowledge but if we stop and think about it the links to how it reduces your chances of getting Alzheimer’s can be quite clear.
An article that I found on LittleThings, https://www.littlethings.com/alzheimers-puzzles-and-games/, helps talk us through the process. A scientific study conducted in 2012 found that people who stay “mentally engaged” through life have lower levels of a protein called beta-amyloid which is found in the brain. Beta-amyloid protein can “clump up to form hardened plaques that destroy memory and thinking skills”. These clumps of beta-amyloid are often found in people who do suffer from Alzheimer’s disease. They do also briefly mention another study which found that people who do complete regular puzzles aren’t affected by Alzheimer’s until later life.
The best thing about these studies os how easy it actually is to find puzzle games to do. If we’re doing them in real life then it is as easy as going to a local shop and picking up a puzzle book. The puzzles could be word searches, crosswords, find the difference, it doesn’t matter. The type of game is irrelevant, it is the fact that you are stimulating your brain is the important part. What I would advise however is to do something that you enjoy. Don’t just do crosswords cos you think it’ll help, do them if you enjoy them.
If you have a phone/ tablet it is even easier. You could type into google puzzle games or you can just browse through the app store. There are millions upon millions of different puzzle games out there and they can be really easy to find. I would say to try and go for the free games but if you do want to pay for you apps that is still completely fine.
I’ll set a challenge on this page. If you don’t do many puzzle games in your free time, I want you to try at least one a day. Even if you just do the crossword in the local paper, one a day os the challenge. Give yourself five to ten minutes to really stimulate your brain. As well as helping reduce the chances of getting Alzheimer’s it does also help you build your mental strength and broaden your knowledge.
That is all I want to talk about in today’s blog! What do you all think? Did you know puzzle games can reduce your chance of getting Alzheimer’s? Are you going to start doing more puzzle games? Do you know any other ways to reduce your chance of getting Alzheimer’s? Let me know what you think in the comments. All feedback is appreciated.
Thank you all for reading and I hope you have a great day,
Sweeney’s Blogs
Any money donated here will be put back into the business. This can be through marketing campaigns, upgrades to plans or for setting up future events!
£5.00
James
category:self_improvement_and_motivation article: Have you caught yourself saying that there could be no other solution to a problem, and that the problem just leads to a dead end? Have you sometimes felt stumped feeling that a problem can’t be solved? Did it feel like you had exhausted all possibilities and yet you still have this large,…
via How to Creatively Think Your Way Out of Your Problems — Self Development
Sweeney's Blogs 