Sunday, December 14, 2008

Which one have a greater impact in your life?

Dear Dr.Chew,

It is increasingly recognised that the non-motor effects of PD including depression and cognitive dysfunction can have a greater impact on patients' quality of life than the movement symptoms. Do you agree

People with Parkinson's diseaseshare two very basic emotions - fear and frustration. We arefrustrated that we can no longer do all the things we used to do,or do them as well as we used to, and we are afraid that we willcontinue to get worse and be able to do less and less. Thesefeelings are present no matter what symptoms are manifesting inyour body. Manyconservative therapists will either ignore the emotional state oftheir patient, concentrating solely on the physical, or prescribeanti-depressants. The former exacerbates our frustration because wereally do want to talk about it and find strategies to overcome it;the latter merely covers up an emotional situation that can be usedto bring about a healthy life change.
Emotional counselors of many modalities can be of enormous help tous. People who have or are working with me have found help from psychologists, trained counselors, Pranic healers, hypnotherapists,ministers of religion experienced in counseling, flower essence counselors, and many others.

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