Halloween and the Alzheimer Reaction

The Effects Of Halloween

With Halloween being such a popular event in many households. It’s good to keep those in mind who might not understand it as well as we do. Yes, it is a fun time of the year for many families. And although it revolves around one evening of trick or treating. People will often celebrate for several weeks.  For example, scary decorations go up (that sometimes laugh eerily) and parties take place and even fireworks. You can already guess that these loud and spooky celebrations might just have an adverse affect on people who are diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease or other types of dementia.

Fireworks are loud and very unnerving. Sometimes even indistinguishable from gunshots. These loud cracks in the evening are certain to frighten a person with Alzheimer’s disease. In fact, don’t be surprised if war veterans with later stage Alzheimer’s become agitated and on guard. Remembering or even experiencing their war service memories.

Halloween Is Not For Everyone

Dressing up is great fun, especially for kids. However keep in mind that it may not be well received by someone who has Alzheimer’s disease. Those who often have difficulty recognizing their family members might be extra frightened of elaborately costumed people.

Now we’re not saying that all people with Alzheimer’s disease will not be able to handle Halloween. Some people with the disease might not understand it. And therefore not be bothered by what’s happening around them, while others might enjoy it.  There will, however, be people with the disease who might become frightened, agitated or even upset at seeing the change in scenery around them.

So, what to do? A few things to consider:

1. Keep decorations at a minimal at home, and keep it PG. If it’ll scare the pants off you, it may not be appropriate (human skeletons and skulls are plastic, but they may not appear that way to some).

2. In a care home or in public, decorations are everywhere and people get dressed up. Be ready to ask staff to remove items that might scare or agitate. Also, as a distraction for the person with Alzheimer’s, be armed with funny and innocent explanations for why people are dressing up (“Yes, it looks like she is dressed up as a witch. I know that she is a nice witch, like the witch in that TV Show Bewitched. Do you remember that show?”).

3. Make sure what’s on TV is tame and not too horrific.

4. If the evenings are filled with fireworks, try placing earphones on them with a portable MP3 player or iPod for music. You could also try audio storybooks to help keep their attention longer.

Why not celebrate the season by sharing some pumpkin pie and maybe some hot chocolate while doing some reminiscing about fall days and fun costume parties of days past?

Have a safe and happy Halloween!

Karen 🙂

Karen Tyrell, CDP, CPCA
Personalized Dementia Solutions

www.DementiaSolutions.ca