Apathy/Withdrawn
Description of Behavior
A person who is withdrawn or apathetic is someone who is socially withdrawn and is experiencing a loss of interest and motivation. Behaviors that reflect being withdrawn or apathetic might include sitting alone in one’s room, avoiding contact with others and making limited eye contact with others.
Why behavior might occur
Apathy or being withdrawn is caused by the changes that occur to the brain during the progression of dementia.
How to approach the person who is withdrawn or apathetic
- Try to engage the person in creative activities.
- Give instructions slowly and break tasks down into manageable portions for the person.
- Remain positive and calm with the person.
- Encourage the person to do what they can for themselves and provide praise often.
- Avoid excess stimulation such as large crowds or loud noises.
Specific things to try to reduce apathy or withdrawn behaviors
- Sensory stimulation may be helpful and can involve stimulating hearing, sight or touch senses. Some ways to do this might include playing music, looking through visually stimulating things such as pictures from old calendars or holiday cards, and touching or holding a stuffed animal.
- Involving the person in cooking or baking activities can help stimulate the sense of smell and be a good time to talk and reminisce with the person as their memory allows.
- Aromatherapy might be tried if someone is trained in the correct implementation of this approach. Use with caution.
- Consider the persons’ preferences, for example, if the person owned several cats a stuffed cat may offer therapeutic sensory stimulation. For many, simply sitting outdoors for a short period of time can offer valuable sensory stimulation.
- It can be challenging to keep track of which type of stimulation works best, so documenting how the person responds to each approach may be helpful.
- Try to engage the person in a 1:1 or small group social activity. Try to individualize social contact, which can include casual conversations or “small talk.” Adapt the conversation based on how advanced the person’s dementia is. For someone with very advance dementia try to focus mostly on questions involving “here and now” discussion such as which might involve comments about music played, food or the weather. For an individual with mild to moderate dementia, small talk can be facilitating by asking the person simple questions, such as: “Did you ever play football in school?” or “Have you always lived in Wisconsin?”
- Another simple strategy for facilitating social contact is to share information about your life or plans for the day and ask the person with dementia for their input about things you share using straightforward questions.
- Engage the person in small group activities or outings as appropriate.
- Offer the person magazines, newspapers or crossword puzzles when they are awake. Make sure the text is large, or offer the person a magnifying glass to help them read the materials.
- Offer positive praise if the person is able to engage in the activity.
