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Monday Talks > 2015 Spring
Monday 15 June  2015 (7 pm - Open to All)

Diane Mansour will talk about 
"The Psychological Effects of Alzheimer's Disease on Families"

This presentation will expose the stress and burden inflicted on families faced with Alzheimer’s disease. It will give a short resume on the clinical deterioration taking place in the brain. Describe the impact of the word “dementia” throughout the ages. Highlight the stigma and discrimination surrounding mental health in our communities; and the challenges faced by modern life factors.
 
It will emphasize on the benefit of programs and psychological support to help provide better quality of life to people with dementia and their families!
“The unique curse of Alzheimer’s is that it ravages several victims for every brain it infects. Close friends and loved ones are forced not only to witness an excruciating fade but also increasingly to step in and compensate for lost abilities. A person with dementia relies increasingly – and, in the fullness of time, completely – on the care of others. The caregiver!
 
The caregiver must preside over the degeneration of someone he or she loves very much; must do this for years and years with the news getting worse, must negotiate impossible requests and fantastic observations; must put up sometimes with deranged but at the same time very personal insults; and must somehow learn to smile through it all. The work shift in this literally thankless job lasts for twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week.
 
The stress facing caregivers is so extraordinary that it commonly leads to very serious problems on its own. “Caregiver’s Dementia” is widely used to describe the overpowering symptoms of fatigue and forgetfulness that often come with the role of Alzheimer’s caregiver. The term is not intended to refer to a biological dementia. Still, this stress- induced psychological condition can be very, very serious. One estimate has roughly half of all caregivers struggling with clinical depression.”

Diane Mansour
Founder and Honorary President - Alzheimer’s Association Lebanon
Board Member of Alzheimer’s Disease International appointed officially as Middle East envoy to act on behalf of Alzheimer’s Disease International in the Arab countries.
2004: Founded Alzheimer’s Association Lebanon
2005: Alzheimer’s Association Lebanon became a full member of Alzheimer’s Disease International (ADI)
2005: Planned and conducted the first conference on Alzheimer’s Disease for the Arab countries in the Middle East
Member of the National Commission for the Elderly at the Ministry of Social Affairs, Lebanon, since 2010
Member of the WHO working group – Dementia Report - aiming to enhance country preparedness for the increasing burden and cost of supporting a growing ageing population with dementia.
Member of ADI’s working group on future structure, to develop regional structures.
Created for Alzheimer’s Association Lebanon, a successful capacity building and outreach project, winner of the MetLife-ADI Awards for the Best Dementia Care Education Project, in the Europe, Middle East and Africa category 2013. Member of the WISH forum committee.


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