Personality

I tend to be a fairly positive person and my personality pretty much stayed even until I had to go to skilled nursing. Not getting needs met in a timely fashion unfortunately taught me to speak up and I felt as if I was always complaining. I soon learned that didn’t expedite anything. By being more understanding of how overworked the staff was and exercising patience they were more likely to see to my needs as quickly as possible. I have not experienced depression but there are days I can be apathetic even now that I’m home. If you feel it might be helpful a referral from your neurologist to see a counselor might be an answer . Just talking things through can work wonders. I wish you the best.
Thea DeStephano Community Team Member.

My Dad has PD for 7 years now and I think it has impacted his personality tremendously. It seems difficult to sort out the chicken and the egg here but living with a degenerative illness has brought so much anxiety, fear and overwhelm. As he declines cognitively, I've also seen so many personality changes. All of the things about himself he was most proud of are lessening rapidly and it is like a windfall of anxiety and depression. Add to that the physical challenges and he is more socially withdrawn than ever too. Also, in my work, I support people who are dying and grieving, so I see how grief impacts our personalities and I suspect a lot of what I'm seeing is grief. Hope it helps to know you are not alone. Hugs.