Parkinson's Disease Essay

639 Words3 Pages

Parkinson’s disease is a “disorder of the nervous system that affects movement” (Staff, 2015), but does not have an acute onset. Usually symptoms start with a slight tremor in the hands and then slowly progresses to other parts of the body (Staff, 2015). Even though most people have fast, shaking, movements, Parkinson’s can also cause stiffness or slow movements. According to Mayo Clinic Staff, early signs of Parkinson’s disease may include diminished facial expressions, absence of swaying arms when walking, and “speech may become soft or slurred” (2015). Unfortunately, Parkinson’s does not have a cure, but there are medications out there to help symptoms as well as brain surgeries.
Self-concept
Self-concept is the way an individual see’s …show more content…

She interviews eight different spouses and asked them a serious of questions such as the challenges they go through due to their spouse’s illness, and how they deal with the challenges individually (Habermann, 2000). Most of the spouses admitted to feeling empathy for their spouse because they hate seeing the love of their life in so much pain, and not being able to do anything about it makes them feel worse (Habermann, 2000). Many of the spouses also stated that they do not feel the same connection or closeness with their significant other because they are not able to perform the same daily activities together (Habermann, 2000). Self-concept in the healthy spouse is still intact when it comes to knowing who they are and having self-confidence, but it is also damaging because they too can lose their job in order to care give for their spouse with Parkinson’s (Habermann, 2000). The individual is also not able to perform his/her daily activities with their spouse and some cannot even sleep in the same bed due to side effects of the medications such as nightmares (Habermann, 2000). Stress may also be increased in the healthy spouse because they have to constantly worry and make sacrifices in their lives, such as participating in hobbies, in order to care for their loved one with