Lianna Marie, CEO of AllAboutParkinsons.com joins Suzanne to talk about focus for those with Parkinson's and their caregivers.
Lianna explains, "Focus is an interesting topic I decided to dive into in my current book that I'm writing, 'The Parkinson's Path.' It's a very complex disease, affecting your physical and your emotional side. We're losing our focus because we've just got so much going on. And then there's also the actual change that's happening in people with Parkinson's brains, and that's creating this thing. My mom used to say, I just have a foggy brain, I can't multitask anymore. There's an actual change that's happening in their brain — they call it dual tasking. It's important to understand that that's a thing.
"Your independence and mobility are being taken away, from things like brushing your teeth, which we may take for granted. Accepting a little bit, being vulnerable, saying, OK, fine, I accept that this is happening, but I'm not, I'm not giving into it. Michael J Fox's quote: "Acceptance doesn't mean resignation, it means understanding that something is what it is, and that there's gotta be a way through it." So control the things that you can, try not to worry about the things that you can't. I know it's easier said than done, but we can all take that as good advice in our lives, right? The serenity prayer, you know, but I would say that that for us was a big thing and so she over time learned to focus on things like, I can control my diet, what goes into my mouth, to help with my Parkinson's symptoms. I can control my exercise to an extent. Even when she was losing her mobility, she could control whom she allowed in her circle. So if somebody was being very negative, she would say I don't have room for that in my life anymore.
"I always think of things in athletic terms. When you're learning mental training for something like shooting a target, and I'm trying to hit a bulls eye down the middle, I wanna say hit a 10 — I don't want to say in my head don't hit a five, because as soon as you have that in your head, don't do that one, that's where your mind goes, right? So it's a subtle, but very effective thing to change. So when someone with Parkinson's is going along on their day and darn it, the wheels shut down, your legs stop moving, whatever it is that's going on, you want to focus on the thing that you want to happen, as opposed to the thing that you don't. I'm not suggesting that you can just mentally train yourself out of a symptom. However, I will say that it certainly doesn't hurt to be focusing on the things that you want, as opposed to the things that you don't want."
Lianna's book "The Parkinson's Path" will be coming out later this year. Currently, ''The Complete Guide for People With Parkinson’s Disease and Their Loved Ones'' is available at Amazon. Find more of Lianna's podcasts at her Expert page on the Answers for Elders website.
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