What is an Anosognosia
Anosognosia is a disorder that often affects people who have a brain injury or brain disease. A person with anosognosia lacks awareness that he or she has a problem or disease. Anosognosia is common in people with:
- Schizophrenia.
- Bipolar disorder.
It may also affect:
- People with brain diseases such as Alzheimer disease or dementia.
- People who have had a stroke or a brain injury.
Anosognosia can add to the person’s unwillingness to take needed medicines or get other treatments. When he or she refuses what he or she needs, the condition can get worse. Caring for a friend or family member with anosognosia can be hard. It may seem like your loved one denies his or her problems, but that is not the case. Your loved one resists following recommendations because he or she does not believe that he or she needs help. Your loved one does not have the ability to know and understand his or her problems.
Damage to the brain is common in people who have this disorder, but the exact cause of the condition is not known.
How to help someone with anosognosia
- Keep in mind that people with anosognosia are at risk for injury because of behavior that could be reckless or dangerous. To help your loved one avoid injury, talk about his or her risky or dangerous actions instead of trying to discuss the disease.
- Follow instructions from the health care or mental health provider about how to give medicines at home. Remember that a person with anosognosia does not believe that medicine is needed for a brain injury, brain disease, or mental illness.
- Be prepared to offer treatment, and encourage your loved one to accept treatment. Be cautious about trying to force your friend or family member into treatment. This power struggle may make him or her feel more isolated.
- Work with your loved one to develop a treatment plan that he or she will agree to follow. A therapist who specializes in a type of therapy called motivational enhancement therapy can be helpful in getting your loved one to follow a treatment plan.
Keep these things in mind when you talk with your friend or family member:
- Listen to his or her perception of his or her life. You do not have to agree with him or her, but help him or her to feel understood.
- Be understanding about what he or she is saying. Think about how hard it must be for that person when everyone is telling him or her about the treatment that he or she needs.
- Avoid arguing about his or her condition or treatment. Do notget emotional. Be aware of your own reactions.
- If he or she becomes angry or defiant with you, follow instructions from his or her health care provider about how to deal with the situation.
Contact a health care provider if:
- Your loved one refuses to take prescribed medicines.
- Your loved one is ignoring or refusing the treatment plan that you have both agreed on.
- The symptoms of the injury or illness get worse.
- Your loved one leaves the house or disappears for an extended amount of time.
- You need more information or need help to give the care that is needed.
Get help right away if:
- Your loved one with anosognosia becomes aggressive with you or others.
- Your loved one destroys property or he or she acts in an unsafe or reckless manner.
- Your loved one talks about self-harm or threatens others.
- Your loved one hurts himself or herself.
If you ever feel like your loved one may hurt himself or herself or others, or may have thoughts about taking his or her own life, get help right away. You can go to your nearest emergency department.
Summary
- Because a person with anosognosia lacks awareness that he or she has a problem or disease, it can be hard to care for him or her.
- Your loved one with anosognosia may seem to deny that he or she sick. Rather, your loved one resists following recommendations because he or she does not have awareness or belief that treatment is needed.
- A therapist who specializes in a type of therapy called motivational enhancement therapy can be helpful in getting your loved one to follow a treatment plan.
- Your loved one with anosognosia is at risk for injury because he or she may behave in a reckless or dangerous way.
- Getting early help for your loved one may improve symptoms.
