Alcohol Dementia
 

My father was recently diagnosed with wernicke-korsakoff encephalopothy. My sister and I are learning as we go regarding care and treatment or lack thereof. Is there any information out there that can help us? We're having a very hard time with this as my dad's only 55 years old. Any information would be helpful.

Welcome again to NeuroTalk rara.This forum has been a bit quiet lately so I'll try to help you myself.

I live in Australia so cannot give you any locality-specific information, but if you haven't already done so, may I suggest that you get some support?

I think you and your sister would benefit from talking to a mental health professional. They will help you develop some strategies and a dementia worker experienced in alcoholism would be ideal. Ask your GP if you don’t know how to access one. We have Drug and Alcohol Dependency units attached to our public hospitals and they have experienced councillors there, or you could join a dementia support group. You may even want to do both. If you have similar centers, give one a call and see what services they have available for you to access.

As a retired nurse I understand the challenges you and the rest of your family face now, and will continue to face. Caring for a dementia patient is difficult at any time, and it’s possible the WKS may see your father exhibiting bizzarre behaviour at times, not unlike what is sometimes seen during binge drinking. This would be additional to the odd behaviour that dementia brings out at any time.

Does your father live alone? Are there other family members besides yourself and your sister to help out? The reason that I ask is because people with a history of alcohol abuse will often isolate themselves from family and friends or if not, often any remaining relationships become quite strained.

May I also suggest that you see a case manager or family counsellor? They can help the family sort through any issues that have already arisen and help arrange any appropriate support services that you might be needing.

In advances cases of dementia (or in this case WKS) the day may come when your family is no longer able to care for your father. He may at some stage, need to move into a residential facility such as a nursing home. These places provide special dementia care for confused patients.

I hope that has been helpful. If it's not what you're after you could ask over in our dementia forum for some guidance. Here's the link : http://neurotalk.psychcentral.com/forum97.html

My heart goes out to you. It is probably to big of a job for you and you sister to handle on your own. Best to look at some professional facility care. So sorry. I am a recovered AA, it is heartbreaking and tragic. More importantly is to get some support for yourself.