Discuss 5 psychosocial factors that may have contributed to the unfortunate passing of people due to covid 19
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Answer :
The four major pathological conditions in the older population are:
1) Acute confusional state (Delirium). Characteristically occurs over hours or days, usually accompanied by acute physical illness. Levels of alertness fluctuate, being worse at night, with lucid spells during the day, although the person can be disorientated to time and place. They may be fearful, irritable and aggressive. Paranoid ideas are common as are visual and auditory hallucinations. Symptoms generally resolve when the underlying cause is treated.
2) Depression, characterised by abnormally lowered mood may develop over weeks or months. The signs include loss of interest in life, neglect of personal appearance and hygiene plus expression of recurrent thoughts of death or suicidal ideas. Concentration levels are low, decisions difficult to make as are the carrying out of daily tasks. The person may complain of multiple physical symptoms, sleep (insomnia or hypersomnia) and appetite also become affected with a resultant decrease in energy.
3) Paraphrenia is not universally accepted as a distinct syndrome. The person is often female, lives alone, and has evidence of difficult social interactions earlier in life. They report of plots against them, focusing on family members, which are persistent, extreme, and elaborate. Usually, cognitive impairment is not present, but a hearing impairment is common. Although the person is physically independent (diet and hygiene are rarely compromised), social functioning and cooperation with staff members are greatly impaired.
4) Dementia is an umbrella term used for signs and symptoms characterised by a generalised and irredeemable impairment of intellect, memory and personality. The decline is permanent and progressive.
The three most common types of dementia are:
• Alzheimer’s disease: a neurodegenerative disorder with generalised brain cell loss, especially in the cortex, plus extracellular plaques and intracellular neurofibrillary tangles. It has a progressive unremitting course with widespread loss of function and abilities. Alzheimer’s disease is slightly more common in women than in men.
• Vascular dementia: small or large vascular lesions cause focal damage in the brain with resultant focal neurological signs. Stepwise deterioration in cognitive and physical function occurs. It is more common in men than in women, and there is usually past history of cardiovascular pathology (e.g. hypertension).
• Lewy Body dementia: presents with a very different patterns of symptoms including clouding of consciousness, paranoid delusions, complex visual hallucinations, falls, depressive symptoms and auditory hallucinations.
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