In a clinical setting, researchers have already determined that motivation is an important part of recovering fully from a stroke. The thought is that depression can hinder the recovery process, making it so that functional recovery is impeded. However, this can be a cyclical, yet negative, argument. When someone suffers a stroke or a spinal cord injury, the physical impairment that follows can lead to depressive symptoms. But, those very symptoms of depression can be exactly what holds a patient back from recovering. Unfortunately, there’s no easy way around this.
Being depressed after a stroke or a spinal cord injury of some sort is completely normal. Fighting depression is a difficult journey, but if you have a loved one that is going through stroke recovery, you want to do all that you can to help them on their way. Having the right care team in place will be a good place to start. You need to start with a good doctor and a team of specialists, but you will also want to know that there are others on your side. A professional in-home caregiver is a good resource, as any highly trained senior care specialist will be. However, because many stroke patients will see improvement, in-home care is typically a good place to start when it comes to the care being administered. The problem with something like the hospital or a nursing home is that there is a transition time, and this can be more detrimental than helpful at times. Not only is there transition time when you go into the nursing home, but once improvements have been made and a nursing home’s services are no longer needed, there is a transition time as your loved one moves back to their home. This should be avoided if at all possible.
One of the things that researchers are currently working on to help stroke patients recover more quickly is to try and identify the physiological reasons why depression or a lack of motivation can impede the healing process. They now believe that the nucleus accumbens, a part of the brain that controls motivation, is responsible for activating the motor cortex of the brain, which then in part promotes–or hinders–motor functioning. Having this knowledge carries with it the potential that stroke recovery can become more easily attained. It still won’t be easy, but when knowledge is applied in a medical setting, recovery methods can be more pointed and streamlined. Patients benefit from this in a big way. At the very least, offering stroke victims psychological support and counseling in addition to physical therapy and medical attention will give those affected by this one more advantage when it comes to regaining full functioning of body and brain. If trials of this prove to be effective, you can expect doctors to more readily recommend counseling and other types of psychological therapy in addition to current stroke recovery procedures.
Hopefully you never have to experience the tragedy of a loved one suffering a stroke, but if you do, it is good to know that your doctors and caregivers are doing all they can to keep your loved one happy, healthy, and motivated.
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