Hi Beacon,
I read your post a couple of days ago, and then, just by grand design of the Universe, happened to read about the emotional brain. Here is a little bit of what I read. It doesn't make it any easier to deal with unreasonable anger/rage in our loved one, but I think that understanding why does help. At least it helps me.
why the anger???
I dont understand the anger. my mum was diagnosed with dementia early last year, (although she will not recognise that anything is wrong with her so we can not get any help from the dr). what i find the hardest to cope with is the anger my mum has towards my dad. she accuses him of stealing her jewellery, and her savings, she has even said he has taken her favourite cup & saucer. the venom towards my dad is awful she shouts that she hates him, never wants to see him again and wants to really harm him. he now lives with me because of the constant accusations and threats. my dad is the only one who she seems to have any issues with. my mum was never a violent person but she has changed so much i cant understand the aggression.
"First there is the reptilian brain, which is responsible for the mechanical, housekeeping functions of the body. It includes the brain stem and the cerebellum. The brain stem is the body's autopilot making sure the heart stays beating, your lungs keep breathing, your guts digest food. It is called the reptilian brain because you can find similar neurological equipment in your alligator friend.
The second part is the mammalian brain, or limbic system. This is much more advanced than the brain stem and constitutes the foundations of emotion.
The third part is the neocorted, which is the most recent, complex and most human part of the brain.
What we might call the emotional brain is mainly centred in the limbic system but has important components in the brain stem and neocortex as well. The core of the limbic system is the hypothalamus, which regulates the internal homeostasis of the body: things like hunger, thirst, sex drive, body temperature and sleep cycles....[..]
The most important structure in the emotional brain is the amygdala, the core of the fight or flight reaction. It controls fear, anger, and other survival responses..[...]
the most interesting part of the emotional system is the prefrontal cortex (PFC). The PFC is located right behind the eyes and is the newest structure in the brain. This supercomputer is responsible for abstract thought, symbols, prediction, mediating conflicting urges, deciding between right and wrong, and controling emotional urges...[...] It imposes executive funtion on the other emotional structures, meaning it is the source of top-down decision making, allowing for cognitive control of actionss. [...]
from Ego, Peter Baumann and Michael Taft 2011.
Texts like this help me better understand what parts of my mother's brain are failing due to Alz plaque attacks. You can see that people with dementia who behave inappropriately in sexual ways, or refuse to eat, or walk around at night have limbic systems on the go that are not being 'regulated' by the forebrain (prefrontal cortex). So the messages that the prefrontal cortex used to send out, the reasoned response, that says it is time to go to bed now, or one doesn't masterbate in public, or which tells us how much or how little to eat, is not working well.
Thus, while personality probably plays a major role, so will the inability of a damaged prefrontal cortex to regulate the emotions also have a major effect.
Regarding rage, you can see it is the amydala which houses fear and anger. So it is clear that your mother can feel anger, but her preforntal cortex is unable to regulate this rage, so it all just spills out, uncontrolled. Sadly, we must assume that she also feels genuinely outraged, so according to her emotional signals, she has reason to be furious and violent or whatever.
My mother is regressing very suddenly. I am very sad of course. However being able to 'track' the area of the brain that is currently under attack does help me to go with the flow. Nothing is static, the damage is ongoing, and thus what is a problem today may not be tomorrow.
My mother is in total denial of her illness. Complete denial. She doesn't have memory problems, I do, or so she insists. Nonetheless she has had an MRI scan (we told her is was to get a baseline health status report) which was used to diagnose her Alzheimers. Hippocampus was gone over three years ago. Furthermore she has been on Ebixa for three years, which we all call her "memory pills", and she has been difficult behaviorally, so she now gets a mild tranquilizer (Alprazolam). I would think that if the situation is serious enough for your Dad to have to leave his home due to rage, then any decent doctor should accept there may be a problem. I don't know if the Ebixa (active ingredient memantine) did anything for Mum, the tranquilisers may do, and coconut oil certainly does. You will not need a prescription to give coconut oil, so this may be a first line of defence?
Wishing you well. I can imagine that this is an exceptionally difficult situation. Keep posting, and be sure that change is always afoot. All the best, BE
