In this article, we'll cover a range of topics to help you fully understand what can be expected after a person has suffered a stroke.
As a carer, it can be difficult and frustrating at times, when dealing with people who have had a stroke. Listing the problems you can expect is a great way of knowing how to prepare for the responsibilities that being a home carer can bring.
Understanding The Symptoms Of Strokes:
A stroke can cause some permanent loss of function. The long-term effects of a stroke depend on which part of the brain was damaged and by how much. Early treatment and rehabilitation after a stroke can improve recovery and many people regain a lot of abilities. We'll be looking more in-depth at some of the following issues associated with life after a stroke:
- Physical changes after stroke
- Emotional and personality changes after stroke
- Changes to thinking, memory and perception after stroke
- Communication after stroke
- Everyday life after a stroke
- Support for long-term effects after stroke
The most recent data for the UK shows that after a stroke, slightly more than one-third of people have a disability that has affected their daily activities. Of the people with a disability after stroke, 88 percent are cared for in households and 12 percent in residential care.
Changes In Physical Experience Can Include:
The most common types of disability after stroke are impaired speech, restricted physical abilities, weakness or paralysis of limbs on one side of the body, difficulty gripping or holding things, and a slowed ability to communicate.
Here are some of the more specific physical issues:
- Difficulty with gripping or holding things
- Fatigue or tiredness – can be caused by physical changes or medication, but also mood changes, depression, anxiety, or difficulty sleeping
- Incontinence – many types of incontinence can occur, but it can be caused by medication, muscle weakness, changes in sensations, thinking, and memory
- Pain – can be caused by actual or potential damage to your tissues (nociceptive pain) or by damage to your nerves that then send incorrect messages to your brain (neuropathic pain)
- Restricted ability to perform physical activities or exercise
- Swallowing issues
- Vision problems
- Weakness or paralysis of limbs on one side of the body
Emotional And Personality Changes After Stroke:
If you have suffered a stroke, it is common to have changes in your mood and personality. Some emotional changes may be caused by damage to the brain from the stroke, but you can also experience a range of emotions, as well as depression, as a response to the change in your situation. Depression is common in the first year after a stroke, but it is particularly common in people who have trouble understanding, finding words and communicating (aphasia) after a stroke.
The symptoms of depression include:
- Feeling sad most of the time
- Feeling tired
- Feeling worthless
- Finding it difficult to concentrate
- Finding it difficult to manage everyday life
- Having difficulty sleeping
- Losing a sense of pleasure in activities you used to enjoy
- Losing interest in food or eating too much
- Losing weight or gaining weight
After a stroke, people can also have anxiety either on its own or with depression. Anxiety is more than just feeling stressed.
People who are anxious can:
- Find it difficult to calm down
- Feel worried most of the time
- Feel frightened by intense panic
- Have recurring thoughts that increase their anxiety
- Avoid situations that can cause them to be anxious
Personality & Behavioural Changes:
It can be upsetting for loved ones to see how a personality can change after a stroke. Though these changes are not always permanent, it is important to know what to expect and adapt your care accordingly. The frustrations a person feels after a stroke can often be the cause of personality changes but it may also occur as a direct change to parts of their brain which were affected by the stroke.
These can include:
- Irritability – reacting to things that would normally not annoy you
- Aggressiveness – physical or verbal
- Apathy or lack of motivation
- Repetitive behavior – becoming stuck in the repetition of words or behaviors
- Disinhibition – tendency to say and do things that are socially inappropriate
- Impulsiveness – can also include sudden and socially inappropriate actions.
Changes To Thinking, Memory & Perception After A Stroke:
A stroke can change your thinking and memory, and also how you see, hear and feel the world. This can affect how you feel about yourself, your family and your friends.
Thinking and memory skills are also known as cognitive skills. Cognitive skills can be affected by your emotional state or tiredness, but a stroke can also cause different cognitive changes, including your:
- Ability to learn new skills
- Ability to plan
- Ability to problem solve
- Attention – being able to concentrate and focus
- Orientation – knowing the day and time
- Short-term memory – knowing what happened recently
Perception is the term that describes how you see, hear and feel the world. After a stroke, your perception can include changes to:
- Feeling contact, pain, heat or cold on the side of your body affected by a stroke
- Judging distance
- Performing certain movements even without physical disability (apraxia)
- Recognising shapes and objects, or even your own body
- Seeing or feeling things only on one side of your body can cause you to bump into things
- Watching TV or reading can become difficult
- Vision issues: Some people lose half their vision in each eye (hemianopia)
Communication After Stroke
For some people, the stroke affects the part of their brain that supports speaking, reading and communication.
Symptoms of these strokes may include:
- Difficulty in finding the right words or understanding what others are saying (aphasia or dysphasia)
- Weakness in the muscles that help speech (dysarthria)
- Dysfunction of the nerve connection between your brain and mouth, making speaking difficult (dyspraxia)
- Reading and writing problems are caused by a weak writing hand or problems thinking or seeing.
Support For The Long-Term Effects After Stroke
The types of healthcare professionals who can help depending on the challenges you face. A good first step is to speak with your doctor or rehabilitation team and they can help you directly or refer you to other healthcare professionals.
Apart from your doctor, other healthcare professionals who can offer help after a stroke include:
- Clinical psychologists
- Neuropsychologists
- Occupational therapists
- Physiotherapists
- Psychiatrists
- Rehabilitation nurses
- Social workers
- Speech pathologists.
Home help and respite care can also be a great help for you and your carers. Staying connected with family and friends, or joining a support group with other people who have had a stroke, can also help with your physical and emotional wellbeing.