Therapy

Coming to terms with Parkinson's disease

Psychotherapy

Many patients and their families are understandably anxious and frightened when confronted with the diagnosis Parkinson’s disease. Patients often have difficulty motivating themselves to carry out everyday tasks and sometimes withdraw from family and friends. Psychotherapy can help both patients and family come to terms with this difficult situation.

Relaxation exercises – mental performance training – speech therapy

As part of their psychological supervision, patients can also learn how to alleviate (at least temporarily) physical and emotional symptoms such as muscle tension, tremors, depression or anxiety. The nature and frequency of tremors can be favourably influenced by appropriate relaxation exercises (autogenic training, progressive muscle relaxation). Mental skills can also be stimulated with cerebral performance training such as brain jogging.

Indistinct, often soft speech can be significantly improved with cognitive therapies developed specifically for Parkinson patients, such as the Lee Silverman technique.

Ways out of depression

According to the latest findings, depression is not just a reaction to the disease but the result of metabolic changes that are associated with the Parkinson syndrome itself. Depression can be effectively treated with anti-depressants and psychotherapy.