Emotions you may have
You noticed symptoms. You made a doctor’s appointment. You took tests. And you felt a roller coaster of emotions — fear, hope, despair, denial. Then you received a diagnosis. You may have felt numb, unsure of how to respond or where to turn.
You may also be grieving over the present losses you are experiencing, or the expectation of future changes as the disease progresses. It can be helpful to identify and understand some of the emotions you may experience after receiving your diagnosis.
These emotions may include:
- Anger. Your life is taking a different course than the one you and your family had planned. You cannot control the course of the disease.
- Relief. The changes you were experiencing were cause for concern. A diagnosis validated these concerns by assigning a name to your symptoms.
- Denial. The diagnosis seems impossible to believe. You may feel overwhelmed by how your life will change as a result of Alzheimer’s.
- Depression. You may feel sad or hopeless about the way your life is changing.
- Resentment. You may be asking yourself what you did to deserve your diagnosis or why this is happening to you.
- Fear. You may be fearful of the future and how your family will be affected.
- Isolation. You may feel as if no one understands what you’re going through or lose interest in maintaining relationships with others.
- Sense of loss. It may be difficult to accept changes in your abilities.
If these feelings linger week after week, you may be dealing with depression or anxiety. Feeling depressed or anxious about your diagnosis is common, but both can be successfully treated.
