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Health & Fitness

Loosing Perspective

It happens to all of us at some point -- it could be something simple like getting upset at someone's action and responding inappropriately or it could be something major like enabling the government shut down for weeks....

and, it seems that in situations where there is high emotion or situations where you try to remove the emotion, perspective can get lost. The role of caregiver can be full of situations where one party or another looses perspective - perspective can be regained when the right amount of emotion is involved.

When I think back on my own experiences, there are many examples. A situation that comes to mind where emotions were attempted to be removed, happened when my mother was being 'transferred' from the hospital emergency room and being admitted into a facility at 2:00 am. It had been an emotionally trying evening in the emergency room - her Alzheimer's had advanced to the level where she was confused and agitated and didn't know why she had to be there. It was exhausting for all of us. So, we finally get her transferred, and, when we arrive at the facility, the intake person starts to sit down with my father and I to fill out paper work. About 45 minutes into it, the person starts asking a series of questions about my mother's hobbies and interests -- I had finally had enough - my father and I were clearly exhausted - I asked that person if we could do this part of the paper work tomorrow. After all, between 2:00 am and tomorrow, they weren't going to schedule any activities for my mother. Clearly, this was a case of loosing perspective -- processes and procedures ruled out emotion.

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LIkewise, when emotions are heightened, you can loose perspective. Another example comes to mind -- whenever, the family had to make decisions about whether to approve a medical procedure for my father, certain members of the family would 'fall apart' - they would be so overcome by their emotions that they would be unable to calmly talk through the decision. They had lost perspective.

Regaining perspective involves taking an emotion time out or step back. Perspective is regained when one takes the time to ask critical questions, "What is the worst that can happen if I do/don't do this?" and, weighing and thinking through the various alternatives, "If I do this, what will happen?" and "If I do that, what will happen?" And, "what would fill in the name want?"

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