Alzheimer’s disease is a severe nervous disorder. It is an irreversible and progressive problem that damages the memory cells and reduces the person’s capability of thinking. People suffering from this disease even fail to complete simple tasks.
The patients of ADHD and Alzheimer’s disease feel out of the world and are sometimes treated as special people. The release of stress through fidget spinners is a beneficial way. Today, fidget spinners are used by kids and teens, so they might not seem like a specific helping tool for Alzheimer’s patients. However, fidget spinners are a great way to help Alzheimer’s patients, and here is how:
Excellent Benefits of Fidget Spinners
It has been observed in many patients who were unable to focus on certain things and remained idle all day that they found fidget spinners attractive and questioning at the same time. They asked questions about how it worked and were also curious about the tricks that can be used on a spinner.
When the brain is focused or curious about certain things happening around, the memory cells start to work efficiently to remember the information the person was curious about. Spinners can improve the stimulation of the memory cells of the brain.
A fidget spinner works on a principle that is quite similar to the tire of a bike. It has a central post around which three ball bearings are attached. When you spin the fidget toy by keeping the pressure on the central post, the three wings start to spin and keep on spinning until the momentum applied to them vanishes out. The user can also stop it on his own.
You may also read our Guide to Selecting Fidget Toys for Seniors with Alzheimer’s and Dementia to learn more about fidget toys for people with Alzheimer’s.
1. Release Stress
Fidgeting refers to restlessness. Patients with neuromuscular disorders are often found to be in a state of constant agitation. This might be because of many reasons, such as impatience, nervousness, boredom, and anxiety.
Some disease experts have proven that restlessness is associated with nerve stimulation. Fidgeting improves our focus by stimulating those certain parts of the brain that were distracted or bored. It increases attentiveness and stops the distracting areas of the brain from affecting the nearby cells.
2. Regulation of Arousal by Fidget Spinners
Some articles in the scientific magazines showed that fidgeting helps in reaching the required optimal levels of arousal. The performance of cognitively demanding tasks was also facilitated. Naturally, arousal is regulated by the inborn habits of individuals.
3. Offer Distraction from Rumination
Fidget spinners are found to have distractive properties. The spinners help distract the brain from things that were causing stress in Alzheimer’s patients. Spinners distract, and this distraction has a direct effect on rumination. Meditation also offersa release to the brain cells against stress.
Aside from fidget spinners, twiddle muffs may also keep an Alzheimer’s patient calm. To know more about it, you may read our post about the Benefits of Twiddle Muffs to People with Dementia and Autism.
4. Offers Meditation
Meditation has always been a reason for releasing stress. Even people with some serious stress and depression are cured through meditation. Meditation requires to focus on a single thing that cuts you off from the world. Fidget spinners are capable of doing this for your brain.
The spinner’s ability to get the concentration and attention grabbed to a single point can encourage people to go for meditation without the fear of being failed. This ability can be considered a huge benefit of the spinner.
5. A Low-Cost Stress Releaser
The spinners range widely in terms of their cost. The ones that have bitterly adapted features and claimed by the companies can be a little bit expensive. But they are the most economical method of releasing stress.
They can actually make patients use their brains and try some new tricks every time. They help them in creating goals and accomplishing them without making them feel stressed out. Therefore, fidget spinners are some really cool tools for improving focus.
6. Safe for Grownups
Many people questioned the safety of fidget spinners. They were actually found safe and helpful for grownups as they know how to use them, but they were not safe for children.
Many deaths were reported due to children engulfing the liquid, especially the one in lighting fidget spinners. Hazards were found mostly in the battery-operated spinners. It is recommended to charge the battery in your presence and not leave the battery or spinner to be charged overnight.
Make sure to remove the charger as soon as the battery is charged, and if there is no proper guidance about the percentage, then do not charge it for more than one hour. Check for any damages in the charging cables; otherwise, they might catch fire.
7. Fidget Spinner Affect the Motor Control
Motor nerves are located in the central nervous system that induces the response of the effectors. They send signals to our muscles or hormones to react in response to any outer stimulus. Patients with nervous disorders like Alzheimer’s disease lose motor control.
Fidget spinners can help them in regaining control and hence improve the condition of the disease. Fidgeting itself is a motor experience. There are many forms of fidgeting. One of them involves the repetition of a certain action by external stimulus. The action is repeated so many times that it becomes the habit of the person.
8. Repetition – A Useful Way for Better Motor Control
Repetition and practice can be very useful in improving motor skills. When certain objects are manipulated on the person from outside, they influence the parts of the brain, and the cells consider it as second nature of the person and start responding to the stimulus naturally. In this way, fidget spinners help in gaining motor control.
Mini-rituals are helpful in stressful conditions. People use a fidget spinner in their free time, and it does not make them feel like they are patients of a certain disease. The repetitive use of spinners is a mini-meditation and improves the condition.
9. Fidget Spinners Increase Attention and Concentration
Toys and tools that allow fidget can improve the concentration of kids with autism. They can enhance the brain’s ability to detect things, respond to certain stimuli, and offer many other services as well. They can distract you from the things that cause stress and restlessness.
Fidget spinners are banned in some countries. It is because they were found to be a cause of distraction from the outer environment. Certain professionals and teachers complained about these spinners being a cause of losing attention from the main thing.
10. Stress Release Strategies
Spinners are found to be useful in increasing concentration and cognitive abilities, but at the same time, they distracted people from the main purpose of using them. Although they were quite helpful in focusing, the focus went totally on spinners and distracted people from their actual duties.
Spinners areaddictive, and people started using them as toys that soothed their addictive needs. So, they were banned in some countries. Some schools and offices have banned their possession in the premises of the building so people can focus on their work instead of the spinners.
Conclusion
Fidget spinners can help patients feel less stressed and reduce anxiety. They do not have a negative effect on mature patients of Alzheimer’s disease, and there is no reason to avoid their use. If the spinner irritates the people around you or distracts you from focusing on your work, you have enough reasons not to use it.
If you have an elderly loved one at home who has Alzheimer’s, get them a fidget spinner, and it would be an excellent option to spend time doing something that is at least productive for their health.
There are also other types of fidget toys for patients with Alzheimer’s, which you can learn more about from our Guide to Selecting Fidget and Sensory Toys.