The Parkinson’s Outcomes Project (POP) is the largest-ever clinical study of people with Parkinson’s disease (PD). Since the beginning of this groundbreaking initiative in 2009, Parkinson’s Foundation Centers of Excellence have been tracking and monitoring the care of more than 13,000 people in five countries with all stages of PD. The goal is to find the most effective therapies, study their benefits, and determine the best candidates for each treatment.

One of the findings of POP is that anxiety is a major factor affecting the overall health of people with PD. Worry about a health condition is normal, but when it becomes constant feelings of worry or nervousness beyond what is understandable, it may be anxiety, a mental health condition. Anxiety is not just a reaction to a diagnosis of PD or the daily stresses that accompany it but is also an integral part of the disease caused by changes in brain chemistry. It may even predate the diagnosis.

As many as 40 percent of people with PD will experience some form of anxiety, such as generalized anxiety disorder, anxiety attacks, social avoidance, or obsessive-compulsive disorder. Fortunately, mental health professionals can help by providing effective talk and, when appropriate, drug therapies. In this episode, clinical psychologist Roseanne Dobkin, PhD, Professor of Psychiatry at Rutgers University in New Jersey, discusses the difference between reasonable worry and problematic anxiety and elucidates some of the ways mental health professionals can help when feelings become distressing or all consuming, interfering with day to day life and activities.

Released: June 30, 2020

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Mindfulness is a therapeutic approach to help with stress reduction and its practice can promote good physical and mental health. It is based on deliberately focusing one’s awareness on the present moment with calmness in a non-judgmental way. In those moments, experiences may be external or internal. Examples of external experiences are what the body senses in the surroundings, such as feeling a breeze, hearing a distant train whistle, or smelling a cooking aroma. Internal experiences may be physical, for example, feeling muscles while stretching, hunger, or fatigue, or they may be in the mind, such as emotions or moods.

In being aware of and calmly accepting feelings, thoughts, and bodily sensations in a non-judgmental way in a particular moment, one can achieve a state of alertness through focused relaxation. The process is not complicated and can be learned through in-person sessions or online. It is particularly good for reducing anxiety and depression and for coping with and adapting to stress in the moment or long term, including the stress of a disease like Parkinson’s. In this podcast, Angela Johnson, a doctor of acupuncture and Chinese medicine at Rush University in Chicago, a Parkinson’s Foundation Center of Excellence, gives some simple examples of mindfulness practices, how they may benefit people in periods of stress, and how to fit mindfulness into one’s normal routine.

Released: May 19, 2020

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Presenter

Dan Gold, DO
Assistant Professor of Neurology, Ophthalmology, Neurosurgery, Otolanryngology,
- Head and Neck Surgery, Emergency Medicine
The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine

Social isolation may affect many people as they age, and COVID has exacerbated the problem for everyone. Isolation can have negative effects on physical as well as mental health. People with Parkinson’s disease (PD) are especially at risk for social isolation because of progressive physical changes, mood disturbances, a shrinking social circle, and secluding oneself due to fear of how people may perceive them. Apathy is also a common non-motor symptom, affecting people with Parkinson’s and making it difficult for them to get involved in activities. Other non-motor symptoms such as anxiety and depression can further limit social engagement.

In this podcast episode, Aaron Daley, Coordinator for the Parkinson’s Disease Clinic and Research Center at the University of California, San Francisco, discusses social isolation and ways to overcome it, whether you live in an urban or rural area. He recommends seeking out support at the first sign of the problem, exercising regularly, or just establishing a routine of activity with a companion.

Released: August 24, 2021

Social isolation can have harmful effects on health and often increases with age because of loss of friends, acquaintances, or a spouse, hearing or vision deficits, or loss of mobility. In addition to being a risk factor for poor health, social isolation has been associated with an increased risk of death. Loneliness may lead to poor sleep and depression, two problems that already affect a proportion of people with Parkinson’s disease (PD). On top of all this, for more than a year social distancing to limit the spread of COVID-19 has added to problems of mental and physical health for many people.

In the face of a lack of research on social isolation in PD, Dr. Indu Subramanian, Director of the Parkinson’s Disease Research, Education and Clinical Center at the West Los Angeles Veterans Affairs Medical Center, conducted a survey of people with Parkinson’s to see if social isolation is associated with the severity of their symptoms and with their quality of life.

The survey was done before the pandemic. It showed that people reporting loneliness had 55% higher symptom severity, but individuals with a lot of friends had 21% fewer symptoms as compared with people reporting having few or no friends. (These are associations, and one should not assume a cause-and-effect relationship.) These results support the need for people with Parkinson’s to be socially engaged to prevent loneliness. In this podcast, Dr. Subramanian discusses loneliness and social isolation and offers suggestions for keeping them at bay.

Released: August 10, 2021

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Mindfulness is a mental state in which one focuses his or her awareness on the present moment, whether that focus is on the mind, body, or surroundings. In this therapeutic technique, one works towards calmly accepting feelings, thoughts, and bodily sensations in a non-judgmental way with the goal of achieving a state of alertness through a focused relaxation.

The practice of mindfulness can be learned in a relatively short time through in-person sessions or even online. It can lead to benefits for both the mind and body, helping to reduce anxiety and depression, encouraging acceptance of emotions, and producing better adaptive reactions to difficult situations. With Parkinson’s disease, it may also help with movement and stiffness. In this podcast episode, Jordan Staenberg, a doctor of occupational therapy and a certified yoga therapist at the Barrow Neurological Institute’s Muhammad Ali Parkinson Center in Phoenix, Arizona, a Parkinson’s Foundation Center of Excellence, elaborates on what mindfulness means, how one can learn to practice it, and its benefits.

Released: May 5, 2020

Self-awareness is an ability to focus on one’s own thoughts, actions, and emotions and evaluate and manage them according to what standards and values you set for yourself. Being self-aware from moment to moment can lead to better self-understanding and an ability to manage thoughts, emotions, strengths, weaknesses, beliefs, and motivations, with a goal of a more peaceful existence. Fortunately, self-awareness can be learned and cultivated using some simple techniques. Dr. Carsten Eggers, Professor of Neurology and Co-director of the Parkinson’s Foundation Center of Excellence at Philipps University in Marburg, Germany, discusses self-awareness and how health confidence, the confidence to be able to manage health problems, relates to it.

Released: April 7, 2020

Parkinson’s disease (PD) depression may be a biological part of the disease itself, resulting from PD-related changes in brain chemistry. Untreated depression and other mood disorders can have a greater impact on well-being than even common motor symptoms.

Depression affects at least 50 percent of people with PD sometime in the course of their disease, but it is often under-recognized and, therefore, under-treated, even though effective treatments exist, both pharmacologic and nonpharmacologic. Treating depression can be a significant way to improve quality of life. 

Veronica Bruno, MD, MPH, a neurologist specializing in movement disorders at the University of Calgary in Alberta, Canada, a Parkinson’s Foundation Center of Excellence, discusses depression, the problem of under-diagnosis, and the benefits of recognition and treatment.

Released: February 7, 2023

Many veterans with Parkinson’s disease (PD) experience mental health symptoms, like anxiety and depression, that can have a significant impact on quality of life. This webinar explores the relationship between Parkinson’s disease and mental health in the veteran community. Watch to learn how to recognize mental health symptoms, where to go for support and treatment, how to start the conversation with your provider, and for information on the mental health resources and support services that veterans and their care partners have access to through the VA and the Parkinson’s Foundation.

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October 17, 2022

The focus of this webinar will be to address the needs of veteran’s living with Parkinson’s disease (PD). A healthy lifestyle is an important part of living well with Parkinson’s. Physical exercise is well-established as beneficial for symptom control and possibly disease modification, and physicians regularly counsel patients to increase overall fitness. Similarly, diet and overall brain health can be another tool to fight PD. This webinar will explore how exercise, dietary choices, stress management, sleep and social connection can affect your brain health and PD care.

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