May 1, 2024
Welcome to The Climb, your weekly journey with Lifecycle Sherpa, where we explore Parkinson’s Disease, its symptoms, treatments, tips, techniques, and build a supportive and knowledgeable community.
This week’s trail leads us to…flat affect (masked face).
Question: What is flat affect? How can I manage it!?
Answer: Flat affect is a symptom of hypokinesia (discussed last week), which is a MOTOR SYMPTOM. It presents as severely restricted or nonexistent expression of emotion (appear free of emotion). Patients may seem uninterested or uncaring, even when the opposite is true.
Tips on Management:
Practice your facial expressions and reactions in the mirror in order to see what others see when you are talking to them. Over express your face in order to give the expressions you are feeling. Then, use those same over-expressions that you used in the mirror when speaking with others.
For more guidance, get a referral to see a speech therapist to address your specific symptoms. It is always a good idea to learn strategies before the symptoms evolve in order to best fight them off.
We always encourage feedback, as it helps us enhance our community. Feel free to reach out regarding future topics you want to learn about, or how we can improve your experience.
See you next week!