Official websites use. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites. E-mail: mohamad. Within the concept of the self, a distinction can be made between ideal self i. We have also measured these self-related processes in relation to depression and anxiety. We invited 31 patients with mild AD and 35 control participants to decide whether they would consider the statement e.
Our study demonstrates that AD patients tend to endorse positive health traits and to integrate these traits into their ideal self. AD patients tend to endorse health-related images that are associated with hopes when projecting into their future self.
This positive projection into the self may create a motivational force e. A distinction can be made between ideal self and feared self [ 1, 2 ]. While ideal self refers to what we would like to become in the future e. To situate our study into the current literature, we illustrate, below, research dealing with the sense of self in patients with AD.
We also provide theoretical background about ideal and feared selves in general. Prior research has demonstrated a weakened sense of self in patients with AD. In a similar vein, Ruby et al. The weakened sense of self in AD can be also attributed to difficulties updating self-knowledge in patients with AD. This assumption is supported by the study of Klein et al.
They found that the current personality, as described by the patient, reflected self-knowledge before the onset of the disease. The study of Klein et al. The weakened sense of self in AD has been also reported by research demonstrating diminished ability in patients with AD in retrieving vivid and emotionally intense memories that help maintain self-consistency and self-coherence i.
