I recently had the honor and pleasure of speaking at the 2010 Southeastern Parkinson Disease Conference & Young Onset Parkinson's Conference in Atlanta jointly sponsored by the Northwest Georgia Parkinson Disease Association, APDA and NPF. My topic was anxiety, a condition that complicates Parkinson disease for upwards of 3 out of 4 individuals with the diagnosis. Based on the follow-up questions and casual discussions between sessions, it was clear that a discussion on this topic is well-placed and not just for the individual with the neurological diagnosis.

In my last blog, I discussed the need to accommodate the demands of Parkinson's by employing the metaphor of learning to sail a body of water one cannot control. It is natural to ask why accommodation is necessary. After all, the first few years after diagnosis are often marked by a milder presentation of the disease that allows symptoms to be ignored. Most people would find little reason to accommodate a condition it is easier to just not think about.