When it comes to recognizing dementia symptoms, the first thing to know is that dementia is not a disease or disorder in itself. It is rather a collection of symptoms that could be the result of different kinds of brain disorders.
Dementia affects a person’s thought process and interferes with his reason, communication, and thoughts. But with that said, just because you or your loved ones are falling victims of forgetfulness does not necessarily mean that they are suffering from dementia.
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To make sure that you know when exactly you need to consider worrying and taking a neurologist’s appointment, you should be well acquainted with recognizing dementia symptoms at an early stage.
So, here are some things to keep in mind that will help you in recognizing dementia symptoms better:
Memory loss or forgetfulness
This is the earliest symptom you will see in a person suffering from dementia. Maybe that is the reason why dementia is most commonly associated with memory loss and forgetfulness. Most of the time, it is the short-term memory that is affected rather than the long-term one. This means that the person is more likely to remember something that happened years back as compared to what happened a few moments ago.
Mood swings and depression
One of the most common symptoms of dementia is a lack of control on your emotions. You will experience agitation, irritation, and emotional instability and the worse thing is that if you are the one suffering from dementia, you won’t even deduce that you are going through mood swings.
Depression is very common in dementia patients. Patients often complain that they have turned extremely emotional after being diagnosed with dementia. An interesting thing observed is that along with your mood, there is a possibility that your personality will see a sudden shift because of dementia. A shy person can turn into an extremely outgoing person as an early sign of dementia.
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Confusion and helplessness
Another easy giveaway that will help you in recognizing dementia symptoms is the feeling of chronic confusion and lack of judgment. A person suffering from dementia will suddenly find it difficult to recognize people they know if they bump into them while walking on the street or forget where they kept their house keys.
Not just that, dementia also affects their judgmental skills and power of reasoning, and they might feel helpless or paralyzed in case of emergencies.
Finding it difficult to perform daily tasks
One of the worst things about dementia is that it tampers the daily life of a person. Performing daily tasks life maintaining a finance book or playing a game for the first time might seem way complex to them than it is. Patients with dementia also struggle when it comes to learning a new game or when it comes to following a new routine.
Struggling to put your thoughts on the table
You will hear dementia patient struggling to find the right words to express what they feel and what they want to say. They struggle to communicate their thoughts while they are chatting with someone.
Note that you need to be patient while having a conversation with a person suffering dementia because it will take more time for that person to put forth his or her views. Instead of making that person feel like a fool, let them know that you are in no hurry and they can take their own sweet time to say what they want.
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One thing to keep in mind while you are trying to recognize dementia symptoms is that the signs and symptoms vary depending on which area of the brain is affected and the severity of the damage.