Dementia

What is dementia?

Dementia isn’t a single disease. The term covers a group of conditions that damage brain cells and gradually erode memory, language, judgment, and the ability to handle daily tasks. Roughly two out of every three cases trace back to Alzheimer’s disease. Vascular dementia, Lewy body dementia, and frontotemporal dementia account for most of the remainder.

Dementia reflects damage to the brain rather than ordinary aging. The difference comes down to whether the changes keep progressing and whether they interfere with tasks you usually handle without trouble.

What are the early signs of dementia?

Changes usually build slowly enough that families adjust around them before anyone names the problem. Pay attention to:

• Asking the same question repeatedly within a short span
• Misplacing items in strange locations
• Confusion about what day, month, or time of year it is
• Trouble following a recipe or paying bills
• Searching for common words mid-sentence
• Withdrawing from hobbies and social plans
• Personality changes, suspicion, or uncharacteristic irritability
• Poor judgment with money or safety

Any of these warrants an evaluation, partly because several treatable conditions produce identical symptoms.

What else can look like dementia?

Depression in older adults can produce memory problems and confusion that look almost identical to early dementia. Thyroid disease, vitamin B12 deficiency, drug interactions, urinary tract infections, and sleep apnea cause similar trouble, and every one of those improves with treatment.

Tammie screens for these before anyone settles on a dementia diagnosis, and she coordinates with your primary care provider on the medical workup.

How does psychiatric care help with dementia?

No treatment reverses dementia, but a great deal can be done about how someone lives with it. Most patients develop depression, anxiety, agitation, paranoia, or disrupted sleep at some point, and families frequently find those changes harder to live with than the forgetting.

Tammie treats those symptoms carefully, prescribing conservatively because older adults tolerate psychiatric medications differently than younger people. She also works with caregivers on managing difficult behaviors and watches for the burnout that comes with this role.

A dementia diagnosis can feel overwhelming, but no one has to face it alone. Call Mindful Mental Health or book a telehealth or in-person visit online today to get the help you or your loved one need.