Symptoms of Dementia

Dementia is a progressive disease with the most common type being Alzheimer’s. It impacts memory, thinking skills and the ability to carry out daily tasks.
Early signs include memory loss, especially losing track of dates, events or forgetting information recently learned.
Difficulty in planning and solving simple problems is another early symptom. This could be anything from following a recipe to keeping track of monthly bills.
Disorientation or getting lost in familiar places. Individuals may forget where they are or how they got there.
Changes in mood and behaviour, often showing signs of depression, fearfulness or anxiety.
Confusion with time and place, such as losing track of dates and seasons or having difficulty understanding something if it is not happening immediately.
Trouble understanding visual images and spatial relationships. This means they may have difficulty reading, judging distance, or determining colour or contrast.
Problems with speech or writing. A person might have trouble following or joining a conversation. They may also struggle with vocabulary, have problems finding the right word, or call things by the wrong name.
Misplacing things and losing the ability to retrace steps.
Reduced judgement. For example, they might show poor judgement when dealing with money or neglect their personal grooming and cleanliness.
Withdrawal from social activities, work, or hobbies that were once enjoyable.